Private The Padawan and the Nightsister

[Cadere]

Dathomir

​

Cas... was probably way in over his head, again. Master Sakadi was on some confidential assignment yet again, forcing Cas to be grounded on Silver Rest but after days and days of doing nothing, the Padawan itched for something to do and luckily, the call to adventure came to him for once. After having a dream of a creepy planet that was red and hellish, the last place he would want to be... but strangely enough, he felt drawn to it. The Force was at work again. Cas proceeded to research the planet he had dreamt of and matched the images to Dathomir in the Jedi Archives.

Knowing that he was still a Padawan, the Council would have refused to let him go to Dathomir on his own but he knew he had to go there. So, in the middle of the night the teen 'borrowed' one of the Order's Phenex starfighters and made his way to the ominous planet. The whole way there, Cas wondered if he was making a mistake only to be reassured by his gut that it wasn't. Cas had a feeling his superiors wouldn't be too happy with that he did, but it only made the thrill more great each time he thought of it.

Following the entry into Dathomir's atmosphere, the Kiffar immediately felt cold - not a cold you'd feel in winter, but a strange cold that penetrated your skin and chilled your bones. It was unlike anything he had ever felt. Cas continued flying through the skies of the red planet but suddenly noticed a flock of winged creatures rapidly approaching his starfighter and before he knew it, they were on top of him, attacking him. With a mixture of the Force and his piloting skills, Cas managed to outmanoeuvre them and escape by the skin of his teeth but not before realising his starfighter sustained some damage to its wing.

The teen was forced to land the smoking starfighter as soon as possible. Upon stepping out of the cockpit, he examined the starfighter's wing only to realise he wouldn't be able to repair it with the tools he had... and with it still smoking, he wondered what unwanted attention from the Dathomirian wildlife this smoking starfighter would bring to him...

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Nezira had rested under a tree along with her Gaping Spider who was tearing into a very large herbivore they had only reasonably killed. Being the owner and master over Vex, Nezira had eaten before Vex was allowed, but as soon as Nezira had her fill, the Spider was left to eat the rest. It wasn't often that Nezira would travel far with her giant spider, as it felt most at own in the mountain and caves, however, Nezira felt like going on an adventure this time. The sudden noise from the sky, made the young Nightsister opened her eyes only to watch a ship get violently attacked by some of the more aggressive wildlife in the area.

Nezira followed the ship with her eyes as constant had to outmaneuver again and again the aggressive flying animals. Surprisingly the pilot managed to escape the flying creatures, but not without taking damage to the wing, forcing the pilot to land. Now Nezira hasn't met many strangers from outer space, so this instantly made her curious, but also cautious about who it could be.

Getting up from her spot by the tree, she turned to her Gaping spider, "Come along Vex, I want to check this out" called Nezira to her spider and jumped up on Vex's back, guiding the large spider in the direction of the mountain that the ship landed behind. It didn't take long for Nezira to find the area where the ship landed, as there was a long tail of smoke emanating from the wing.

Hiding among the rocky interior up the mountain-side a few hundred feet from where the stranger and his ship was. Vex lowered her front, letting Nezira slide off its back and followed its owner to the end of the edge. Planting her back to a large boulder, the young witch slowly peeked out from the shadows and saw... a boy? No, older maybe. What was such a young person doing on Dathomir? The curiosity really was Nezira's worse enemy sometimes and she really shouldn't, but despite her own internal warnings, the Nightsister turned to her Spider, "stay here Vex, but if I call, you attack. Understood?" Explained, looking at Vex, who made a low clicking. Leaving Vex further up, as Nezira silently made her way to some of the lower areas on the mountainside.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

With what tools he had, Cas tried to repair what he could before inevitably looking for help. While doing so, he remembered the history of Dathomir of the Nightsisters and brothers, how they supposedly went extinct during the Clone Wars - although rumours throughout the galaxy stated of the Dathomirans revival... although no one was brave enough to find out. Cas was either the stupid, or brave person to discover this.

