Private Another Piece of a Puzzle

[Morrigan Reid]

​

Bastion
Industrial Sector Garden - 21:00

---

It was late in the night by the time the feverish nightmare awoke Morrigan, jolting out of bed the sweat clung to her like she had just entered an active volcano; yet she couldn't be sure of what that nightmare truly was. There was a haunting feeling, as if someone had been in the room staring over her, strong enough to make her want to leave for awhile.

Gathering a small bag, she dressed herself in some clean clothing and made way out the door, slipping into the night without anyone the wiser; her family still asleep and at peace.

She wasn't quite sure where her feet were taking her, though Morrigan allowed herself to be guided to a courtyard in the crowded skyline of the city. Branching of from the quiet space were numerous amount of darkened alleys overshadowed by the tall buildings in the vicinity, the only lighting around being a street lamp on two corners of the square space.

Setting the small bag of possessions down on a nearby stone bench the girl looked over the few trees in the area, taking a breath to calm her nerves. A feeling like this never gripped her strongly before, and she was sure something wasn't right. Morrigan followed every precaution that was laid out for her, don't use your abilities, keep your head down; stay with your family and find a job to keep busy.

Maybe she had done something wrong.

---

---

Joycelyn Zambrano

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

[member="Morrigan Reid"]

Something kept Joycelyn from rest.

It was like a hunger; a need that drove her to seek. Yet no food or drink could sate her. No rest and no company on all of Bastion could distract her from the gnawing feeling at the base of her skull. So in the dark of night, she had set to wandering the streets of Ravelin. The cold, night air offered Joycelyn the first breath of relief in hours.

It was oddly quiet out in the Industrial Sector.

All she could hear for the moment was the sweeping of the wind and the vegetation succumbing under the weight of her feet.

She crossed into one of the gardens and something strummed in her mind.

It was as if a single note had been played, or perhaps as if a white noise in her mind had finally been stilled. All around her, the air was clear as crystal glass and a sharpness entered her mind that urged her hand to brush her cape aside and linger by the lightsabre hilt on her hip. The silk inside the black cape , now turned out to allow her movement, cut her silhouette with bright red, while her eyes smouldered like subtle coals.

Her steps grew more careful now, while her eyes surveyed the garden.

 

[Morrigan Reid]

Careful eyes glanced to the woman approaching from the edge of the garden. Her eyes peered over the outlined form of red and reached for her own hidden blade at her side when the other reached for the mysterious object attached to the hip.

Faintly glowing grey eyes locked on the smoldering coals, a seething connection to the force bridging the gap between the two of them. For Joycelyn, the girl might have seemed the slightest bit familiar. Pale white skin and hair ending in grey, like a ghost long past. The form held impressive size for the shape of face outlined in faint light; some large near human race.

A hand rested itself on the edge of a lamp nearby, fingers grasping into the metal as if it were puddy.

"I don't wish to fight you, but I will if I have to." The voice spoke out towards the unwelcome intruder as she slowly began to stand.

Joycelyn Zambrano

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

[member="Morrigan Reid"]

"Brave words"

Joycelyn's eyes narrowed and flicked down to Morrigan's hands

"I would not recommend trying."

A smile spread over her lips as she raised her hands to the level of her chest and splayed her hands, showing herself as unarmed.

There was a playfulness to her voice just then. It amused Joycelyn that someone would so readily threaten. Then again, it was not easy to see who she was. It could, perhaps, be discerned that she was some imperial official or noble. Perhaps one could discern that she was a Sith from the weapon on her hip, or the insignia on cape marking her as an officer of the legion.

And while Morrigan stood tall, Joycelyn towered over her like a parent over child.

Joycelyn looked at the face of this person sharing this space of stillness, and she became all the more curious. She was familiar, yes, but Joycelyn couldn't place her. There was something about the eyes, the cheeks, and a scent upon the Force.

Had she killed their parents perhaps?

"What is your name?"

She took a few steps closer, cautious, as if testing her.

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

Double post

 

[Morrigan Reid]

The hand remained on the lamp post at to her right, eyes remaining locked on the woman as she slowly approached. At a glance, the metal of the post slowly shifted and warmed under her touch, though stayed in its relative shape. The feeling of heat encroached on the space as glowing eyes watched every step.

"Morrigan Reid." The girls answer was short, sweet. As Joycelyn got closer the detail of face became more clear, the harsh brow of a familiar angry man, yet the slim and hollow cheeks of a distant memory, perhaps of someone she once met.

