Fight Club

[Cortana Jade]

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Spoiler

[youtube]https://youtu.be/aS0T1TVKsbs[/youtube]

I N N E R R I M
D E N O N S Y S T E M
D E N O N U N D E R W O R L D ....|



Blink. Blink. Rivers of sweat flowed from the top of his forehead and gathered at the edge of his eyebrow. That drop of perspiration...fell when time stood still. There was a ringing in his ears. Blink. His eyes shot upward and his entire face became ferocious; he appeared like some sort of animal. Then the vibrations came, he could make out the voices again as it all collided with his eardrums at once. The crowd roared but they all still appeared unrecognizable; they were background noise.

His muscles flexed, having become much more built since leaving his training behind, perhaps he owed it all to it for his physique. His lip was busted, he could taste the blood as he licked his lips but that was only motivation. Then time reacted, catching itself as the loop ended and that when he swung his right arm around and unleashed a bout of fury on his opponents face. Falling forward, he caught his step and brought an uppercut with his opposite hand.

The pain he felt...didn't even hurt him anymore; he was numb. He had no one...so he could risk it all. Funny when you had a death wish, but did he really? Maybe he was just living until it stopped?

Hmph

Of course he couldn't do all of that without facing some sort of retaliation, his opponent hit him back. It was enough force to knock the spit out of his mouth, but he felt most of the force in his nose. Hell, he even heard a crack. It only made him angrier and so he used that to fuel his kick, the bottom of his boot went straight for the mans chest. It was enough force to knock him into the ground. Falling on top of him, Rebel unleashed a fury of punches into his face.

It took a few good men to pull him off an unconscious body. Backpedalling, he fell back onto the crowd which pushed him back up. Panting, he brushed his face with his arm and then forced himself to stand straight up with a smirk as the crowd cheered the violence on.

Mischief and mayhem...

[member="Kaili Talith"]​

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Rebel Sunka"]

To know your enemy you must think like your enemy.

It was unheard of that Kaili often visited locations such as this, but it was not unseen. At first it had started as a ways to gather information on a suspect she had once run into, a thief who had unwittingly led her to his little circle of buddies. At first she wanted to take them out too, but attacking a room of highly functioning sociopaths didn’t strike her as something that was all that great for your longevity. On Denon she had no reputation, but in the Kathol Outback there was the name Mira Trell who had taken out two men with a single punch.

Sure, she could have gone to a dojo and practiced on someone that got up to her level, but what was the point in that? The people she’d fight wasn’t from a dojo, and to only practice against similar opponents undermined everything that she had been taught as a child. With these underground matches she had a chance to both observe what to look out for in opponents as well as practice against them. There had been a good few that she had seen arrested not long after their fights simply because she had their flow in mind when engaging them properly. Tip the people in charge of security enough and you were pretty much off to do whatever the hell you wanted as long as you could keep it up for each time that you did it.

Now that was proof that if anything, money was its own language.

But tonight was different. A familiar face had shown up for the fights and it wasn’t a face that she thought she would ever really see again. Watching him fight there was more worry than curiosity sweeping through the blonde’s system. He was a ferocious fighter, letting on a more bloodier fight than the fighters that had come before him. The way he tackled them to the ground and punched until they were within an inch of their life or someone dragged him off of them seemed to indicate just one thing, and it wasn’t good.

No, enough was enough.

A strange sense of ease would seem to radiate around the man to invigorate and fill him with a new sense of energy. Kaili knew he was about to need it and she was more than willing to let him have it. His previous victim was dragged out of the ring by his arms as the people continued to cheer at their champion’s continued success. The announcer roared in delight as he stepped into the middle announcing that the night’s victor would be declared unless no one else stepped forth. People looked hesitant, talked between one another with careful consideration. No judge cried his first warning, and that was when someone did step in.

A woman dressed in a olive bomber jacket and form-fitting beige jeans. People gave her a look as she proceeded to reach for the zipper of her jacket, some laughing while others immediately began to place their bets. The zipper traversed towards her jeans to let her shed it onto the floor by the soles of the boots that hugged her shins and exposed a black blouse that hugged her body as tightly as her pants. Her hands stroked along the skin of her forearms to warm them up and shoulders rolled to pull the shirt further into the embrace of her already well-toned abs.