What the hell was he even thinking coming here, he was deep in Sith territory with no way to contact Silver Rest on Kashyyyk. All because he had a dream and was bored. Cas slapped the side of his head, irritated at the mess he had just dropped himself in and now feeling insecure in his status as a Jedi... but before he could continue beating himself up, he sensed something. The Force within someone else, not too far off... he turned around to see where this individual could be but hadn't seen anything yet.

Cas then sensed something else approaching, fast. Not willing to take any chances on this planet, Cas halted his attempts at repairs and activated his cyan blade in preparation for what was coming - seeing something approaching in the distance, the Padawan squinted and as it grew larger he realised what it was, something his parents would use to scare him as a child... a Nydak! He was so dead...

As the nydak lunged toward Cas, he rolled out of the way of its fatal attack. Positioning himself on one knee, he outstretched both arms and used the Force to push it back, although ever so slightly due to its large size, the nydak pressed its attack and swung its powerful arms at the Padawan which he swiftly countered with his lightsaber. The power of the attack knocked the teen off of his feet and the lightsaber out of his hand... "Ow..." was all that came from Cas, once regaining his composure he noticed the nydak was about to attack once more... however, him using the Force to pull his lightsaber to him wouldn't be enough time before the beast was on top of him.

Cas couldn't help but think if he'd died on Dathomir, no one would know or ever find his body. Was this really it?... How the hell would he get out of this?

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Nezira felt the charging animal, a Nydak, nasty hunters, using their superior strength to overpower their prey with quick powerful attacks. Seeing the Nydak go directly for the kid Nezira knew it was the end for the stranger and turned around to head back up to her spider and head onwards. However, Vex seemed to have other thoughts as it had snuck further down as well, waiting in the shadows for the right moment to attack the kid, most likely see him as easy meal. "Vex, wait!" whispered Nezira sharply, but too late, the moment the Nydak launched at Cas, lurched Vex from its spot and jumped the Nydak.

It must have been quite the horror sight for Cas, seeing first the Nydak go for him, only to witness an enormous black spider launch for the Nydak, fangs baring, dripping with venom as it strikes the fangs into the back of the Nydak. Both animals rolled past Cas and split just behind Cas' ship. Unlike before with Cas, the Nydak did not just charge the giant fang-baring spider, who has lifted its front legs, standing in an aggressive stance, ready to strike again.

Right past Cas, walked in a fast pace Nezira, lit green eyes and luminous green mist dancing around her hands. "Vex, I told you to wait!" said Nezira sharply, as if she was scolding a child. In an instant, the young women broke gravity and started to float in the air. the smell of electricity and feeling of the cold dark feeling hit Cas like a truck as Nezira shot green luminous Ichor lightning from the slowly moving mist orb around her hands.

The lightning hit the Nydak in the side with a powerful burst, making it recoil in pain. Looking between Nezira and the enormous spider, made Nezira the easy choice, given Vex it's opportunity to strike the Nydak yet again, pumping another high potent dose of venom into the body of the Nydak, striking it unnaturally fast for such a large spider.

The Nydak didn't even manage to attack Nezira, as it was being grappled and eaten alive by from it's back, by the large spider, too weak from the spider's attack. Nezira landed again on the ground, looking like herself again as she watched her spider ripe into the back of the Nydak, eating.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas closed his eyes and braced himself for whatever came next... only it didn't? Cas opened his eyes once more and saw something he didn't know he never wanted to see... a gaping spider attacking the nydak. The teen quickly got up and summoned his lightsaber, activating it and was ready to engage the victor of this monster battle. Then from the corner of his eye, he saw a woman with pale skin walk past him calling out to 'Vex'... which was either the gaping spider of the nydak, he couldn't really tell.

As she passed him however, he felt a cold chill in his bones once again, only to see the woman literally levitate into the air and spew out green lightening from her hands that hit the nydak in its side... it took him a few seconds but he realised this woman was a Nightsister! Live and in the flesh, the teen felt slight fear at the sight of her. Growing up hearing stories about her kind and how dangerous they were unnerved him...

Then he could only watch as the giant spider took down the nydak and began to feast on it. Cas lowered his lightsaber and watched in horror before averting his gaze and covering his mouth, trying to avoid hurling. Regaining his composure, he removed his gloved hand and turned his attention to the Nightsister. Cas took one small step before stopping immediately, still cautious of this Nightsister and her pet spider.

