Duel That's Just Life

[Zaavik Perl]

That's just life, you fall apart or take the ride...
​

471.08, -912.84, 009.79
38.1213° N, 82.9253° W
​

That was all the message contained. No more, no less.

Even without an indication of a who the sender was, Zaavik knew Allyson could make the correct deduction. The encryption methods were her own, after all.

Zaavik leaned against a dark stone. Under the the shade of twilight, he was careful not to protrude as any distinctly human shape from the shadows. Stygian fabrics draped his figure, giving him the guise of a specter, nearly invisible to wandering photons. The Force bent what little light could find him, removing his visible trace against the black.

A cold breeze rolled in like a ghost walking by. It rose him from a trance, pulling his twinned yellow gaze forward. Shadows cast by the remaining sunlight finally became one with the canvas. Darkness grew on the desolate backwater plain of the world he'd chosen as their meeting ground.

A presence kept him from lulling back in.

She was close.

Allyson Locke ​

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Zaavik Perl //:
//: You Were Supposed to be Different //:

The coordinates flashed back on the screen of her datapad. Reading the decrypted message, she couldn’t help but smile. There was a hint of pride in her face, she had taught Zaavik well, and he knew that she would be the only one to figure this out. Sighing, Allyson shoved her datapad back into her pocket and looked forward. The meeting place was a few feet away, and she already felt him there.

Stopping at the exact point of the coordinates, Allyson peered around, trying to get a lock on his position. It took her a few moments, but she felt through the Force and their bond. He was good, and he was a good student, a sponge absorbing every ounce of information she could give him. He was her family, and knowing the path he was on, he killed her.

In a calm voice, she called out to him, “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting long.” Allyson adjusted the eyepatch; thankfully, there wasn’t any audio unless the cybernetic was active. Allyson placed her hand back into the pockets of her jacket and waited.

Everything she had done up to now, she couldn’t ruin this chance. “I’m not here for the bounty, by the way; I like you enough kid to do this without a paycheque.”​

 

[Zaavik Perl]

Tiny magmatic spheres broke through the darkness with contrast. Zaavik's eyes, although changed, were unmistakably his. A vermillion visage became visible once he threw off the hood. What remained of him melted back into visibility with a gradual fade. Where once long, purple locks hung from his scalp, there was now only a short, sable remnant of them. Cut, dyed, changed. It didn't take a detective to figure out why. His face was on half the bounty boards in the galaxy.

Allyson's greeting and sentiment would be met with silence. Countenance like a stone, his gaze bore into her like it was trying to punch a hole through. "I'm sure," he retorted with blatant sarcasm. Tortured volumes had flooded into his voice, a timbre more weathered and austere than it had ever been before he left. A lot had changed.

"I thought you'd do us both a favor by killing Vesta, but apparently you can't even keep your eyes in your skull."

Bringing up the Sith Lord segued his thoughts to the first half on his intentions. Darth Daiara had fled Korriban, insisting their security was at risk. Looks like neither of their fears came to fruition. Though, with the things she'd told him, and what had come after, he was on the verge of some epiphany about the why.

"Did you expect me to be poking around on Korriban? Or did you just think you got lucky when you ran into Aradia? -And what the hell did you say that's got her so fethed up?"

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Zaavik Perl //:
//: You Were Supposed to be Different //:

“Low blow, but I’ll take it.” She retorted; he knew where to strike without remorse. “Also, for the record, I lost this a while ago.” The spy wondered if that was something he always had or learned that from her or someone else.

Allyson knew she should have killed the Sith; it would have made things a lot easier for everyone. What held her back? It was a question that haunted her endlessly. She noted the changes about the man in front of her. He was no longer the bright-eyed student who bantered with her in the field or the boy in the photo she kept hidden in her treasured belongings. Allyson had lost that boy a long time ago, but she held onto the hope that the man before her still had an inkling of him hidden away.