Amber eyes locked onto Rebel’s as a hand moved up to tie loose blonde hair into a tight ponytail.

Kaili had entered the ring.

With luck he would remember who she was and what she could do.

With luck he would pull himself out of the competition right away or face the consequences of his actions in full.

 

[Cortana Jade]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

His chest grew in size just as he took in air, the roaring of the crowd still vibrating at his back. Reb snatched a drink from on the patrons and took a gulp, much of the liquid had fallen through the crevices and seeped down his cheeks. Stumbling back, he caught his step by putting the weight on his back foot only to propel himself forward. Seems like another had stepped into the ring...he could tell by the reactions of the surround crowd.

His nose twitched a couple of times in succession; he caught on to a familiar scent. Through the blood, the sweat, the alcohol...he could smell her. His entire expression dropped and he turned around. Tsk tsk tsk...time, so tricky. It seemed like he was stuck in an endless loop when he turned around and saw her face. When he laid eyes on her; flashbacks. He mouth parted for words but he didn't say anything. Instead he smirked....

"Kaili..." he was definitely different from the last time she'd seen him. "Still as beautiful as ever..." he giggled and then his smartass expression fell again.

And just what was she doing here? She couldn't have known about anything that had went down with him...so he knew she wasn't here for him probably until now maybe...

He lifted his head, sort of motioning at her...

"You look like you preparing for a fight..."

And uhh...well. He never forgot what she did to the slavers...so

"I'm not about to fight you...get outa here why don't ya?" he pointed at her.

Obviously the crowd wanted this to happen but...

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Rebel Sunka"]

You look like you preparing for a fight…

“Yep.” Kaili stated it plain as her hands lowered from the back of her head. The ponytail was done with, her hands tensing and easing up to rid themselves of any tension that’d get in the way of their showdown.

I’m not about to fight you…. Get outta here why don’t ya?

“Nope.” She replied once again with as few words as ever.

The crowd began to whistle and weigh their odds back and forth as the two opponents talked. A fight with history between the opponents was a rare sight, but every now and then it happened and when they did they more often than not offered more than just a physical beating. Trash talk tended to ramp up the angrier either of them got, and the pain they sought to inflict in weak spots grew mirrored only by the amount of beatings said person was able to take.

They were practically shouting as Kaili got her fists up to show that she was ready for this to begin.

“I will give you the chance to back out of this.” Kaili shrugged at the man behind raised knuckles. “Turn back, meet me outside in ten, and we’ll talk with words.”

“... Or stay, talk with your fists, and be ready to take the beating of a lifetime.”

“Either way, I am going to talk some sense into you, Rebel.”

 

[Cortana Jade]

“Either way, I am going to talk some sense into you, Rebel.”

He popped his jaw while slowly shaking his head. "Dammit Kaili!" he stomped his foot and began to pace back and forth while running his hands down his face. Stopping dead in his tracks he pointed at her, "You know I'm stubborn..."

Hell he was lazy but...he couldn't back away from this. He also knew he wouldn't be able to lay a hand on her. They both knew he was going to take this beating and then probably another after the fight. That's what made this all hard.

The crowd kept cheering, provoking the violence.

Chit...

His hands slowly rose, he tensed and eased up on his fingers until he heard them pop. He sniffled, twitching his nose back and forth while slowly moving towards his right. He lunged forward, not intending to strike at her but hoping to provoke her into hitting him. He'd brave em for as long as he could.

"Heck...you better buy me a drink after this." he smirked, "Now talk that sense baby!"

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Rebel Sunka"]

Oh she knew he was stubborn. He had shown her that plenty on the ship, and part of her couldn’t help wondering what had happened to his even more stubborn friend. Dead, probably. It felt like the most likely outcome in all of this. It was the route that recklessness more often than not brought people onto, much like pit fights did.

The crowd cheered, the man thrust himself towards her and she began stepping aside to let him hit at… Well, nothing. If he had tried to hit her in the first place.

“You know you’re supposed to actually hit at me, right?” Kaili perked her brow behind her fists. “Part of the dance.”