"Y-you're a Nightsister... I thought you were all extinct..." he uttered nervously over the hum of his lightsaber. The Padawan kept his lightsaber ignited however, ready to defend himself if he'd be attacked by these two next. Well, now at least there was confirmation that the Dathomirian Nightclans weren't all gone... whether this was good or bad was still up for debate.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

As Cas spoke, so turned the young Nightsister her attention to Cas Tynen. A look of surprise showed for just an inch of a second before it contracted to a neutral facial expression. Without saying a word she slowly started to circle him, like a predator, giving him an eerie look. En the background they could still hear the giant spider completely tear the Nydak piece by piece, procuring a bloody mess. Whether Cas kept facing Nezira, it didn't stop the Nightsister from circling the Padawan as she looked him over and eying his lightsaber with a mix of curiosity and cautiousness. Giving the cyan-coloured blade her full attention, which in turn made her stop and look Cas in the eyes.

"Dathomir does not look kindly upon trespassers, boy" expressed Nezira, coming off maybe a bit too cold in her voice. Giving the smoking wing a glance, before looking back at Cas. A short 'pop' sound echoed out from the Nydak, as the Gaping Spider tore the arm out of the socket of the dead animal, who not long ago tried to slaughter Cas.

Nezira wanted just to move on really, visit the old ruin not far from where they were, and just turned around and went over to her spider. As she walked over to Vex, she stopped, but if this one had landed and was stuck on the planet, he might send help, causing even more people to come to Dathomir. Ugh Thought Nezira annoyed. Turning half around, looking at the nervous kid, which might be way in over his head in trouble.

"Why are you here?" Asked Nezira finally, though she could kind of guess why the exact reason. However, she wanted to hear it from his lips. Meanwhile, Vex had finished eating and now slowly made its way over by its owner. A low clicking sound came from the spider as it started to clean itself, standing tall over Nezira, ready to defend the Nightsister, if needed.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

The Nightsister's attention turned to Cas once he spoke up, resulting in an audible gulp from him. As she approached him and began circling him, Cas stayed still... either out of fear or caution... either way, his legs felt like jelly right now especially after surviving a nydak attack. However, Cas' eyes tracked the Nightsister as she circled him - the hum of the lightsaber and the sound of the gaping spider feasting was the only sound in the area at that moment.

Then she stopped and locked eyes with the Padawan, which he struggled to maintain. "I guessed that with the nydak and the annoying flock of creatures up there." he joked, laughing awkwardly as he pointed toward the sky upon mentioning the flock of flying creatures that attacked him earlier. Once the Nightsister questioned why he had come to Dathomir, the teen questioned why himself... however, he switched off his lightsaber and placed it back on his belt. "Eh, well... I don't know either to be honest." he lied, omitting the information that he dreamt of Dathomir "I guess I felt like I needed to be here, still trying to figure out why, actually." he revealed, looking back at the smoking wing of the starfighter.

"I'm Cas by the way, Cas Tynen." the Padawan felt slightly more at ease now that the Nightsister and her pet spider hadn't killed him yet... although that still remained to be seen. Cas gave a look around their area, the red landscape was almost nauseating - his eyes returned to the Nightsister however as he sighed and began rubbing the back of his neck. "You don't trust me, I know. But... do you know anywhere that'll have supplies for me to repair my starfighter? You said Dathomir doesn't look kindly to trespassers, right? So the sooner I get outta here the better... right?" he asked, hoping the Dathomirian would see the bigger picture.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Looking up at the smoking wing, she didn't move, almost as if she was in a trance, with how long she looked at the wing. And then suddenly she blinked as if she had forgotten Cas' presence and looked back at him, having very eerie eyes. Slowly walking over to Cas' ship, the Nightsister placed her hand on the hull, which she then traced her feminine fingers across of it. "Dathomir holds many secrets and people. I know of no such secret..." explained the silver-haired female.