“No, I didn’t expect to find you on Korriban. I was following another lead; I was trying to find Aradia.” Her voice remained calm as she spoke, explaining herself, knowing that a part of him probably didn’t believe her.

“My sources stated that you had been spotted several times with her, along with the time you used the safe houses that only you and I know about. I continued to have them stocked, allowing you some haven if you needed it.” Her weight shifted, “I tried to scrub you clean off the bounty boards, cover up everything and keep the Marshals and the SIA off your ass.”

The Master wanted to shout at him, tell him he’s being an idiot. She didn’t though, now wasn’t the time - especially the moment he brought up Aradia and what had occurred.

“She tried to protect me from this Vesta or Mori; I had to make her leave - to listen to her and get off the planet. I told her if she stayed, I’d kill her; if she stayed, she would have been in a lot of danger, especially if the Sith assumed she was flip-flopping sides. It was all I could do at the moment to save her skin.”​

 

[Zaavik Perl]

Truthfully, Zaavik had always possessed a knack for striking low. It was something he wouldn't have ever used on Allyson before. Out of respect, and a vivid consternation for how she might react. Like a boy fears his mother's rebuke. Now, those reservations were absent. A testament to the fissure that had opened up between him and those of his old life.

"Your sources?" he inquired, eyes narrowed with scrutiny.

He only missed about half of a beat before shaking his head, discarding the question with a different reply.

"Well, she believed you. Wholeheartedly. Took it very poorly, too."

Nothing said in regard to her confession of keeping them afloat behind a veil. He already knew.

Missing pieces began to fit into place after Allyson's explanation. A much fuller picture of the encounter began to materialize. Aradia hadn't been generous in her brief elucidation of the circumstances. She seemed far too distressed for him to feel great about pressing much further. Not that he imagined it would have made a difference, anyway.

Why couldn't she have just killed Darth Mori and gotten it over with?

Damn.

Damn, damn, damn.

The list kept getting longer.

"All that effort to make me a ghost, and then you come searching for Aradia knowing I could be nearby? You don't think IVI expects you to that? Because she probably does."

She could be inadvertently pointing them his way. Even from this position, he couldn't see her being that naïve. It sounded more and more counterintuitive every time he went over it in his head. What was he missing?

"Why!?" he demanded.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Zaavik Perl //:
//: You Were Supposed to be Different //:

Hearing that Aradia believed her wholeheartedly only made Allyson feel guiltier. She had hoped that the girl only half thought the threat, knowing that the Corellian would never follow through. Still, it just made clear how fragile the girl's brain was. Allyson frowned, hearing him bring up M. The Chiss knew almost everything. Maybe it was Allyson's own ego that made her believe she was sly enough, careful enough to remain under M's radar.

The first hint of annoyance wrinkled her brow as her jaw tightened. Was Zaavik so oblivious that he couldn't see the reasoning right in front of him? Allyson tried to remain calm; he was getting angry. Zaavik had a lot to be mad about, and she had hoped it would never consume him. Yet, it seemed it had made him paranoid, even against the one person on his side.

"Why? You seriously are asking me why?" Allyson clenched her fists in the pockets of the jacket. "Because Zaavik, I love you, kid. You're the closest family I have." Allyson wanted to beat the statement into his head; maybe she didn't express this notion with him enough through their time together. "I love Aradia too; the kid's grown on me. I almost got myself killed trying to save her when I was undercover- I promised I would go back and get her; I just never could."

Zaavik deserved every ounce of the truth; he was the only one she could be honest with even when he was spiraling like this. "If her believing that kept her alive at that moment, I'll handle the fall out for it, but what matters the most to me right now is making sure you two are alive. I don't give a flying bantha that you're teetering on the dark side - feth knows we've always walked that thin line, Zaavik."

Allyson ran a hand through brown hair, exasperated. This wasn't how she had pictured the meeting going, but here they were. As much as Allyson wanted to bring him back to the Alliance, she knew what awaited him there. She couldn't protect him in Alliance territory.