She set off a quick jab for his face with little commitment. All things considered she wasn’t actually looking to hurt him as much as just tire him out. Now, if she would be able to alleviate some of her own frustrations it was all the same. Last they had met it had been rather non existent heap of troubles beyond the slavers. Now… Well, if her choice was between rock and a hard place she’d find life itself had thrown spikes and broken glass on top just for the sake of it. No, deep down perhaps a small part of her wanted this fight for her own sake as well. It wouldn’t make it any less about Rebel.

It wasn’t healthy, she knew that but she also didn’t give a chit.

“So how about for starters,” Kaili began her sense talking. “What the feth are you doing here?”

 

[Cortana Jade]

“You know you’re supposed to actually hit at me, right?”

"Yeah" short answer as he kept moving about, watching her.

“Part of the dance.”

"I was never a good dancer...besides I'm not trying to hurt you." The last of his words went under his breath, then his head jolted back to avoid her jab. His hand came up and swiped it away. He retaliated with a jab of his own, but his aim was off on purpose. She probably wouldn't know. His right hand went straight for the open space above her shoulder.

There was a possibility that she'd either flip him over or just go for his face again, wasn't like he was well guarded and she was more agile than the kid anyway. But whether he ended up on his back or backpedalling because he just got whacked in the eye...well he'd deal with it.

"I quit my day job..." He shrugged, he thought the Jedi was his thing...now he just wasn't so sure about anything anymore. Truthfully, he needed this place. It's been helping him cope and alleviate some stress.

"I come to fight...it's the only place where I don't feel a thing. Besides...these are my type of people, can't be that surprising."

Yeah, maybe he did have a death wish...

"More importantly...why are you here?"

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Rebel Sunka"]

It was a peculiar game. Neither combatant seemed all that keen on hurting the other, yet neither of them really wanted to disappoint the audience either. The crowd cheered as the man punched for Kaili and even more as she grabbed him by the wrist to toss him aside and into a stumble. Didn’t follow up with anything though. Gut told her now wasn’t the time and she knew better than to doubt it.

No.

Wait.

Quit his day job?

Lips thinned. Idiot.

“I come to watch.” She shrugged behind her raised guard. Her head shook. “The dojo is great,” She set off a jab towards the man’s face in the hopes of making him parry only to quickly withdraw her hand and deliberately try to punch him in the stomach holding nothing back. “Reality is greater.” She grunted.

“Quitting your job was a mistake.”

 

[Cortana Jade]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

He was tossed forward, sticking his foot out he caught himself and pivoted to regain himself.

Sniffles.

"Your probably one of the best fighters to come in here and you only watch? You sure that's it?"

But then again, everyone wasn't into brawling and of course there was the option of just being a spectator. Ehh couldn't fault that at all. But he knew she had to be up to something else. He wasn't sure he believed in coincidences anymore...He'd been fighting here for a few weeks and it wasn't until now that she stepped in?

Soon as he put his guard back up she came at him again, of course he tried to parry but was then met with a much harder punch to his gut. He grunted in pain, the damn wind had nearly been knocked out of him. As he fell to a knee, on his way down he murmured "Well i'm not fit to be a Jedi...anymore"

He gasped for air, wiped his mouth and stood back up. Fueled by the crowds energy rather than his he stepped forward and launched himself at her stepping forward and trying to follow through with a punch that was uncoordinated. Him throwing his weight.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Rebel Sunka"]

“Yep.” Kaili responded to his question.

The man seemed to be doing this out of something similar to self-pity. He fell to a knee muttering something about not being fit to a jedi. It was nonsense, really, nobody was ever unfit to be a jedi. Being a jedi wasn’t something you were just born into, much like being a Sith was something that most people weren’t born into either. It was hard work and dedication, something she hoped the man still retained at least some measures of. They were important, and losing them made it easy enough to lose track of the self.

Rebel got up from the ground and Kaili let him do so unhindered. It might have been an underground fight, but that didn’t mean she had to play by their lack of rules. If anything the lack of rules meant she was free to shape her own. Once back on his feet she noticed the way Rebel swung for her. A split second decision was made, she played along. Her foot slid against the ground to place her right within the trajectory of his punch. She played it off as a mistake, but anyone with a keen set of eyes would see that it was taken on purpose. The sound and feeling of a rock hard knuckle hitting her temple echoed through her mind. A part of her delighted in it, another part of her did not, yet it was the former that spoke the loudest.