Meanwhile, Vex stood completely still, not moving a muscle as she held a close watch on Cas, with her eight black eyes and only a fool would believe they could trick the large spider. "However, there is one place, a home of trespassers and machines" continued the young woman as she kept on stroking the hull of the ship, slowly tracing around it.

"Like you, they trespass, lies and deceives" explained the Nightsister as she appeared again around the backside of the ship. Stopping by the landing gear, she stroke her hand like she was searching for answers. "I will take you there" she spoke abruptly, turned her head, facing Cas once again. "I will take you" she started, walking at a fast pace until she stood uncomfortably close to the teenager, actually having to look up a bit to keep the eye contact with Cas.

The first thing Cas would notice was the faint grey coloured tattoo-like patterns on her face, forming a somewhat spider design. She had a pale-gray skin with white in it, giving her pale skin light shade to it. Her hair was pulled up in a knot behind her head with few locks of hair hanging freely by the side of her face. She wore two talismans around her neck, each made out of some sort of metal, decorated with beautiful design in a material reminiscent of matted gold. The first talisman had a symbol of a raven's head, a very common bird on Dathomir, while the other one was in similar metal, however, it had a much more dark decorated material and took the form of a spider.

On her belt, a pair of climbing claws hang beside the vibroblade dagger. On the other side of her belt hang two leather pouches. "Come," almost in a commandeering tone, as she turned around and jumped up on Vex's body and looked down at Cas. Not a hint of a smile or anything related to a happy emotion, as the Nightsister started to ride away from the ship.

To say that Nezira was great at first meetings, would be an understatement for sure.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas eyed the Nightsister as she inspected his damaged wing, raising his index finger slightly he was about to tell her to be careful but... he opted not to, she lived on Dathomir - she could probably take care of herself. "I don't--" he attempted to interject on the Nightsister's comment about him being a liar and deceiver. She then mentioned a place where he could receive new parts for his ship and relief filled him when she said she would take him there. Cas closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, smiling.

"Thank y--" he began to say while opening his eyes, only stopping when he saw the Nightsister... uncomfortably close to him. Examining her features more closely, a smile formed on his face "Hey... you're actually really pretty." he said in a nervous tone while blinking nervously. The teen may have accidentally developed a crush on the deadly Nightsister watching in awe as she hopped on the back of her gaping spider. Cas ran to catch up to them before slowing down to a walking pace beside them.

The walk was awkward at best, so awkward that the teen attempted to break it with small-talk. "So... I never caught your name?" he asked before moving on to his next question "You ever met a Jedi before?" he asked in slight confidence. After a while, she had led him to where they needed to be - the three stopped on top of a small cliff and in the distance below lie an outpost....

..."A Sith outpost?!" he exclaimed, whipping his head between the Nightsister and the Outpost's blaring Sith Empire flag. Then he remembered, he was literally in Sith Empire territory - the teen smacked his palm into his face and groaned. He was really in the thick of it now. If he, a Jedi Padawan was caught he'd certainly be killed... but this was his only chance off of this rock. Cas turned to look at her once more, giving her a weak but genuine smile "Thank you... I know this wasn't for my benefit but still, thank you." he said, giving her a final nod before proceeding to leap off of the small cliff and into the belly of the beast.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Cas' comment took Nezira completely off-guard and being the first time in her entire life that somebody had actually called her pretty, made her unsure how to act. So, she just ended up giving a short scoff in response as she got up on her spider, followed by a death stare. In truth, inside her mind was racing like wildfire. Why would he call her pretty? Who does he think he is?! She wasn't pretty... she looked just like most of her sisters.

A good chunk of the trip went in silence. Nezira completely avoided looking down at the Jedi, by the Fanged God, what if they made eye contact?! Keeping herself together without blushing was difficult enough, not to mention, WHY WAS SHE EVEN BLUSHING?! Why was his comment affecting her like this?!

With a great struggle, she glanced from the corner of her eyes, looking at Cas. Something warm inside of her welled up in her, her heartbeat even started to beat just a tad quicker and she had to snap her eyes away or she would actually start to form bright coloured cheeks.