"What the hell is going on? What is going on with both of you? Tell me, so I can help you. I don't care about the SIA, the Shadows, or the Alliance. I care about you, you and Aradia."​

 

[Zaavik Perl]

"Why? You seriously are asking me why? Because Zaavik, I love you, kid. You're the closest family I have."

Don't fall for it.

"No, shut up! I don't need your help, and that's not what I meant!"

Any remnant of self-awareness allowed itself to be blind. Something else, callous and sinister tightened the cloth over its face. If a conscience could suffocate, this just might be the sensation.

"Why do you keep poking your nose around!? Everywhere you stick it, my face follows on every bounty boards in the fething sector!"

Did this correlation equate to causation? If it was paranoia, or thoughts poisoned by the stygian, he certainly couldn't tell the difference. His anger resonated on a frequency even a comatose mystic could feel.

"If her believing that kept her alive at that moment, I'll handle the fall out for it, but what matters the most to me right now is making sure you two are alive. I don't give a flying bantha that you're teetering on the dark side - feth knows we've always walked that thin line, Zaavik."

Zaavik shook his head, face scowling like her words offended worse than a sewer. "No, I handled it." That wasn't entirely the truth, nor was it entirely a lie, but it was the best dismissal he could shoot from the dome. "She and I will be the ones to worry about staying alive. Save your anxiety for something else. If you were really that worried, you should have glassed that shifter-feth Vesta when you had the chance. Now I'm going to have to do it after all."

Could he manage that if he tried? Aradia probably wouldn't be thanking him if he could. Thanks would probably be the very last thing on her mind then. It was saving she didn't know she needed yet, the way he saw it.

He ignored the little voice that tried to debate that viewpoint. Not the time.

"-And I'm not teetering! Feth off. I know what I'm doing, I'm in control."

"What the hell is going on? What is going on with both of you?"

"She deduced."

Did she really? Maybe he misunderstood the question. Too eager to take anything and everything as accusative. There was enough adversarial in him for an entire war of his own.

Why did she keep acting concerned? His brow wavered, quivering between anger and a remorseful expression. The tone of voice she used was one he'd heard before. It still felt like warmth. Damn it. Old ties remained tight enough to evoke a swing in demeanor, likely to his own detriment, as if to come off even more unhinged.

"She said you knew," he replied. The fight faded out of his voice. Shoulder sagged, suddenly diminished.

I can't even do this anymore.

Even with the change, he couldn't admit to wanting to take the advice she gave him inadvertently through Aradia. Run off, make home, live. It sounded more and more of a pipe dream with every turn of this chaotic wheel. There was too much in the way, so much he had to take care of. It almost seemed insurmountable.

He'd called Allyson here to prove to himself that he could. To torch a bridge to ground, not ask for help.

Now, not even seconds after asserting hostility, he felt like a stupid, vulnerable child.

Stupid.

"I don't know what you want me to say. We're just-"

"I love you, you idiot!"

The memory made him flinch. Something asserted the inclination that telling Allyson could be more of a hazard than he'd momentarily thought.

Paranoid again.

Angry again.

Yes I can.

A hidden hand gripped his saber beneath stygian robes. He gulped, a laborious effort to expel a stubborn lump from his throat.

"I didn't call you here to ask for help," came his cryptic confession.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Zaavik Perl //:
//: You Were Supposed to be Different //:

Allyson held her tongue, letting him spit whatever he needed to get off his chest. The anger in him rose and kept rising. As his Master, she had seen this - she should have put a stop to it. A Master was to guide the student through the tough times, but Allyson made it worse for him.

Her own temper rose as each of his words cut into her. Zaavik wanted to do all of this on his own. Was it because he felt he was a burden or that he didn’t want to need anyone. A part of her knew these feelings; she understood them because they were some she had known - some that she still harbored. At one point, she ran from him, not wanting to be a burden and a failure.

He finished and revealed this wasn’t why he called her. Allyson raised her eyebrow, wondering what he was getting at. She had enough, and she shouted back; maybe he needed that more than her trying to coddle him with kind words.