Recoiling she staggered backwards covering her face. Did he regret that? The girl held out in the force to see what his most immediate reaction was but made no mention of it.

Stumbling on back into reality she raised her fists once more.

“Come on!” She cried out as she began to bounce back and forth to get herself more worked up. “Get into it, show me what you’ve actually got, Rebel!”

Idea. Dangerous. Not good. “Unless you’re too weak to be a fighter too.”

 

[Cortana Jade]

He would be lying if he said hitting her didn't bring him a little comfort. It wasn't that it was her but it was this whole damn set up. This chit made him forget about his own pain...his own issues. Was he wrong? Yeah...but

His eyebrows rose in sync, he connected? Well of course he knew that had to have been on purpose. Just what was she trying to do huh? He couldn't get himself to address him connecting a hit, at least not initially. He knew she put herself in the way...he figured maybe this was for the crowd. Hell, they were loving it.

He jumped up and down in rapid succession off the balls of his feet, "Look...I'm sorr-" his words were cut off from her egging him on. Perplexed? Yeah slightly...so she was getting a kick out of this huh?

“Unless you’re too weak to be a fighter too.”

Those were her words. For him time slowed down to where he could hear only his breathing...within that second her words reverberated through his head. Was he weak?

He couldn't beat drugs...he couldn't handle the pressures of the Jedi...he couldn't maintain relationships...he'd lost his connection to the Force, hell to life...

Pitiful.

Was he weak?

Everything hit him at once, and when he snapped out of it he had set himself on course to engage her for real. He didn't see her though, he saw himself. Because maybe if could actually commit to kicking his own arse if he committed to anything. He stepped forward with a few quick jab, following through with one after the other. There wasn't much technique there...he was just swinging to hit anything he could.

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Rebel Sunka"]

He felt regret for a moment. Of course it was drowned out by a burning fury just mere moments later. Sure, Kaili too regretted having said what she did, but it was ultimately with good intentions. The first step to fixing was breaking, or so she had heard. Rebel had been unwilling to open up in part because they knew each other, or so Kaili told herself. It was how she would have treated this if she was in his seat. Did she want to get pounded by this man? No, she did not, but part of her suspected the man needed it and part of her felt like she was right. The other part, the one that was far more rational — and if anything, clever — knew that perhaps a small part of him needed an outlet as well.

That was why she attended every now and then after all.

He came towering towards her. Punch after punch that lacked any kind of direction but not strength. Kaili shielded her face from the onslaught, moved her arms every now and then to intercept the hits for her body. This was what she had wanted stepping into the ring, a challenge and a talk at the same time.

Hand reached out to grapple his arm and toss the man to the side as she circled around his back for some breathing space.

“Good!” She egged him on even further. “Now focus on yourself, keep the anger from taking over without letting this focus go.” Kaili got back into a fighting stance. “You need control to win this. Anger does nothing but throw you off, let it go.”

Not that Kaili planned on making it easy. “Tell me how you ended up here. The whole story from when we last saw each other on that slaver ship.”

 

[Cortana Jade]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

He stumbled forward, and pivoted to return his attention back to her. His eye twitched...normally he had way tougher skin but lately he found himself lashing out and the like. The irritation was there...his breathing had increased, but it wasn't with Kaili of course. It was with himself...and hell thats one of the reasons he did this. He could release frustrations out on others and still make a credit or two.

“You need control to win this. Anger does nothing but throw you off, let it go.”

His nostrils flared and he put his guard back up, he took a step or two before he began to bounce on the balls of his feet again. Jab right. Jab Left. Aggressive definitely...

"Training." he said in short.

"Found a place amongst the Jedi...I was on track. Hell even became a Justicar and field agent, but I ended up failing and costing lives..."

A few quick jabs, he swayed left and right to avoid any retaliation. "Then...Je..Jed" he stumbled a bit...it was hard for him to address because he was still facing it. It urked him even more to share, it showed in his attacks from then on. His face started to show the internal struggle...and the anger surfacing.