Just as Nezira managed to get her own involuntary freak-out under control, the damn Jedi just had to talk to her. Holding her breath without showing it, she listened to his questions. Slowly releasing her it, she refused to look at him when he could affect her as he did earlier. "Nezira" introduced the Nightsister herself as, however, it was a short and sharp introduction and if came off as rather icy, which wasn't even on purpose, but her inside panic was really fighting to take control.

His next question had a bit of confidence in his voice, though, Nezira just scoffed and didn't answer. Hey, how was she supposed to answer? This stupid Jedi was annoying, she thought, though deep down she kind of liked the confidence.

Nezira caught herself actually staring a bit at Cas and when he actually gave her a genuine smile, she quickly snapped back, looking away. He didn't help her state of mind when he actually thanked her, which made a slight blush form on her cheeks, as she looked the other way. And what was the only coherent noise she made in return to his thanks? A weak not very convincing scoff.

Once Cas leaped off the cliff, she quickly snapped her eyes back, following him heading for the Imperial base a half an hour or so away from her location. "Stupid Jedi, he's going to get himself killed..." commented Nezira as she looked down at Vex, hearing her make 'clicking' noises in response. Which made Nezira huff in protest, "wha~? Don't give me that nonsense! I don't want to help this stupid Jedi! What? No! I don't like him Vex, stop being silly..." huffed Nezira now blushing completely uncontrollably, crossing her arms and looked away in disagreement.

Glancing back at her giant gaping spider, "don't give me that look Vex... no, I not gonna help him, he's stupid! He brought this on himself!" Argued Nezira, still having her arms crossed. Looking down at Vex again, "Ugh... fine. But, if this goes badly, we're out of here, okay?" Asked Nezira, which earned her some light vibrating sounds from her spider.

Looking out over the cliff, she could see Cas not too far from her, and with a quick motion, they made their way down the cliff vertically, making their way after Cas.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

When she actually gave her his name, a smile formed on his face. "Pretty name for a pretty girl." he had thought to himself, although he dare not say it to her face... unless he wanted to get hexed or cursed or sacrificed, whatever it is the Nightsisters did. Cas hung his head down and snickered at his own bizarre thought process.

****​

Cas landed on the ground in a three-point landing and then swiftly rushed toward a small rock formation, taking cover behind it. The Padawan peaked over the rock to get a better look on what he'd be working with in regard to the Sith outpost. First thing he noticed was that in terms of outposts, this was definitely one of the smaller ones - made sense, couldn't be much they wanted or needed on Dathomir - not to mention the threat of Dathomirians, the less resources the Sith put into this outpost the better, lack of soldiers should make this easier to sneak into. Second thing he noticed was a lot of storage and cargo being loaded onto a variety of freighters... were the Sith planning on leaving or moving bases?

Turning to look behind him, he noticed Nezira and her pet spider on his trail... either they were coming to kill him or coming to help him. Honestly, he wouldn't mind the company - he was... taking a liking to the Nightsister and he thought she was cute, in a crazy murderous kind of way. When she would get to the rock formation that currently hid the Padawan, Cas would ask "What're you doing here?!" in a concerned but hushed tone, before ultimately shrugging "Not that I don't mind spending more time with you but..." he added, in a quippy but flirtatious tone "You've done more than enough for me, you can go..." the teen would state, face full of worry. Not for himself, but for the young Nightsister.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Nezira just gave him an unreable deathstare when he had complimented her on having a pretty name and being pretty herself.

Sliding off the back of Vex, Nezira stood with her arms down along her body, listening to the Jedi ramble on to her. "You don't command to me Jedi" fired Nezira back with a scoff, as if she had been offended by his notice of not wanting her here. "You don't speak another word, Jedi, you don't know what you're talking about" hissed Nezira poking Cas' cheat. Cas was actually giving very weird signals to her, when he said that he didn't mind spending more time with her, the same weird warmth filled her cheat, but then telling her to leave just made her unwanted.

"I'm just here to make sure you get the stupid ship stuff, so you can leave my home," said Nezira, trying to cover up that she was in fact here to help him, against her better judgment. Not to mention, deep down his irritating flirtatious tone made her dangerously close to blushing. Removing her index finger, she turned around and peeked around the large rock between her and the base.