“Stop it.” She spat back, “Your face would stop popping up on the bounty boards if you were in control. You’re not in control - if you were, I’d let you do your own thing. I’d leave you alone - let you live your damn life.” She wasn’t the type of Master to hover and helicopter over her students. Maybe she should have.

“The reason why you haven’t been caught is that I’ve been here cleaning up your mess. The senator? The Jedi you attacked? Even your family? Zaavik, you’re spiraling - if you keep on this path….” Allyson stopped and caught her breath. She was exasperated. Looking away from him for a second, she regained her composure and finished - calmer. “What if you turn on Aradia? And no, I don’t know what you two are doing and why you’re doing it. I have my suspicions, but I need the truth from your mouth.”

Looking at him again, it was hard to not see the stubborn teenager she felt like she raised. He was hers, and now there was nothing she could do for him.

They were Jedi Shadows. They were taught to read the room, to understand their targets, and to expect the unexpected. She knew Zaavik better than she knew herself, and she picked up what his words meant. A subtle, hidden movement, and Allyson stepped back, her figure growing defensive.

“Zaavik. Don’t do this. This isn’t how this has to happen. Please.”​

 

[Zaavik Perl]

“The senator? The Jedi you attacked? Even your family? Zaavik, you’re spiraling - if you keep on this path…”

Zaavik's voice nearly cracked, dying down to a moderate tone, "I gave Yula the chance to walk away..."

Pain, guilt, and it didn't exclusively reside in his tones. Any amateur empath could smell it if they tried. An incorporeal leash kept those emotions too low for what was probably Allyson's desired breakthrough. "Staying in my way was her choice. I warned her, told her what I'd do. Don't try shove some moralist liability on me."

No talk of the Senator. He didn't have anything self-affirming for that.

No talk of the Jedi, either. He was trying to protect Aradia, but didn't want to say it.

“What if you turn on Aradia?”

That was never going to happen. She was the only person in this whole galactic hellscape that wasn't his enemy.

"Keep her the hell out of this."

Restraint was approaching insurmountable with every syllable that dribbled out of Allyson's lips.

"-but I need the truth from your mouth.”

"What?"

Metal groaned audibly as Zaavik's grip grew tighter around his weapon.

"What truth? You already got me charged in your head on every wrong you can list. What fething truth do you want!?"

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Zaavik Perl //:
//: You Were Supposed to be Different //:

"I believe you." Her hands raised, showing him that she meant no harm. Allyson wanted him to know that she was on his side, but she never had to deal with this before. It was easier to cut people out, easier to walk away and forget them. "I know you won't hurt her; I don't want you to hurt her." Her hands waved slightly, and she stepped back, giving him more space.

Talking wasn't going to fix this; Zaavik was unstable, and a part of the Jedi was scared. She hated seeing him like this, and she missed who he was before. Allyson let her arms fall as she watched his body language. Aradia was a touchy subject, and she nodded - understanding that the girl was a trigger. He would protect her; Allyson knew the feeling intimately.

"I meant nothing I said to her; please let her know that." Her words were said in anger, she needed someone to blame, and Aradia was the easiest target. Sighing, Allyson shook her head - she knew she was part of the issue. She couldn't help Zaavik, not even now.

"No, I haven't charged you with anything. Zaavik, I just want to know what's going through your head. I don't care about the SIA, the NJO, or anyone. I just want you to be safe, away from all of this; I don't care what you've done. Zaavik, after all this time, you can't see that I love you like you're one of my own."

It hurt; she hurt him in the past, and maybe her trying to protect him was hurting him even now. She could count on one hand the people that she would give everything to protect, and he was number one. Why did she feel this way about him? She had her reasons, maybe reasons rooted in guilt, but no matter what, he was family.

"Zaavik, you could burn the galaxy...and I would still love you like my family and do whatever I could to save you, protect you, and just let me help you - please."​

 

[Zaavik Perl]

"Zaavik, after all this time, you can't see that I love you like you're one of my own?"