"Relapse..." he said short, just continuing to throw punches and jump back and forth to keep the tussle going.

"Now...I'm existing. I don't know who I am."

Agghhh.

She could probably pry more information out of him if she cared to keep pushing for it. But that was to go dark places...

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Rebel Sunka"]

Dodge. Dodge. Thud. Kaili hissed in pain, the hit got her good. Warmth began to spread down her nose as the room grew wilder for each consecutive punch the man proceeded to send her way. Driplets of blood began to pour along her lip down the side of her mouth before being swept away by a quick hand. She hadn’t counted on that. Not by a long shot. Whether it was because he used control to outmaneuver her in the end, or because he simply struck dumb luck mattered little. Between the punches she had picked up parts of what he was saying, about being made a justicar, even a field agent but having failed and costing lives.

Mention was made of someone called Jed. Kaili wouldn’t press it. There was enough pain there for her to know better. Maybe later, maybe after the fight when they were both thinking straight. He had lost sight of himself, and that was what she had feared. Rebel was a good man, she had seen it when they escaped the slavers all that time ago. He was fighting because he found stability in it, and he found stability in it because it was one of the things he knew the best. Kaili could think herself starting to understand it.

Thud two.

“Feth!” Kaili screamed in pain. Thinking had caught her off again, a hit on her shoulder that stung worse than hell.

Okay then. Playtime was over.

“I’ll make this quick.” She coughed up as she regained her balance. “We’ll talk proper when either your eyes or mine open again.”

With that she went for his knee in a quick sweep to throw the man off his balance. Regardless if she had landed or not she would follow it up with a dash for his face and nose. She was a good woman at heart, but an eye for an eye was still an eye for an eye. She blood that ran down her chin dripped to the floor as she jumped back to re-assess her situation.

She didn’t like this fight anymore. Rebel deserved better.

 

[Cortana Jade]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

She screamed out in pain...that was all he heard. In that moment of them not engaging he just felt the vibrations along his skin...the crowd like this. He couldn't make out the words but the screams he felt...and they kept echoing in his head. But as numb as he was he felt what happen next.

Pain. It shot through his knee and coursed down his shin. Growing weak he fell down on his knee only to be met with a wack to his face. His head snapped backwards as gravity pulled him down. The pain didn't come till after the hit connected. The area around his face and upper lip coursed with excruciating pain. He hit the floor just as the crowd engulfed them both with their roars; simultaneously.

Ugh...

His eyes opened just as he felt moisture running along his upper lip. Inspecting, he found blood leaking from his nose. He pushed himself up, running his arms along his face to clear some of the blood. Hell...he was still tired from the last few fights, and he'd surely be sore after this one.

He was panting, and he had the animal look in his eyes from earlier...but he did nothing. He was trying to repress lashing out. But he felt himself stumbling...off balance and tired.

He stepped forward and fell to his knee..."Kaili...just go home!" he threw his arm out.

That numbness had wore off...and he was feeling it all at once. Everyone else, he didn't care if he blacked out on...but not her.

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Rebel Sunka"]

He was upset, tired and down on his knee. An arm reached out but Kaili would reach to grab it. He was done, they both wanted out and there was only really the one way to do it. The audience wouldn’t settle for less than a knockout at this point, both combatants had taken enough beatings for the fight to seem real, yet had this outcome ever been in doubt? Kaili would lie if she said she didn’t feel bad for it, but she knew that the option to just call it off wouldn’t be an option available to either of them. The new fighter coming in and almost dethrones the current champion? No, that wouldn’t fly.

“No.” Kaili shook her head at the man’s request. “Please forgive me.”

Her hand reached out for a hit on the side of his temple. A backhanded slap to get him down to the ground. Eyes shut tight and brows furrowed as the man hit the ground and the crowd went wild. This wasn’t the end he deserved, but it was the end she had to deal him. Crowds began piling into the ring once it was made known who was the fight’s winner. Their old hero being dragged out towards the medbay for water and painkillers. Any other night Kaili might have been excited as well, but not when faced with this.

Rebel wasn’t here because he enjoyed it, he was here because it was familiar. It wasn’t the same thing. He could fight, he had baggage and the cheer of the crowd blocked it out. That was what Kaili would have done had she not been led onto other roads for her own personal crisis. In the end she couldn’t blame him, it wouldn’t have been in her place to do so. Right now all she wanted was to help him out, and a ring fight was not it.

