Won't Somebody Think of the Ewoks!

[Evelynn]

Serenity reigned.

The gentle rushing of the river set a placid scene for the mute girl only known as Evelynn. Naturally she had been drawn to Endor by the moon's impressive list of native fauna. For those uninitiated, this was her thing. If there were any direction that this young woman was heading it was towards the lofty realms of beast mastery. No planet or moon was too far, too dangerous, she would go to them all and seek out their creatures for her own personal bestiary.

As she sat cross-legged on the river bank a gurreck lay beside her.

Not at all her most challenging feat to date, the horned predator reminded her somewhat of Chomp, her faithful and deceased kath hound companion. It was the tusks that did it.

To match its new master's state of composure the creature settled low on the ground beside her, submissive, its mind hers to command, to control. Her fingers coiled around the gurreck's mane, twisting and pulling slightly at the coarse hair.

She could tell by the beast's size and scars that it had been the alpha of his pack, not to mention its mannerisms. Evelynn truthfully had not been seeking this creature, finding the four-legged mammal to be a touch garden variety, perhaps something you would find in a Hutt's palace but he had been so bold.

Emerging from the bush he had tried to impale her on those fierce tusks, glancing her side in the process.

The girl drew on that pain, she relished the blood that welled up and stained her delicate satin cloth. Her song of soothing was released, metaphorically of course, Evelynn was not in the habit of singing to animals. This wasn't a delightful animated film after all. Once tamed there was nothing else to it. Beast and girl, they were one.

 

[Arage Bao]

Excitement reigned.

The forest moon of Endor, truly a beautiful sight for the occasional sight-seer. But not for Jared, at least not at this precise moment. The moon had always been largely unoccupied in the past, a graveyard world for the long-since deceased. It was for that reason, that he had decided to explore the heavenly body and figure out a purpose for it.

What he had not been expecting was the arrival of some unsavory hunters, who decided that he would be the perfect prey for them. And so... he ran. The fact of the matter was that Jared was not an omniscient God, who could tackle twenty troopers head-on. Sometimes you had to be realistic about things. This was probably one of those times, but that did not mean he would let them leave the moon unscathed.

Endor was in Fringean Space and Jared did not like it when people decided to take it upon themselves to hunt for his head in his private space. Though.. he did not exactly appreciate being hunted anywhere for that matter. But that was beside the point.

The Bounty hunters had not been prepared for a hunt in the forests, against an opponent who was already familiar with the lay of the land. In a matter of hours, the twenty-some men were reduced to fifteen, ten, five and now two.

Though these two were probably the best they had to offer, so Jared was not especially cocky about his predicament.

It seemed this would be a long day still, which was quite annoying as the sun was setting already. He had wanted to get himself a drink or two, before heading back to Annaj. Those plans would have to be postponed.

“Feth.”

@[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Evelynn]

The girl would have been content to have sat there in both contemplation and meditation all night, the biting cold and ensuing darkness that would have been upon her soon wasn't a problem. Evelynn may have looked the part of the fragile waif but tenacity was fast becoming her strong suit.

After all, pain was her game, her fuel and at times her very existence. It had not always been this way, but hey, c'est la vie.

However, how was one supposed to concentrate when their very aura was being disturbed. The serenity from before was swiftly trampled by excitement. The girl's eyes flickered open in annoyance as soon as she felt the first hint of disturbance like the first droplets of the oncoming storm.

The gurreck, sensing her irritation stood with the odd growl escaping his jaws. This was his playground after all.

Who was out there?

Rather than sending the beast out baying for blood, she gathered herself off of the forest floor. The silent sister took in her surroundings. Just from looking you wouldn't have been able to tell that anything was amiss. Eyesight was almost a weakness in that regard. You could not see, you had to feel.

It was time for a small broadcast. Being that Evelynn had been rendered mute by Kaine Zambrano her skills in telepathy were rather impressive. It was her only means of communication, after all.

Leave.

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

By then Jared had already done away with the remaining Hunters and fed off their dying energy. A despicable habit, but sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. And this man needed to recharge his batteries, not that the fight had been particularly tough or taxing. Au contraire, the men were pretty disappointing. Then again, who was Jared to complain. He liked to live and the worse they fought? The more he could live.

Sadly he had not been able to figure out their employer, excitement might have clouded his judgment for a second and by then they were all dead. Pretty annoying really, why could they not have been a bit stronger?

It was then that a message hit him in his feels.