"I-"

Unwanted feelings made Zaavik's gut sting as if it were seething with desperate wasps. Dirt and rocks ground together under his heel as a guarded step back made distance. No amount of space would less then effect, yet he tried with another, palliating his reaction as though he were under psychic attack. Of course, he wasn't. It only felt that way. The Dark Side had his emotions perpetually stirred to a roil. Anger, fear, remorse, vulnerability, it was hard to discern where any of them ended and the others began. In the empathic space, his aura might as well have been a hurricane.

"Zaavik, you could burn the galaxy...and I would still love you like my family and do whatever I could to save you, protect you, and just let me help you - please."

No matter how hard he tried, his face wouldn't stay still. Lips quivered through a scowl, while the brow constantly writhed, trying to decide how best to stave off the physiognomic tells. Shadow training was progressively failing him more and more as he tried to keep it at bay. A glimmer beneath corrupted eyes broke way into gentle streams undulating over cheekbones. That was the final failure.

"I can't," he contended weakly.

Help you?

"There's nothing anyone can do. I dug this grave myself... there isn't any other way."

What do you need saving from? She's manipulating you, poking at your weaknesses.

"Mom, I-" Freudian slip. What she'd always been, though not by birth, nor ever named. It singed like spice on his tongue to admit it. He loved her too, the only family he ever had. The ostensible confession ended there as something choked the life from his emerging sentence.

Remove those weaknesses, just like before.

Zaavik shook his head at what was seemingly nothing. Every breath was turbulent, deliberate, trying to hold on to some unseen anchor.

You know what you have to do.

Demeanor shifted on a dime. Fragments of the Dark Side rippled invisible in the extrasensory dimensions that surround the current and former Shadow of Knowledge. Two bright eyes went from squinting and watery to wide, bloodshot, and determined. Conflict burned behind them, tortured volumes crying out furtively. "No," he asserted. Everything about his voice seemed alien when compared to only a moment earlier.

"I don't need your help."

Crimson screamed. An undulating, unstable blade of plasma erupted from metal within his fist. Every visible inch of his form faded into a phantasm. A lunge. Behind the obscurity of the force, his murderous approach was a transparent blur. Shadows danced where he should have been.

The student strikes the master.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Zaavik Perl //:
//: T H A N A T O S //:

She watched him. Every agonizing moment she watched him suffer. A master's failure in mortal form stood in front of her leaving her at a loss. There was nothing she could do or say to fix any of this. He spoke finally, and her face cracked, hearing out loud what their relationship was. They had felt it, but it was never said of or acknowledged in any way. His voice would haunt her to her grave.

Memories of their time together flashed behind her eyes; where had she gone wrong - where did she lead him astray? All of it made sense, and in the same breath, none of it did. "I don't need your help," his final words to her, and she stepped forward to try once more, but his saber drawn finalized the outcome of this meeting.

"Zaavik, I'll never stop-" Her words hung in the air as he disappeared into the shadows. Perfect execution of the Master's skill, he was her student, one that went beyond any that she had ever seen. Crimson sizzled against flesh as his blade cut through the woman - her face smiling.

Suddenly, the Corellian's shadow clone disappeared, showing her deception. As much as Allyson wanted to trust him, she understood his instability. The only conclusion to this meeting was by the blade, and as the doppelganger revealed her game, three arrows born from light fired towards his backside. His Master was giving up her nest as she strung another bright arrow.

The light glowed against her face, warming her in the cold of her apprentice's betrayal. Tears stained her face, ones that fell only for him. No, she would never stop - he wouldn't get rid of her that easily.​

 

[Zaavik Perl]

Fallen from grace...
​

For a that first miniscule, fleeting moment, he was convinced he'd done it. Morbid exhilaration coursed through his head and chest, culminating in a chill down that shot down his spine like lightning. Flickering into view, his image became visible again. Reality hit like a frieghtspeeder; it felt like power... Until the remnants of his former Master up an vanished. Usurpation had been an illusion. Sinister exaltation boiled into the humiliated rage of being duped.