"Here's what we are going to do. You will stay here, Jedi, and don't interfere and Vex and I will take those in the base out" explained Nezira, however, it didn't really sound like a plan Cas had any say in.

After that, sat the Nightsister down on the ground with her back to the rock and pulled out a water sack sized pouch and placed it on the ground in front of her. As she opened the pouch, a small ghostly like smoke rose from the inside with the same luminous colour as the Nightsister's magick. Nezira closed her eyes, crossed her legs, and rested her wrists on the bend knees. "Mother, Sisters, Spirits, hear me. Mother, Sisters, Spirits, guide me. Mother, Sisters, Spirits, Help me" repeated the Nightsister again and again, only change the last word in each sentence.

Strange whispers started to appear around them, almost as if they were floating around them. Some of the whispers were easier to hear, while others were merely a faint flicker of a voice. Nezira's eyes snapped open and not only the pupils were a misty luminous green colour, but her whole eyes were shrouded in it. Only if you looked really close, would a faint outline of her pupils be visible. The same green coloured mist started to form around her hands, caressing the skin of her hands until an orb of smokey mist was formed.

Lifting her hands from her position on the ground, Nezira began to trail her fingers in different kinds of motion, which made the green liquid in the pouch to be slowly drawn out, to form a sort of green luminous transparent gateway. Nezira rose and went through the substance, making it look as if Cas now stood completely alone with the large Gaping Spider. The only thing Cas could see was a very faint and almost impossible outline of Nezira.

When Nezira stopped the ritual, the smokey mist retracted back into the pouch and all Cas could see, was a floating pouch. The pouch disappeared as soon the Nightsister strapped the pouch to her belt again. While Cas could see the faint shimmering outline when Nezira, the moment she walked away, she became impossible for him to see.

Now it only looked as if the spider was running towards the base and the moment the spider was close enough, could Cas hear the horrific screams of people, followed by the base's alarm. It didn't take long for the blaster fire to be fired, which almost drowned the screams of the men at the base, seeing the spider.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

"I wasn't--" he stutted, in a vain attempt to explain himself to her only to be quickly cut off by Nezira's sharp response, pointing harshly at his chest with her index finger. Raising his arms in surrender, Cas exhaled and formed a friendly smile "Look, Nezira, I just don't want you to get hurt on my behalf..." Cas revealed, genuinely concerned over the Nightsister's safety.

However, his plea fell on deaf ears, she was dead set on helping him. Cas' smile formed a disappointed frown however, when the Nightsister seemed so determined on getting him to leave. Once that was debate over, Cas lowered his arms and rested them at his sides, he quickly raised his index finger in order to raise a point "Uh... don't you think I should help? There's a lot of them in there... it'll be dangerous." he pondered, revealing more concern for her. She ignored him however, sitting on the floor and entering a meditative position - she was chanting something, something to do with her Nightsister magick maybe?

What came next, however, completely shocked him. Never seeing their magick up close before, this was an experience. The Kiffar watched in awe as the Nightsister used her magick to actually camouflage herself, as far as he knew, he couldn't do that with the Force. His head followed her as she began heading toward the outpost, while he could no longer see her, he could still sense her presence in the Force.

Once he saw Nezira's spider follow her to the base, followed by the screams of the men, and then blaster fire. Simply unable to sit and let Nezira risk her life, Cas emerged from the rock and made his way to where they were without hesitation. He didn't know where she was but he had to help. Igniting his blade, Cas began his attack with a Force push, knocking a few of the attackers over. "Your eyes aren't deceiving you, yeah, I'm a real life Jedi!" he quippily announced himself as he deflected some of the blaster fire - thus taking some of the heat off of Nezira's spider.

The Nightsister wouldn't be happy about what he just did, but he refused to sit idly by. Hopefully she'd understand... and not murder him later...

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

The first things Cas was met with, was chaos in the desperate kind for the Imperials. bodies were scattered across the ground, some torn to pieces from the spider, while others had their throat slit, laying on the ground gasping for air. Just as the Jedi announced himself, an engineer was lit up with green lightning, seemingly coming from nowhere. Some of the few surviving guards who heard him looked between the giant spider and whatever scary spirit killed the rest without showing itself and then the young kid saw funnily the kid as an easier target.