“Leave!” It demanded off him, Jared could only snicker at that. The sender was strong in the Force, or at least her message was strong. But now he was hungry for a challenge, might be this mystery person could give him that.

There was little difficulty in pin-pointing the precise location, for his opponent just broadcasted his location to every Force Sensitive-person in a mile-radius.

“Prepare. For I am coming.”

That was the only warning she would get.

@[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Evelynn]

Right in the feels? Like right there? Deep down?

Evelynn's face contorted into an expression of the purest annoyance. Her message had achieved the exact opposite of the goal she had in mind. Oh yes. Instead of encouraging those trespassing onto her peace and quiet to leave the mute had in fact enticed whatever rude creature remained out there to come to straight to her.

Fan-bloody-tastic.

The silent sister could have taken the warning, if she started running now and utilised the creatures of the forest moon to slow down her pursuer then it was likely that she would have escaped without much bother being inflicted upon her day. However she would not be doing that.

No, shan't.

Her message in return was short and clipped. Chilly to behold, although her own brand of telepathy had that effect on a normal day. It wasn't something to be helped, it was just part of the package. Besides, it was good for inflicting a touch of frosty intimidation. Baby, you're as cold as ice.

She returned to the forest floor, once again sitting cross-legged as she waited to confront this nuisance. There were no grand displays of power, she did not emanate an aura of fear or power. No, Evelynn wore a scowl as if she had just witnessed two gizka in the act of mating, which was to say it was an expression tinged with disgust. I love the smell of confrontation in the morning.

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

His lips showed a feint smile, it was a sign of amusement. The someone did not heed his warning, well... he or she would soon find out the lapse in judgment. By then it would probably be too late though, because he was almost upon her. He felt the blood pump beneath his skin, as his heart strained to keep up with his fluid motions.

“Almost there.”

The clearing was beautiful to behold, the sky turned crimson. It was a bloody color, as the sun set and dusk settled in. This would be the day, this was the moment. A clash of pygmies. The moment the sun hid itself beyond the horizon... a green flash and then nothing.

Jared stood in the middle of the clearing, across the... girl. There he waited patiently, with his hands crossed behind his back. The animal was not hard to spot, at first Jared was not sure what it meant. But then he saw it.. a certain bond between them.

“Beast Master. Interesting.”

@[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Evelynn]

Beasts are preferable company to people.

Her statement was sharp and crisp, like leaving your warm home into the biting winds of winter. Honestly, it was a fair statement. Evelynn had admittedly not had the best run with people. People were cruel and unkind. People lead to pain and to suffering. People will disappoint you, abandon you and eventually break your heart.

Animals conversely, did none of that. Well, not when she could control them.

For a moment she sat in silence, letting the gentle flow of the river punctuate the moment. The sound of rushing water calmed her, soothed her even though potential danger stood before her. Control and composure were elements often underrated in the realms of the Sith. One could easily enslave their own emotions while bearing a tranquil edge. It was just a matter of discipline.

Not that Evelynn herself had mastered that aspect of the Force just yet.

With a gentle nod of her head the gurreck trotted out, occupying the space between the girl and her pursuer. The creature assumed an aggressive stance, teeth bared and mane fur bristling. Her fury, though absent in her own face was easily represented by the four-legged beast.

Might I enquire as to why you did not comply with my wishes? Why exactly are you bothering me?

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

Why was he here? It was a decent enough question, one that set him back for a second. Why was he bothering some lone girl in the woods? Looking at it that way, it seemed like some kind of bad story for adults. A shudder escaped him, but then he refocused himself. The thrill found him once again and it made his blood boil.

Yellow entered his irises as the Dark Side nudged him gently into the right frame of mind. His world turned red after that and a smile appeared on his face again. This was so much more easy.

“A challenge, my dear. Always a challenge. You will provide it to me, or die. Simple, is it not?”

@[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Evelynn]

Very.

The gurreck, whose lifespan just dramatically decreased with the advent of the challenge charged towards the man. While she had formed a bond with the creature it was by no means a special connection. Sure, on a technical level she had control of the beast, she could control and sway emotions and have it snarling and gnashing in one moment and wagging its tail happily in the next.

Perhaps if given time she would have grown to love the creature like she did with Chomp, she would have named him and he would have been elevated to a semi-permanent companion but sadly not.

He was now a tool for battle.

Like most beasts he charged from the front, leaping up at the man with his teeth bared and his sharp tusks looking to impale and destroy. Her eyebrow flickered with concern as the dark side began to fuel him. He was dangerous, that was for sure. However she kept her composure, remaining seated on the ground as her beast attacked.