Should've known.

Danger nudged the senses. Zaavik whirled to an about face. Two arrows incinerated on contact with a swipe of hot crimson. The third halted abruptly, clenched between organic digits, arrowhead a mere inch from his right eye. Catching the light in the distance, eyes focused on the now revealed perch. A growl emanated behind his teeth as the arrow shaft snapped underneath his grip.

Another shimmer, and he was gone. Invisible, though not quite undetectable for Allyson. They couldn't hide from eachother, they both understood the technique to well. Still, an invisible target was harder to hit when you were armed with only a general notion of where they stood. If they were moving? Call it a longshot. So Zaavik moved. Quickly. Force-aided stride sent him speeding across dusty rockfaces as he ascended towards Allyson's nest.

One huge leap sent him rising above the cliffside where she had her vantage point. It only took seconds to close even such a considerable distance. A faint transparency of his figure gleamed over the light of the planets already rising second sun. It had been less than an hour, and dusk was already arriving to cast golden hues over the coming bloodshed.

A vertical twirl, like a wheel, added momentum and force to a plunging red saber. Only the sound of fabrics fluttering on the wind followed his descent. In the rage, he was grotesquely serene, not even sparing a breath for a shout.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Zaavik Perl //:
//: T H A N A T O S //:

The moment Zaavik disappeared, Allyson knew that her trick didn’t slow him down. It was momentary, minor, and direct, but it gave her all the information needed. He was farther along than she had anticipated. His corruption was deep, but she knew underneath all that darkness was the boy she had watched grow into a good man. The arrow remained drawn and struck tightly into the bow; she followed his pathway. Her cybernetic eye gave off a faint greenish-blue hue while her natural eye glossed over, clouded, and watching through Force sight.

No longer was he able to hide in the shadows, for that was all she could see. His movements were graceful yet more powerful than she had ever seen. While if this was a duel during his master trials, Allyson would have been proud, but instead, she searched for a way to bring him down. Her weapon remained pointed towards where he had first vanished, a feint to hopefully help keep him coming forward - unaware of how she was able to keep track of him.

Zaavik drew closer, and the Master waited till he came close enough that the only way she could see him was through her peripherals. The moment he leaped to strike, Allyson twisted at the waist - the arrow splitting into three golden rods created through the grace of Ashla. Her feet kicked off the ledge, and she free fell, escaping the bounding leap and his blade corrupted by hate.

As she fell, she too fell into the shadows, fading from sight. Allyson waited to let Zaavik begin the descent of his jump; at that moment, she unleashed the arrows from underneath him. The bright force light arrows sang through the air aimed towards his torso; if he was indeed fallen, then he would feel the burn of the light - to remember how it felt. As her descent began, Allyson formed another light construct, but instead of stringing it into the bow, she threw it, aiming for his dominant shoulder.

Allyson twisted her body and landed, leather boots straining against the weight. She appeared again, crouching after the impact. Allyson looked back up and faded into the shadows, moving from where he would potentially land.

They were two ghosts dancing and bending the fractals of light, two shadows that reflected the same image. Allyson began to see more of herself in Zaavik, and it terrified her - was he a potential future or a path she had luckily avoided? She needed to stop him; she had to stop him.

Before they could get to him. ​

 

[Zaavik Perl]

Dark clairvoyance guided Zaavik's motions. Hips and shoulders torqued in the air, skirting around the arrows by mere inches. The very air they trailed through stung at his flesh. Hitting the ground, his body rolled, tumbling with momentum to straighten gracefully to his feet. Impact made him visible, but he flickered away just as soon as he took his first step.

Plasma stroked to deflect the final construct. Light met tainted blade with a sundering force. His saber's power cell sizzled as the blade was reduced to a hissing knub. Zaavik cursed at Allyson in his native language, dropped the hit onto the floor and exchanged it for the blaster holstered behind his hips. Streaks of red screamed across the air, each searching the general vicinity of where he could sense Allyson.