However, their blaster fire was deflected easily and the guards shoved with a great force of invisible air, sending them crashing into a concrete wall. "I told you not to follow me" called out Nezira annoyed, which was the only thing Cas heard, a bodiless voice somewhere within the chaos. If it wasn't for his ability as a Jedi to sense her signature, she might as well be a spirit.

Why would that stupid fool follow me?! Thought Nezira to herself, taking note that for some reason, her heart skipped a beat for just a second, when he was fired on. When he just deflected the shots without much trouble, the same worry feeling went away with relief. Which she, of course, could never let him know she felt that way about him, no no no, that can never happen.

The attack took no more than half an hour for them to completely take over the small outpost, which already was low on manpower, due to the rest had already left.

While still being invisible, the Nightsister looked around the outpost, not a soul was left alive. Vex made low clicking sounds before lunching down in a body a few feets from Cas, eating the body. A small slap I the back of his head, followed by a familiar invisible voice, "why did follow Jedi, I told you to stay. You could have been hurt!" Explained the Nightsister, however, she quickly realized she showed a slimmer of interest and worry for his stupid ass and completely stopped talking. Thankfully, he couldn't see her turning red as she walked away and towards a big hanger building.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas continued deflecting the blaster fire before stretching out one hand and using the Force to send a wave and knock some of the men off of their feet. Nezira then called out to him, clearly not happy at what he was doing, however he shrugged his head "I'm a Jedi, we don't stand idly by and let others risk their lives for us!" he called out to the invisible witch, whether he was representing the Jedi or his own ideals was up for debate.

Despite Nezira's protests, the trio made an efficient team - with Nezira stealthily taking them out one by one, Cas drawing away enemy fire and the gaping spider acting as the wild card. If the three were on their own, they for sure wouldn't have made it passed the first wave alone.

Around half an hour passed and that was that, the three of them had successfully managed to take over the base - not to mention the fact that most of their equipment was loaded on their ships and the majority of soldiers having already left, giving the trio a fighting chance against an entire outpost. With that over with, Cas switched off his lightsaber and attached it to his hilt - Nezira was still invisible but he could sense her presence nearby, once her pet spider began chowing down on the corpses left behind he couldn't help but turn away. Yeah, it was nature but it wasn't a pleasure to see.

He tried to tune out the sounds of flesh being torn apart and bone crunching but it was futile. He felt a slap on the back of his head, with the force of the slap knocking his head forward slightly followed by a chew out by Nezira. Cas rubbed the back of his head "First of all, ow, totally unnecessary." he quipped, maintaining a straight face "Second, I followed you because I didn't want you to get hurt." he continued, placing his hands on his hips. The Padawan then removed his lightsaber from his belt and flipped it up in the air before catching it "Besides, I have this to defend myself." he smugly stated with a stupid grin. He had no idea where she was but he hoped she was in front of him, otherwise he'd look pretty stupid right about now.

Cas' head then turned to view one of the modular buildings at the outpost, still staring, he would inform Nezira "So, I'm gonna find some tools and repair parts for my ship... then you won't have to worry about me trespassing ever again." as he made his way to the building he had been staring at prior. Still though, he couldn't help but wonder why he even dreamt of Dathomir in the first place, was all this put in place so he could meet Nezira? If so, why would the Force bring them together in the first place.

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Having forced herself to stop blushing for the seventh-kriffing-time, she scoffed by how smug Cas was, annoyingly not finding it irritating, but endearing. Following Cas with her eyes, while still invisible, she herself kept quiet, letting the Jedi work as she herself just found a rock to sit on. While waiting, she listened to Vex crunch down on the body, dissolving it into a liquid for consumption while having her eyes closed.

Nezira didn't know how she waited, but at least half an hour, because her invisibility faded, and where a lonely rock was, showed now Nezira sitting on it with one leg over the other. With her hands resting on her knee, she sat patiently and waited for Cas, taking in the surroundings. For a moment, she looked in the direction of the hanger at the ship Cas was taken apart for parts. One day, one day she would take a ship of her own and visit the stars, just as the smugglers did, she met so many years ago.

