A Promise Kept

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

The irritation amused him, just as much as his own amused her. He ignored the insults once more, knowing full well that if the Titavian hadn't appeared in the exact right moment he would have killed the Queen of Naboo easily enough. The fact alone was enough to bother him, but the idea of ripping off the birds head was enough to keep him satisfied.

For now at least.

"If I hadn't crashed the ship you savages would have put me in carbonite." The punishment was one that he still dreaded. In theory it was actually better than being thrown in prison, mostly because he wouldn't even remember the time being frozen. The problem with it was the amount of time he would lose. A thousand years would go by in the blink of an eye. Seraphina, his daughter, his legacy would be gone before he could even possible realize it.

He wouldn't allow it. "The action was called for."

Up ahead he began to hear the sound of rushing water, the rivers that Mariya had spoken of slowly coming into view.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

"You aren't out of that fate just yet." She reminded him. "You still need to find a way off of this planet. And if you do end up in carbonite, I will be watching you take your final breaths. And long before you ever wake up to take your revenge, I will have been gone ten times over." Though she was acutely aware that he could quite frankly kill her very easily, she wasn't like Jamie. He was simply too strong for her to fight in any conventional way, and if Jamie hadn't been able to outright defeat him, there was no hope for her to do so, unless she managed to trick him.

He was full of hubris. More so than anyone she had ever met in her life. That meant he had critical flaws that could be exploited.

She just needed the opportunity to be afforded to her.

"And let it be known that you have no right to refer to anyone as a savage, after what you've done for nothing. It got you nothing."

The trees stood along a perfect line, parted by the rivers. The bank before them sloped down in a steep manner. The water was almost like the base of a waterfall, full of mist and white foam as the water crashed and rolled over in furious waves. This would be a test of balance, strength, and luck all rolled into one. They had to cross not one but two rivers to reach the opposite shore. And they needed to do so with only twenty or so minutes of daylight left.

The brunette stopped, sitting on one of the large rocks. This time she didn't remove her boots. "The rocks here are jagged. If you get cut it will be bad. I wouldn't take off your boots this time." That meant of course they would get soaked, and cold, but unless Vrak wanted to risk being cut by knife-like rocks, he would heed her warning. "Whose going first? You or me? This was really the only part of the journey that truly worried her. There was a real danger of being sucked under the current and drowning. It was deeper than she was tall at the center, meaning swimming parallel was required to reach not one, but two shorelines.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

He had ever right to do as he pleased, he was a Sith Lord. That alone meant he could take whatever he wanted, do whatever he wanted until someone managed to stop him. Vrak remained quiet however, instead studying the two rivers in front of him.

The Pureblood decided that responding to her would require too much effort, especially when the crossing would be so difficult. He was taller than Mariya, but not enough to mean he likely wouldn't have to swim a little either. It was a fact that made him scowl. The longer he stayed on this world the more humiliation he had to endure on a daily basis. Add to that the fact that the sun was nearly setting and things were becoming not just undignified but downright dangerous as well. He glanced down at his boots for a brief moment, noting her comment.

"You will go first." He stated simply.

If there was a pocket of extra drag within the river or a pitfall he wanted her to go through it first.

It was better that she suffer whatever fate than him, especially if it was a deadly one. Lips thinned for a moment, and a breath filled his lungs. For the first time in what seemed like hours the force began to flood into him, swirling around him and encapsulating him. Fingers twitched, pain soared through him, but he knew that if he was going to make it across those rivers he would need help.

Mariya had been healed...at least somewhat, but Vrak still had several broken ribs and more than a few other injuries.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

“Of course I will” She muttered under her breath. For several minutes she watched the water and how it moved, looking for the safest spot to cross without being dragged a mile downstream. There was an area just a few feet away where a fallen log provided a small dam which forced the water up and over it, slowing its pace very briefly. Mariya decided that is where she would cross.

Cautiously she stepped over the bank and into the water, gauging how much power the current had. Unsurprisingly it was about as strong as she had recalled it being, and just as cold. The water ran off of the mountain in the distance, melted ice that turned to fresh water as it traveled down towards the ocean.