Low capacity tibanna cell rendered itself inert just as he pinpointed her. Blaster discarded, flew across the air, clattered into the dirt. Vibroblade hissed from a leg sheath, began to buzz at nauseating frequency. "I see you!" he shouted, voice alien and deranged. He lunged toward a visible nothing. Every movement was feeling, intuition, all from his Master's teaching. Now, though, there was a level of execution that could have usurped them for his own.

Blade cut across the air, missed, arched again, missed. His foot swung forward, anchoring foot pivoting on a heel. Thud. He felt it, heard it, sensed it. Gotcha. The striking limb landed, kicked off again as he went for another lunge forward, vibrating tip of his weapon sent for the notion of a throat.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Zaavik Perl //:
//: T H A N A T O S //:

She watched him; she read his movements dancing around the blade as he swung. Zaavik knew her position, which didn’t surprise her; they could sense each other even without the Force Sight. The bond between master and student wasn’t easily severed, but Zaavik tried. The shift in his attack sequence caught her off guard, but she quickly readjusted and brought her arm up to block.

As his leg flew through the air, she prepared to catch it. He moved faster than expected, and all she was able to do was block its kinetic Force. As the blow landed, she grunted but never lost her footing. “You think you see me; you’re blinder than you’ve ever been.” She appeared as his leg pressed against her, and she shoved his leg off as he switched his weight. The lunge came, and the silver danger appeared in her hand, one that emitted the warm light of the Force.

Blade clashed against his sword as Allyson deflected the strike. Allyson stepped forward into him, and with her free hand, she created another light arrow construct. She continued, using her blade hand to push aside his blade, getting close, breaking into his guard. The light construct found its way towards his abdomen; she hoped it was enough to startle him, making him notice the opening he left her. “You’re blind! If you could see - then you’d see that I’m here to help you!” Whether the construct managed to find its place, Allyson would reach for his shoulder to try and pull him into her raised knee.

“Like no one came to help me! You idiot - You’re not alone!”​

 

[Zaavik Perl]

Warmth. Bodily warmth. Zaavik sensed her close approach with more than just the force. Immediately, his hands disregarded his weapon, leaving the vibroblade to plummet into the dirt. Both hands seized either of Allyson's wrist, sparing his abdomen and tying up her blade. Pain spiked through his ribs as a knee met them with opposing momentum. He lifted slightly from the force of the strike. Something snapped. Zaavik grunted as air forced its way from his lungs and pain demanded heed.

“Like no one came to help me! You idiot - You’re not alone!”

"Shut up!" he wheezed in a breathless half-shout.

Pain became fuel, evoking a macabre surge of speed in his movements. Zaavik's hands shoved the wrists he'd grasped to either side. Every muscle below his wrists went rigid as his hands slithered forward and struck simultaneously for either of her ears, looking to clap his hands with her eardrums in-between.

Quickly following that maneuver, he mirrored her by stepping in himself. His shoulders threw themselves forward as his neck went taut, forehead driving itself toward the upper bridge of his old Master's nose.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Zaavik Perl //:
//: T H A N A T O S //:

He fought with rage.

Allyson knew she needed to remain as calm as she could. If she started to let her emotions gain control, she would fight wildly like he did; she didn't teach him this. The man in front of her wasn't Zaavik. She couldn't hold back anymore; if she continued, it would only spell out her death. Allyson had to fight back, keep him from falling deeper into the hole he had dug himself. Even if he didn't want it - she had to be his safety net.

It's what a Master, no, it's what a mother would do for her son.

His hands pushed her's aside, his first mistake. She waited to see what his move would be, and as his hands moved to disorient her, the momentum of his push motioned her arms back, guarding the sides of her head. His arms hitting hers as she held onto the blade but kept it flat against her skin, hoping to not cut him. She watched as his head thrust back, winding up to slam into hers, but with his blind rage, he would find his head cracking into the points of her elbows that rotated like two spikes waiting for his delicate eye sockets.