The potent energy dripping off the girl saturated the area. Poorly controlled power in the face of threat; a fight or flight sensation creeping over her yet a smooth confidence being presented up front.

More steps filled the silence and the sight of the post began to shift, a section of metal relieving itself from the center to expose wire and post. The metal melted as gallium would in hand, making itself a small ball in her palm as she waited, the woman continuing her approach.

"Stop there, or I will hurt you."

Joycelyn Zambrano

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

Morrigan Reid

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

A smile spread over her lips as she cocked her head to the side, a gesture to lessen the tension. Her eyes did not echo her smile, but focused intently on Morrigan. Their voices sounded strange to her, as if they were channelled through a speaker.

Too filtered, too clean.

"Hurt me?"

The smile changed nature, her eyes narrowing playfully as the thrill spiked its way through her spine.

Joycelyn held her arms out to the side; her palms faced the sky, visibly empty. She looked as if she would give Morrigan a free shot if she tried. Yet her confidence was tangible. Perhaps she was being overconfident? Or perhaps indeed she had strength to back it up. And with the moment of tension, Joycelyn felt her presence in the Forced become tense, as if she flexed a muscle. Her presence was subdued, just a little, so as if to encourage Morrigan to go through with her threat.

She took another step forward, defiant.

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

 

[Morrigan Reid]

The girl watched as Joyce took yet another step forward, her mind skipping between the possible outcomes of every scenario she could think in the span of those seconds; there were many. Then there was another step, and another, the eyes staring into her soul and the palms stretched into view. But this woman didn't need weapons, no. Morrigan could tell there was plenty of strength in her hands alone.

Her own eye glanced past the intruder to a post out of Joyces view, her eyes locking on yet seeming to stare into her opponent soul. The metal behind her shifted and bent quietly as it melted to allow another piece to escape its hold, then it formed into a long thin needle, about a half inch around. Only then did Morrigan take a step forward, the substance in her own hand forming a thick blade alike a dagger, though not sharp, it still would pierce with enough force.

The needle flew towards Joyce's back as Morrigan aimed to stab into the woman's front with a dagger, her adrenaline rushing through her ears, what little sound may have filled the area was nothing but white noise; ringing torture. She made her decision, out of all the possibilities she chose fight.

Something grew in her chest, the feeling that drove her into the night at first only growing stronger as she closed the distance. She hated it, and wanted it gone.

Joycelyn Zambrano

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

Morrigan Reid

And just like that, the eerie silence was broken with a rush of danger. It was as if the tense bubble around them had shattered to the pressure of reality.

As Morrigan's impromptu stabbing-implement came into view, Joycelyn lifted her leg and pistoned it out in a vicious kick to counterattack the stabbing. She was counting on the reach of her legs being longer than Morrigan's hands. The way she kicked was less of a strike and more like a powerful push to knock Morrigan back on the defensive.

Joycelyn's right hand curled into a fist to unleash the next step of the barrage, when she felt the stabbing sensation of the needle Morrigan had thrown.

The vahlacanthix grit her teeth and siphoned off the pain to reinforce herself. Her eyes glowed all the brighter, as if the bellows fed her inner fire.

 

[Morrigan Reid]

The kick indeed sent the girl back, the metal in her hands melting once more and melding to her skin as she regained her stance on the stone. The shiv entering Joycelyn's back expanded once it made contact, the small object attempting to drive a larger wound through her skin and armor though it was still fragile all the same, the possibility of it shattering just as likely.

Hands raised to block a thrown fist only for it to collide with the coating, the pain wracking through Morrigan's mind as the metal offered little protection against the force of the blow, leaving her arms throbbing.

If she had time, Morrigan would have reached to her bag to grab any semblance of an actual weapon, though she was driven further back by the approaching angry figure.

Joycelyn Zambrano

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

Morrigan Reid

The expansion of the weapon now lodged in the back of Joycelyn's shoulder caused a squirt of blood and an intense stab of pain. She gobbled up the agony and poured the adrenaline right back into her offence.

It was a dangerous game, but with rewards.

"You are tougher than you look."

Tough enough, it would seem, for Joycelyn to feel it required to step up her armament.

She feinted a jab with her right fist to keep her opponent at bay, while her left drew the hilt of her lightsabre into her hand. The pronged bloodshine blade burst into existence; it was shorter than one would expect, almost like a large knife compared to her. Yet the furious hum and bright red glow was no less terrifying.

As the blade was summoned in her hand, she thrust it out toward Morrigan's face. The motion was more to threaten than truly attack, but inaction on Morrigan's part would probably end in injury or worse.