Inching her way slowly towards the center the strength of the water gradually increased exponentially, and she began to get pulled down river as she crossed. The rocks below her feet were too difficult to see through the quickly moving water, so she had to rely on feeling her way forward, until the steep drop off left her to swim through the center. From this point on she was pulled steadily further down the river, now a ways away from Vrak, though still within sight. Quickly she paddled her way through the deepest section and felt the rocks once more beneath her feet as she stepped out onto the shore.

While she waited for Vrak the brunette proceeded to sit down and empty the water from her boots to prevent herself from being weighed down for the second crossing as it was the stronger of the two, and wider as well.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak followed quickly behind the girl, though his path was slightly different than hers. He started higher up the bank of the river, knowing that he would get dragged down. His feet managed to step quickly, miraculously not slipping on any of the rocks as he continued to wade through the river.

The Pureblood pushed through the icy water, his fingers unfurling as he reached the sharp drop off. For a second the current seemed to slow, only for the rush to nearly take him as he began to float and swim. A quiet curse passed through his lips, eyes swelling for just a moment as his ribs shot pain through his body. The force flowed through him, and slowly The Pureblood began to make his way across the rushing water until finally his feet hit rocks once more.

Lips thinned as he dredged himself free of the river.

He wondered if it would have been easier to tear down one of these trees and use it as a bridge. They were certainly tall enough, though without his lightsaber to make a cut tearing down anything would take more effort than he had energy. As he stepped onto the bank Vrak glanced down at Mariya. "What did you do with my lightsaber?"

The Pureblood didn't bother copying Mariya, knowing that any water he wrung out of his boots and clothes would simply be replaced in just a few moments.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Mariya looked up as Vrak asked about where his lightsaber had gone to.

”My lightsaber? Wouldn’t you like to know?” She asked rehetorically. “I don’t have it, so it doesn’t matter. Besides, I thought it was broken beyond repair?”

If the Sith thought Mariya was going to share with him where the lightsaber went he was dumber than she thought. Why in the galaxy would she give him back his weapon? Broken or not, he wasn’t getting it from her to use against other people again. “What use would you have for a broken lightsaber in the middle of a swamp?”

She stood up, making her way towards the second river about thirty feet away. The sound of the roaring water here was impossible to drown out, and she needed to speak loudly in order to compete with the rapids. “I suppose I’m going first again?!”

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Rapids. Fantastic.

The lightsaber wouldn't have been much use here, true, but there were many other functions of its parts. With the Diatium Powercelland the proper components he could have made a communicator. With the focusing crystal he could have created a beacon for other Sith. There were a thousand different uses for even a destroyed lightsaber.

The girl was just too stupid to see any of them.

”Yes.” The Sith Lord confirmed with an almost warm smile on his face. ”Try not to drown.”

Amusement floated across his features. ”I'd hate to break the news to your sister.”

The statement couldn't have been further from the truth, though of course Vrak still needed Mariya at this point. Still, after all the jabs she'd thrown his way the least that he could do was put the fear of death in her.

The little rat deserved that at least.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

“I would say the same for you, but only because I don’t want to have to bury you and defile our planet’s soil.”

She spoke as she walked forward into the river, the white wash of mist and water pluming as the waves crashed against one another, gliding over rocks that protruded from the riverbed. Almost immediately it became deeper than she was tall, and for a moment her head dipped beneath the waterline before re-emerging, already being pulled down by the force of the current.

Several times more the water rushed over her head, each time returning after a moment of disappearance. It wasn’t until she reached the midpoint of the river that another wave washed over the brunette, however this time she did not resurface. In the mist of the water only the rocks appeared to protrude out of the surface, obscuring vision further along the track of the river.

The girl held her breath beneath the water as the surge of the current pulled her faster. Her eyes opened so that she could see and attempt to partially navigate herself. She shifted her body with the current, directing herself in the same direction. This was a good chance to evade Vrak. The violent nature of the river, coupled with its speed would make it difficult for the Sith to track or locate her.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak didn't waste any time.