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

The man simply stood and waited for the beast to attack. Darkness filled and surrounded him, as an arrogant smirk decorated his face. She would be facing someone who fought against Krayt Dragons, armored even, and survived. A pesky little wolf.. thingie, would do nothing but waken his lust for blood. The thingie did not realize his predicament though, if he had been free to pick its own destiny it would probably have tried to run away.

Its body was decorated by scars, an old dog then. Maybe an alpha back in its glory days, but now nothing more than a lapdog for a little Sith wannabe. That saddened him a bit, for he realized that everyone would decline someday.

Then the beast was upon him, it leaped with its tusks waving and trying to hit him, while in mid-air. It seemed the girl did not have much training in Beast Mastery, a pity.

A hand whipped out and took one of its tusks in a steel grip. The Force streamed through him and it was for that reason, he was able to hold the animal in the air. Silently Jared put him on the ground, while keeping it under control.

Even now it was trying to hurt him, it had been worked up into a frenzy bordering madness. His other hand moved, almost as if to pet the Gurreck. Quickly he grabbed it by its hair and then broke off the tusk, with almost inhuman force-powered.... power.

As soon as he did that, his mind forced itself into the dog's mind and cut all connection to its Master. Jared had been trained by Spencer Jacobs herself, while he was not well-versed in the arts of Beast Mastery he made up with brute Force. Crudely he forced the beast to lay down and lick his hand.

Then as soon as it did his bidding... Jared stabbed the beast with its own tusk, through the eye right into his brain. Killing it instantly.

“Tell me what you regard as your greatest strength, so I will know how best to undermine you; tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know which I must force you to face; tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you; and tell me what you crave, so that I might deny you…"

The words were ancient and mostly ritual in nature. But the girl would probably not understand, at least not yet. That would come.

@[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Evelynn]

Not a exactly a sterling start out of the gate for our Evelynn, was it?

The girl was perturbed, absolutely furious as this man oh-so-crudely charged his way in and severed the bond between girl and beast. It was a very jarring sensation, one that she had not felt before. It sent a jolt of fury down her spine and the girl's lips parted slightly, teeth now being bared.

Thankfully the pre-emptive bond severance was a kindness, even if accidental in nature. If that was how it felt to simply be disconnected how would it have felt if they were still linked as he ended the gurreck's life?

Extremely unpleasant, I imagine.

She winced, incredibly aware that if it weren't for her that the beast would have still been enjoying life. He was hardly the blameless party either, given that the broken tusk didn't just miraculously appear jammed through its brain.

Still sitting Evelynn bowed her head slightly for the departed creature. A moment spared for such senseless waste.

You couldn't have allowed it to flee?

Unfortunately for him she was one of the least aggressive Sith going, she was aware that her skills in one-on-one combat were seriously lacking and thus would never lead with her lightsaber. There was no death wish there, not today.

Do you often feel the need to wax lyrical after slaying innocent creatures?

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

After the majestic creature slumped down to the ground, blood leaking through the exit-wound, Jared closed his eyes for a second and drank up the remnants of the dying beast's energy. The connection that formed was delicate and distanced, still.. there was a vague sense of wrongness. Binding yourself to the life force of an entity that was dying was a hard thing to do, at least in a mental-way. You feel the pain and struggle of it, for when you die you fight against it.

That is the normal way of life and death, but this was not the first time for Jared. Long ago, in a different place he had experienced the death and suffering of thousands. The only reason he had survived was through feeding on their pain and lingering life. It was surprising he had not been turned mad, but if Jared was one thing it was a surprise waiting to happen.

While waiting on a reply from the girl, he gestured with his hand to the ground behind him. The ground started to rumble and shake, earth spilling out of looming form. When the dust had settled, a chair appeared out of it. Really more a Throne, made out of dark stone. There was an elegance to the design, one that reaffirmed the fact that Jared did not like to do things half-way.

As he sat down in his self-made throne, he listened to the girl across him. His eyes were an odd mix of yellow and blue, specks of red were seen in the whirlwind of colors. But for all of that, he was calm. The eye of a storm, if you will.

“My dear, you were in control of the animal. It -could- not flee, even when I separated you two there was still a lingering presence of you in it. Control should be a subtle thing, instead you made it yours and only yours. In reality I saved the creature, from a life of servitude. Tell me, who here is really the bad person?

My lyrical waxing only shows when I try to teach someone something. You are still ignorant, but at the end of this... a whole new world will open to you.”