 

[Morrigan Reid]

The girl reached out and grasped at Joycelyn's hand, the moment of panic washing over her as she realized it was run or fight back, and Morrigan wasn't very fast; at least not fast enough to run from someone taller than herself. Reaching out she made the wild grab for Joycelyn's hand, trying to stop the blade before its movement could be completed.

Eyes widened as she stared at the crimson blade of plasma, she was not taught ANYTHING to prepare her to fight a Sith, the only thing she knew was her talents of bending metal and fire to her will; perhaps maybe that she was really good at hitting things, but this, there was nothing to ready her for this. The power radiating off the woman before her was an overwhelming feeling that sunk into her being, the signature in the force reaching out and almost choking her with it superiority alone.

The same anxious feeling that drove her to a nightmarish wake crept over her again, the feeling of desire yet fear driving the connection she had further into her confused mind. Why did she feel like this.

Her mind snapped back to the moment of assault, her eyes glowing in the darkness illuminated now only by the saber before her, the shard in the woman's back pressing further to expand to its limit in an attempt to distract her assailant in some way, just enough to give a moment of breakaway.

Today was not the day Morrigan wanted to die.

Joycelyn Zambrano

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

Morrigan Reid

Morrigan's hand did indeed seize Joycelyn's arm, keeping the blade from initially making contact. Joycelyn knew that with the barest twist of her wrist, she could use a prong to cut the girl's arm, as was their purpose. However, overjoyed with her own supremacy, she opted to prolong the girl's struggle and her own enjoyment. There was just one thing bothering her: That burrowing sensation in her shoulder.

"To hell with that."

She pressed Morrigan, keeping the point of the sabre forward, toward the girl's face, then suddenly retracted the pressure and swung her leg back. Normally she would have followed up with a punch, but her other hand was not moving as she desired, so she opted for a vicious sweep of her leg. In ways, it was, for her, like trying to kick a toddler to the ground.

Following the kick, she pivoted and forced herself to reach up and dig for the metal projectile in her shoulder, first with her fingers, then with a probing of the Force.

"Get out of there, you little chit."

Perhaps Morrigan would take the moment to break away, or perhaps she would be swept to the floor and have to get up.

 

[Morrigan Reid]

The girl stumbled back, landing on her butt the backpedaling began the moment of contact. Distancing herself she began the process of standing, struggling to her feet while never turning her eye away from the psychotic woman in front of her.

This was a game, it was all a game to this person, this sith. The twisted nature of the force curling around her in anger. Morrigan needed to go.

Taking the seconds of distraction she took off in a sprint towards home, praying by all counts that the damage was enough to slow Joycelyn down, she knew it wasn't. It was unclear if the woman wanted any more than to tease and probe for reactions from her, the likelihood of death small, yet always a possibility, she couldn't risk slowing, glancing over her shoulder.

Fearful sensation crept over her once more like her nightmare had, the pulling of panic in her chest catching her attention. It was her.

Joycelyn Zambrano

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

Morrigan Reid

Joycelyn dug the metal slug out of her shoulder then threw it to the ground with a grunt.

She did not have the healing factor that some Sith imbued herself with through genetic manipulation, but she did have a lot of anger and a will strong enough to carry her on even after she had sustained some terrible wounds. This? This was bad, but not the worst she had ever suffered.

As Morrigan ran, Joycelyn turned off her lightsabre and bounded after. Joyce's footsteps were probably easy to hear, even feel, as the ground quaked beneath the pounding of her feet, pushing her forward with intense strength. Her stride was massive, but as she lost more and more blood from her shoulder, she was forced to take more steps to keep her balance.

She jumped over flower-beds and park seats in easy jumps without losing her stride.

 

[Morrigan Reid]

Launching forward the girl kept up the pace, winding around corner after corner and into alleys in an attempt to lose the woman hunting her down. The night started so poorly, but it was ending even more so. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as fight of flight struggled to take dominance, only when she became cornered did she turn around ready to fight. The alley before her closed to a dead end, the wall far too high to scale.

Grey eyes turned to meet the burning yellow piercing the night air, her hands raising in a defensive, stance. Blood pulsed through the girls ears, the sound of her pulse thumping in the near silence. Should she die here,Morrigan couldn't say she was ready, but she could say she wasn't going to give in easy.

Without warning two disks of earth launched at Joycelyn's upper body in the blink of an eye, the holes left in the path deep enough to make any fumble in step.

"You're injured, perhaps you should run while you still can."

Joycelyn Zambrano