A bit of distant thunder could be heard rumbling, "think rain is going to come soon" guesstimate Nezira to herself. She never really minded rain or thunder, it was relaxing, showcasing nature's own primal power. Much like some of the Witches that followed the Winged Goddess, though Nezira never saw why anyone would follow the Winged Goddess.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

After entering the building, Cas searched the entirety of the interior looking for the correct tools before making his way to one of the ships in the hangar. As he made his way, he could steal the grotesque noises of Nezira's pet spider devouring the corpses, causing him to shudder every time. He could also sense the presence of Nezira nearby, knowing she was still here and hadn't simply up and left was comforting.

Now at the hangar, Cas used the tools he had found to strip apart the hangar bay's ships for the repair parts he would need. Doing so was therapeutic to him, keeping his hands moving, reminding him of the days he was a simple shuttle pilot when he would manually run a diagnostic on his shuttle after every job. He closed his eyes and smiled as he did so, letting the Force guide his hands as he reminisced of simpler times.

Without realising thirty minutes had passed and the Padawan managed to successfully strip it for everything he needed to repair his own starfighter. Placing the parts inside a metallic box, he would pick it up and return to Nezira, who was sitting on a rock and was now visible to see. As he approached, he heard her talking to herself "Ya think? That distant thunder didn't leave much for the imagination." he quipped and smiled at her, before tilting his head, gesturing her to follow him as he had everything he needed.

*******​

Shortly after returning to his damaged starfighter, Cas would use the parts he stripped from the hangar and applied them to the damaged wing. The Padawan would then activated the ship's thrusters to test if his repairs were working and much to his pride and joy, it did. Cas pumped his arms in the air "Yes!" he exclaimed in joy, the Kiffar then turned around to look at Nezira holding his hand out for her to shake. He smiled softly at her "Guess you're relieved I'm leaving now, but for what it's worth... I hope we meet again." he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand before continuing "Thank you, for everything. You didn't have to help me but you did. That means a lot to me in my book."

Nezira Viresh

 

[Nezira Viresh]

Nezira looked up at Cas, still having his damn smile causing warm feelings inside of her, though she managed to ignore them. Getting up from her rock, she turned around and started to follow him, not really saying much on the trip back. However, she didn't call for her spider as they left, giving it room and time to eat the bodies spreading across the outpost. The trip back did take a bit longer, but when they finally returned back to the familiar area and Cas' ship, Nezira looked on while he fixed his ship.

Hearing the ship flare up with power, she somehow felt a little disappointed, which was weird, why would she feel weird with this Jedi leaving? Nezira snapped back to herself, hearing the Jedi's voice, turning to face him. Meanwhile, Vex had managed to catch up, keeping itself on the outskirts, keeping an eye out for intruders.

Looking down at Cas's hand, she produced a small huff and slapped it away, crossing her arms as she with a scoff looked away, "well, I don't" though it was not even close to being believable. "Well..." she started, trying to find the right words, but panicked, "well I did and so what?! Okay bye," she added, unable to hold her very prominent red cheeks back as she panicked while at the same time, trying to sound indifferent about him and just ended up turning around without another word.

"Don't look at me like that Vex!" was the last thing Cas heard before she disappeared, scolding her spider as they disappeared into the thick and lush forest, leaving Cas alone by himself with a ship that worked and able to take him back to civilization.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

His smile faded when she smacked his hand, Cas rubbed his hand as the pain faded away - that surprisingly hurt. Her goodbye was abrupt and confusing but he smiled longingly as he watched her leave with her pet spider, Vex. For a few moments, he leaned against the hull of his starfighter and watched as she faded more into the distance.

With a sigh and another smile he chuckled to himself. Nezira was really something else... despite her ruggedness on the outside, he knew she had a soft spot on the inside. He really hoped he'd meet her again.

With that, Cas hopped into the cockpit of his starfighter before firing up the thrusters and began his journey back to Silver Rest. He knew what he was meant to be here for now, he was meant to meet Nezira, that gorgeous witch was really something else.

END.​

Nezira Viresh