The blow stung; she felt it deep in her shoulders, muscles straining under the impact. Allyson held her ground, and after his attack, her right leg snapped a blow to his chest, trying to kick him far from her. She threw three bright dart-sized constructs towards him following the kick; Force Light solidified to cut through his flesh.

She faded once more into the shadows, pulling her force presence inward. Allyson needed just one moment; she had to find an exit - some way to escape. The farther the fight continued, the more likely it became one of them was going to die.

Was this the fate the Master and Padawan were to face? Was this the only logical conclusion?

She created distance once more between her and Zaavik. Damn the Force, Allyson thought. There was no getting through to him; the only thing she could do is fight.

Maybe it was for the best she be the one to put him down like the mad dog he had become. ​

 

[Zaavik Perl]

Sharp pain exploded through Zaavik's head as two bony pressures met his eyes. It broke his focus, causing his invisibility to drop, making him visible once more. He hissed, stumbling backward with his eyes locked shut like hunting traps. Through the pain, he willed them to snap open, revealing bloodshot red behind malice-fueled yellow. A rage-induced grimace held a growl to vibrate behind his teeth.

Both arms erected forward with hands in claw-like poses. Pain funneled into hatred, and that hatred became white-hot at the ends of his fingers. Dark emotions exploded outward into the physical, reaching and arcing in jagged streaks of electrical malevolence. Behind the storm, Zaavik emanated a sustained cry of exertion as he pushed as much energy from his fingertips as he could.

There was backlash. Licks of lighting uncontrolled bit backward, spiking volts into Zaavik's muscles, fueling him with further pain. It was clear he hardly understood what he was doing. It was wrathful intuition with very little if any technique whatsoever. As Allyson's force presence faded, Zaavik's hands spread apart, sending the storm of energy around all sides of him.

"You can't hide from me!" he screamed through agony and exertion as the deadly lightshow tore up the ground around him. Even the atmosphere seemed to burn as ill-directed currents cut through the air with erratic yet single-minded seizures.

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Zaavik Perl //:
//: Death & Rebirth //:

Allyson felt her blood run cold, seeing her padawan suddenly burst into a fit of electrical tendrils. He tapped deeper into the dark side, using the hatred he had for years into power. It hit her at that moment how far Zaavik had fallen. He was always on edge, walking that thin line, but he had finally accepted the hate, finally decided to wield it like a blade forged from the sharpest steel.

Zaavik was gone.

Her feet carried her as fast as she could, jumping and tumbling forward, avoiding the tendrils that sparked. It continued to fill the area, and Allyson was running out of places to stand. Finding herself cornered, the Corellian had to drop her concentration to keep the Force cloak and the hidden presence. Suddenly, Allyson appeared, dagger still in hand, arms crossed as electricity licked against her arms. She gritted through teeth as she focused on absorbing enough through the Force. One step at a time, Allyson moved towards Zaavik.

It had to end; if it continued, he would kill himself. The electricity burned, the smell of burning flesh and fabric filled the master’s sense. Each step, she dug into the ground until there was enough energy stored. Finally, one last effort she shot forward, the Force flowed freely through her till she stopped in front of Zaavik.

There were choices, the moment felt slow, and Allyson felt she was watching the whole thing outside of her body. Logic told her to slit his throat, jab the dagger so deep that he choked on it, and she would be done with him. He would be put down - free from himself. And yet, while logic made the most sense, Allyson followed her gut. He could be saved. Nothing would stop her from helping him, even if he didn’t want it.

She was losing her fight with the electricity; she could feel it coursing through her body, threatening to stop her heart. There was only a second for her to react before Zaavik overwhelmed her. The dagger rose high and forcefully stabbed into his eye as she reached out, holding him with her free hand. Allyson knew he would be fine, the blade was short, and she didn’t have enough strength to drive the knife deep into his brain.

Allyson held onto the fabric of his shirt, “This. Isn’t. Over.” her voice strained as she fought back.​