He knew the opportunity that this presented to the girl, more than that though, the light was fading fast. If he was going to make it across the river before nightfall he would have to get across soon. His lips thinned and he took a breath. His ribs still hurt, but if he didn't make an attempt to cross now he'd only lose the progress that he had made so far. With a grimace painted on his face the Sith Lord waded into the water.

Almost instantly he felt the press of the waves and the rush of the rapids against his skin.

The force of the water nearly swept him away, and as a measure of security the Sith Lord followed Mariyas actions.

Crimson skin flashed through the water as Vrak attempted to dive down into the deeper portions of the river, sinking himself into the water as he caught up with the flow of the torrent itself. His arms failed out, attempting to push himself through the rapids and towards the other river bank. His arms screamed in pain, his ribs roared with agony, but the force flooded through him and his muscles overcame their challenge.

Vrak burst from the river, falling free of the water and onto the bank.

A cough surged through his body, water mixed with bile spewed from his lips.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Once Vrak arrived at the shore and looked towards where one might expect to find the smaller girl drag herself from the water, it would be clear that the brunette was nowhere in sight. Even with the expectation that the river would have carried her a bit further than before, between the trees that lined the shore it would appear that there was no sign of Mariya.

While he had made it to the opposite side, Mariya had allowed the current to pull her further and further along its path until her lungs could bear the denial of oxygen no more. Her head lifted momentarily above the waterline, sucking in as much oxygen as her body could hold before falling back beneath the rapidly moving river to prevent Vrak from the possibility of seeing her.

The ferocity of the rapids, the distance she traveled due to its speed, and the winding nature of the river all worked in her favor here, and she knew that the end of the river was an incredibly tall waterfall that would drop her into a basin with half a dozen cave systems that she had previously explored.

This was her transport crash opportunity.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak looked up as he finished spewing bile, his eyes searching along the bank of the river.

A scowl immediately pulled across his lips. Idiot little girl.

The thought shot through his mind as Vrak pulled himself up and to his feet. Pain flared through him but the force still clung to his muscles. His eyes searched the river, knowing that was the only place she could still be. Within the fading light it was difficult to spot much of anything, but with the force and his own keen eyes he spotted a small blip of brown hair that did not belong among the white of the rapids. His lips turned to a scowl, and then he broke into a sprint.

The curved edge of the bank, fallen trees and broken rocks made it difficult to follow along the riverside, but Vrak bounded over it all.

Mariya was his only way out of this cursed jungle. The likelihood of simply stumbling upon someone else out here was low, and the Sith doubted he would be able to find the outpost that she had spoken of on his own. No, as much as it pained him to admit he still needed the girl if he was going to make it out of the swamp alive.

More than that still, she was a bargaining chip.

If somehow The Pureblood managed to make it out of this, if he found a transport and got all the way back to Theed, holding Mariya could mean life and death. He didn't want the girl dead as much as he wanted to live, and if he still held her she could be traded for a ship. So he ran, sprinting as fast as he could while glancing down the riberbank, his ears twitching slightly as he heard the roar of the waterfalls ahead.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The rumble that echoed beneath the water signified to her that she was only moments away from being cast over the side of the waterfall. It was both terrifying and exciting, given the situation she was in. The drop was roughly one hundred and fifty feet down to the basin, where a pluming mist reach heights of up to twenty feet. Once she hit the bottom, she would be like a ghost.

A network of caves that worked to drain the water could then be accessed, making Vrak’s ability to catch her that much harder.

It was her only chance.

One final time she came up for air, just as her body was cast over the edge. For a moment she thought she saw Vrak running down the far end of the river, but he was still a ways off. And then over she went, a free fall of such dangerous heights that the best she could do was to point herself in a downwards dive and hope not to be injured from breaching the water.