@[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Evelynn]

He was powerful, definitely more talented in the force than her. Well, that or his specialisation was furniture based, which was all-in-all a rather unlikely. Maybe force feng shui. Wait, no, that would be arranging your furniture to...gain power? Let's just tie this train of thought to a balloon and let ti drift.

The girl's eyes widened slightly as she was called out upon her methods of beast control. Nobody had ever suggested to the silent girl that her speciality held unfortunate implications regarding morality. She bit her lip, clearly taken aback by such a revelation.

I'm still learning.

Her response was taut and bitter, she broke eye contact with him after admitting to such and her grey orbs took to the forest floor. He had accused her enslaving nature and called her ignorant. Were he faced with Nemene violence would have surely ensued. Thankfully, Evelynn was the more reserved sister and instead took to being rattled with a lot more grace.

Oh? So you're teaching me, are you? I was under the impression that you had come to kill me.

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

It was clear that the girl had not considered what she was actually doing through beast mastery. Not that that was very surprising, few did until their face was shoved into the painful little thing called Truth. In reality Jared pitied the girl, the thrill of the Fight had long since subsided since then and the only reason his eyes were still producing a color show was because he allowed it to be so.

But she did not have to know that. Never allow someone to know everything that there is to know about you, a worthy lesson and one that he had heeded for as long as he lived. It was the only reason he was here today, living and breathing. In any rate, for now he would project the imagery of a cruel, hot-headed warmonger. Jared could sense the pain radiating from her, wounds of body and wounds of soul. It seemed this girl had been through a lot, she would not trust him anyway.

“Only if you are not worthy, my dear. I thought I had made that clear, provide me with a challenge and you may yet live.”

@[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Evelynn]

Suddenly she was sixteen again.

Feelings of ineptitude surged and she felt as if she were standing in front of Quietus once again. She thought that her insecurities had been bled out of her but alas they were rooted deep and were likely to never truly leave. What if I'm not good enough. What if I'm not a challenge. What if. What if. What if.

These were feelings that required conquering rather than annihilation.

She clenched her fists, letting her nails dig into her palms with a generous degree of ferocity. The nip of pain soothed her, effectively pacifying the girl and preventing her from losing her head to her own insecurities.

Finally Evelynn stood up, her face remaining solemn as she did so. By this point her nails had drawn blood, and a sweet sense of satisfaction rolled over her. Relenting the personal assault upon her own palms, the girl reached for the curved lightsaber hilt that sat at her belt. The hilt itself was black and twisted, almost organic in nature. With the all-too familiar snap-hiss, the deep orange blade sprung forth, eager to end as many lives as it did while in the possession of the Sith Lord Moridin.

She could provide him with no quips this time. With her weapon in a right handed grip she dashed forward, the very picture of elegance. Her attack was not complex, instead being a simple lunge with the intention of piercing his chest.

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

Once again someone turned a Lightsabre on him, it was a wonder they even tried that. Though he supposed that was not really that surprising, she did not exactly know -who- he was or -what- he could do. Maybe that was for the best, because then he could not have done the following.

He studied her movements with a nonchalance that should unnerve her at least a bit. Because really, who can keep that calm when someone charges you with a fething lightsabre. Then, as the lightsabre was about to impale him, his hand lashed out and grabbed it.

Coincidentally the same way he had just taken care of the beast.

“You disappoint me, darling. I had, at least, hoped you would have taken a lesson from your plaything.”

The skin burned and sizzled underneath the heat, but the pain never reached his face. Jared savored the pain and agony, his eyes flashed pure red with black spots swirling around it. Slowly without taking his terrible eyes of the girl, his freehand reached for the hilt of the sabre and disentangled her fingers from it.

For a moment he held it in his hands, then he turned it off with a zip and pocketed it.

“A Lightsabre is wasted on you. Focus on the Force, that will sustain you. Like... this.”

His hand struck out quite suddenly, palm forward. From it the Force came, moving to push her back. Maybe she had enough time to dodge it, maybe she could jump. Who knew.

@[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Evelynn]

Well this wasn't turning out well.

The girl's face turned to one of horror as this man simply held onto the orange fury of her lightsaber. Who was he?! Better yet, what was he?! The shock and fear that gleamed in her eyes only intensified as he very calmly and deliberately relinquished the weapon from her grasp.

Not good.

Nemene would be furious. That was her father's blade, and her sister was very much the little daddy's girl. Family was their thing. When she had initially found it in the mute's possession she had almost exploded, if Evelynn returned to Rattatak without it....