With a splash that melded into the rest of the roaring falls she was buried beneath the weight of the water that poured atop her, pushing her fifteen or so feet beneath the surface before the drag of one of the caves pulled her towards it. Her chest hurt from holding her breath so long. She needed air. And just when she could hold her breath no more she broke through the surface, her arms clawing herself towards freedom, coughing as her lungs had started to take in water. Complete darkness surrounded her as she felt herself moving in a downwards slope.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak came to a stop at the top of his cliff, eyes searching the water below.

His lips thinned. The fall wouldn't have been enough to kill her, meaning that she was somewhere in the font below. Red and yellow peered down at the water, his vision obscured by the hazy mist produced by the falls themselves. The Sith Lord scowled, letting out a muted curse.

There was no way he could dive in after her. He couldn't see any rocks down below and he doubted his body would allow him even the brief moment of concentration that he would require to actually make the dive. Knuckles turned pale as his fingers came together in a tight fist, his eyes continuing to wander for a few seconds, noting the cliffside that extended to his left and eventually dropped down into the swamp below. Following her would take time, perhaps hours.

More than that he would have to make the climb in the dark.

Vrak weighed his options quietly. He was still in the middle of the swamp, with no real direction save for what little he had gleaned from their short jabbing conversation. Yet chasing after her was an even more foolish option. He was no tracker, having neither the skills not the training for hunting her down, not in an unfamiliar environment and certainly not when he was already injured.

He had to find that outpost, there was no other way.

With a scowl, the Pureblood turned away from the cliff and wandered back up the bank of the river.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Eleftheria i Thanatos...

The cave pulled her further down towards the spillway where the falls emptied into another lake. By now the darkness of night had fallen over the horizon, the last rays of sun having been spent. Once the girl had washed out of the cave and into the open air of Naboo once more she pulled herself ashore and laid on her back, coughing hard for several long moments.

Her hair was filthy and matted, her clothes entirely soaked. But she was alive and away from Vrak it seemed.

Hands rubbed her face as she lay in the dirt, taking slow and steady breaths once her lungs had stopped aching from having been deprived air. Now the problem was getting home, or finding someone to help her, or at the very least finding somewhere safe to hide until morning.

”You did it.” She said quietly and proudly to herself. “Now what?”

Sitting up she looked around, in the darkness it was hard to gain her bearings. She hadn’t come this way many times, and without the light of day to navigate with it made things all the more difficult. The only option left was to follow the stars back towards Theed.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Vrak stalked forward.

Night had fallen now, but his vision was good enough that he could go on for quite some time yet. Pain lanced through his side, and he was beginning to feel tired, but he knew that at the very least he would need to find some place safe to rest. Sleeping out in the wilds wasn't exactly what he would call comfort, but he doubted he would be able to find the outpost Mariya had been talking about within the dead of night, no...he would need to find somewhere else.

The Sith wandered for a time, not exactly knowing how long. For him it seemed like hours, but the reality may have just been one. Eventually he happened upon a rock outcropping, small enough to not attract attention but large enough that it wouldn't be uncomfortable.

It was humiliating, hiding beneath a rock like a rat, but he didn't have much of a choice. With a grunt the Sith Lord took his place beneath the stone, moving back until eventually he found himself hidden within a small cave. His head lulled back against the stone, but he did not sleep. Vrak knew that Mariya was still out there, and worse yet...he still wasn't entirely confident that Naboo had no night time predators. No, he couldn't sleep, not yet. Not until he left this world.

Instead he took a breath, and slowly began to meditate.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

The brunette kicked off her soaked boots and rung out her socks into a small puddle beside her. For the time being she slipped them on the outside of each boot, tying the laces in a manner so that they would be easier to carry as she began her trek back towards home. It was clear that Vrak hadn't decided to follow her, given his lack of presence at the water's edge. That was a relief, as she was most certain she would receive another dose of that Force shock nonsense.

Sith are so....Uncivilized!

As she walked beneath the glow of the moonlight the grass made soft scrunching noises under her feet. She was tired, banged and bruised all over, and her body ached fiercely.

Making it back to Theed this evening wasn't going to happen, that much she was sure of, but she needed to find a place that provided adequate shelter and was discreet, something Vrak wouldn't be able to find her in if he set out for her in the morning. Perhaps he would abandon the search for her altogether, in hopes of finding another means off of Naboo himself, but she wasn't about to bet her chips on that. He was clearly persistent, given what she had learned of him thus far.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Within the small rock alcove the Pureblood found a measure of comfort.

The task was nearly impossible due to the outright humiliation he felt, but at the very least he was warm. He had thought that it would be impossible after wading through the waters, but it seemed the force was ready to give him at least one more gift for the day.

He wondered briefly how long he would be able to survive out here. Vrak had a vague sense of where the outpost was, but the girl had made it sound as if it would be difficult for her to find. That presented him with difficulty, not to mention the fact that he was now essentially competing with Mariya. She knew her way around these woods, and it was likely she knew her way out of them as well. There was no telling how quickly she would make it back to the city, and once she did it wouldn't be long until search parties were scouring this swamp.

Vrak had to move quickly in the morning.

Though first he had to rest. His body was still in broken shambles, and even breathing was difficult. The Pureblood leaned back, falling into a slow meditative trance.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

A period of time later the brunette found a small cavern cut away from the hills of the field. It looked to be the former shelter of an indigenous creature, likely a herbivore. It had built a small patch of grass, leaves, and brush to act as bedding, which was more than Mariya had energy enough to do herself, so in a way it was a lucky break for her. Hopefully whatever had taken refuge in the small area had already moved on, lest she disturb its territory.

By now it was likely that the RSF had abandoned the search in hopes of locating both Vrak and Mariya in the morning light. Without a means of communicating without alerting the Sith, she was on her own for now.

In the morning she could get a good head start towards Theed, and make an easier time navigating her way back home. As she laid down, hands tucked behind her head, staring up at the rocky ceiling she wondered what Vrak had decided to do. Was he still out looking for that outpost? Had he hunkered down in a tree? Was he planning on coming back for her come morning? None of those questions she could answer, but she hoped he would bugger off and leave quietly, or be picked up by the RSF and apprehended once more.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Mariya Pyne"]

Morning came.

Vrak's eyes snapped open, his expression as grim as could be. His fingers twisted slightly, and as soon as he moved pain shot up his side as it had never before. The broken and cracked ribs from the crash sent surges of agony through him, pain lancing again and again in a dull throb as a hiss left his teeth. The darkside rushed into him almost immediately, flowing to try and stem the tide of agony. His fingers curled into fists, knuckles paling slightly.

"That little witch." The Pureblood hissed quietly, gently pushing himself out of the small rock alcove.

Clouds hung about him in the sky, twisting and slowly rolling. There was a slight drizzle, but none of it touched him below the canopy of the swamp.

For a moment Vrak simply stood in place, wondering where exactly he needed to go. The directions were simply enough, he remembered what Mariya had said the previous day. Whether he would be able to find the outpost or not was another question. For a moment more he lingered, then slowly he turned, clutching his ribs and beginning to walk in the same direction he and the girl had gone in yesterday. There was no other way for him.

He had to get off this wretched planet.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Brown eyes peeled open in response to the glow of the morning light. A soft patter of droplets littered the ground directly outside the mouth of the cavern. Hands rubbed weariness away from tired eyes, yet her muscles ached more now than before. The leap from the face of the cliff into the water below hadn't hurt, but it had been strenuous, and now, even after resting, she felt tired. Her leg still bothered her, certainly no running for her, at least for another few days. Mariya looked a mess, like she'd been out in the wilds for weeks. Her hair was matted and filthy, clothing torn and tattered,boots covered from heel to toe in crusty mud.

Still damp...

The boots hadn't quite dried from the prior evening, but they were well enough to wear for now. Slipping feet into each one she carefully tied them and set out into the drizzle.

With any luck a patrol would be pick her up without having to walk all the way back home. It would easily take her three or more days of walking to make it back, otherwise.

Hunger would become a bigger issue than anything else, though she'd eaten bugs more than once while stranded...Gross as it were, it was food.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]