Her immediate reaction was to shake her head slightly with widened-eyes and mouth the word no.

This coincidently was a terrible defence against his oncoming strike, the Force launched the girl away and rather embarrassingly left the silent sister on her back. Composure left her. She needed to get that lightsaber back. Priority number one.

Scrambling back to her feet the girl's brows furrowed. Without a real voice Evelynn had found that her facial expressions were a lot more animated than your average Joe's.

Give that back to me. Please.

There was fear there, and not fear reserved for him.

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

There was real fear on the girl's face, but it was not a fear for him. It was too primal for that, so something else made her really fidgety and it appeared right when he decided to take away.. her lightsabre. You did not have to be a Master of Deduction to figure out what the problem here was. But for now it did not matter, the girl was frightened and scared. This was good. At least for now.

He almost strolled over to where she stood, while walking his strength gathered for... something. For a while there was only his eyes upon hers, studying, watching. Then his voice appeared in her mind again.

“Tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know which I must force you to face; tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you.

I warned you, but you neglected to listen, my dear.

Now enough with the games.”

@[member="Evelynn"]

As soon as he said the last word he lashed out with the Force. Mental thorns lashed out for her mind, to grab hold of her and reveal all there was to known. Truly a painful experience. Once he would have been careful about such things, but he was more experienced now. One time he had been imprisoned in the mind of a crazed Jawa, this would not happen again.

Neither was there a more horrifying experience, so whatever the girl had experienced... he would be able to take it. He hoped.

“Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me. Show me.”

The words were repeated endlessly in her mind, torturing her and commanding her to obey.

 

[Evelynn]

The girl was truly perplexed as he approached, her mind was centred on getting the lightsaber back and nothing else. His no doubt nefarious plans for her barely even scraped the surface of concern for her, the only thing that mattered was getting the precious family heirloom back. Certainly a twisted order for priorities.

He began to repeat a portion of his mantra from before, this merely proved to agitate her. How dare he! Shades of Nemene began to spark through her. Outrage. Her face twisted as if she were about to scold him, but it was too late for that.

Silly Evelynn.

Eyes suddenly bulged from their sockets as the man began to painfully perforate her mind. Out of instinct she reached up to grab her own head, as if that would help any. This was not her kind of pain. It wasn't physical, it didn't leave a mark to savour and admire. He was digging.

Digging up things better left buried.

With her mind caught in the process of being ravaged telepathy was well out of the question. The girl collapsed to her knees and as she did opened her mouth to scream, without vocal chords all that came was a horrific and prolonged strangled rasp.

Her attempt to resist was pathetic at best, the mental bombardment was too much for a mind already so broken and thus it all came flooding out.

Like a twisted show and tell Evelynn relived her greatest horrors. The atrocities that Kaine Zambrano had inflicted upon the girl and her mother replayed over and over again, the moment in which the Sith Lord decapitated Karin Dorn seemingly stuck on an endless loop as the girl had been left bound in chains to simply watch in horror. In the end her once powerful mother was reduced to shambles, left begging for the end and she had watched it all unfold.

Of course, as the ultimate testament to her mother's memory Evelynn herself had folded like wet paper. Pathetic and weak. Still pathetic and weak.

It wasn't just the psychological that was relived however, the physical torment came rushing back in spades. Old wounds flaring up like harsh reminders that she was weak, that she was small. Throat constricting. Chest burning. From upon her knees the girl fell, almost as if she were praying to those twisted gods that gave her this awful fate. She recalled when Nemene almost drowned her, and it felt like drowning all over again.

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

He felt her pain, flash and he was there with her. The drowning, the beheading and a thousand and thousands more things. Things she had forgotten and things she had suppressed. Minds melted without aim and he became her, just as she became him. Their pains collided with each other and she knew him. On a level no one else did or would ever.

But his suffering was little in comparison through what she had been through. A childhood on the streets, no real family to speak off, abusive mother and a never-present father. A life of violence and vice, but then redemption. More and more they began to know each other and it was too much.

His soul was being ripped to shreds and she knew his growing respect for her. There was no pity for weakness that was non-existent. Instead she would see herself as he did in that moment. A woman, bend but not broken, a woman worthy.

Then a sudden flash and an explosion of colors, white streaks and yellow.


His eyes opened to nothing, no not nothing. It was white, all around him. His name was Jared Ovmar, he could not forget. The man stood in the center of a wide emptiness and then he knew...

“Oh goddamnit... not again.”

@[member="Evelynn"]