They needed to talk this out first. They could fight properly, and even then it wouldn’t be under the same circumstances. If anyone would understand the peace one could find in fighting Kaili was it. She had always been a temper child, and growing up it hadn’t been much better, but she had found that there were ways to alleviate it. If she could leave Rebel with anything it would be means to help him seek that himself, but only if he would let it happen in the first place.

Once the crowd dispersed and went back to their drinks Kaili would instead go gather her jacket and fling it back on her shoulders. The announcer told of her withdrawal and the crowds became disappointed. Though she knew the air of disapproval was far easier to breathe than it would have been if both she and Rebel would have forfeited.

Following the trail of blood she stepped into the medbay. An ithorian man quickly approached her with a wet rag of questionable cleanliness, yet she used it regardless to wipe the dried up blood from her nose regardless. She took a seat by Rebel’s cot to let him wake up in peace.

Arms propped up on her knees and hands tucked under her chin she leaned forward in waiting for him to snap back to it.

 

[Cortana Jade]

Huh?

He heard laughter...a kid' laughter. He turned around and saw nothing but when he snapped back around he was at...Port Shardock?

"Wha..." Then a kid ran past him, bumping him which caught his attention. He was confused...he hadn't been back to Yavin in years...

"Hey! Rebel! Stop!" voices from behind, when he turned around he didn't see anything but darkness. But he could've sworn...

He didn't even catch the face of the kid...but it looked like he had something in his hands. "I stole that...I remember this!" But when he came to his revelation his dream had begun to fade. "Wait!" he reached out for the kid who seemed close but so far away at the same time.

A black haze fell over his eyes, and he felt like he was falling. Then, he popped up in his cot, breathing heavily. A slight sweat...he looked over and saw Kaili. He jumped in fear, but it subsided quickly when he knew who she was.

"Kaili...what'r-"

Ughh

The pain and tenderness of his body hit him all at once, he reached up to touch his nose and immediately the pain shot through his face.

"You kicked my butt huh?"

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Rebel Sunka"]

She laughed. She had to.

“You weren’t shy of giving back in equal measures.” She grinned for a second. “This here,” She poked at the side of her nose and winced. “Will hurt like a trainwreck tomorrow.”

Deep breath, accompanying sigh.

“So,” She dragged out and shook here head. “I guess we should discuss the reason you are here then.” There was after all little point in delaying it any further than they had to. “You fight in underground street fights now.”

“You act on impulse,” Thumb uncurled from the palm of her hand.

“You feel lost,” Index finger.

“You have left the Order,” Long finger.

“You have fallen back into a supposed relapse,” Ring finger.

“And you are talking about someone called Jed.” Pinkie.

Open hand moved up in a shrug.

“What the hell, Rebel.”

 

[Cortana Jade]

She laughed, which meant she wasn't angry with him...he laughed along with her, his more subtle and under his breath.

"Damnnn, I'm sorry about that" he said smirking. No really, she was the last person he'd ever lay a hand on after what she did for him a while back. He winced as he pushed himself to prop up against the wall. Seemed like everything went away when he was able to rest his head against the wall, but of course that was temporary.

He looked over at her as she went down the list. He nodded after each finger went up.

"I know I know...it's karked up, but if you really want to know..." he sighed, and allowed his hands to rest in his lap as he stared into them. He looked over at the Ithorian, "Give us a minute why don't ya!" he threw up his hand, while the alien scurried out.

"I'll tell you...I don't know what the hell i'm doing." he started to fidget with his fingers, "I lost it you know..." he looked up at her, busted lip and all.

Maybe she'd know just from her not feeling anything from him, "Kaili...I can't feel the force anymore."

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Rebel Sunka"]

She’d live. Kaili had taken beatings before, but few from a friend, or someone who could have been one at the very least. Rebel sat up straight and Kaili remained as she had before he woke up. Staring, quietly listening to what he had to say. He told the Ithorian to leave them alone and Kaili gave the doctor a half-apologetic smile. He had simply wanted to take care of his patient, at least to ensure he was able to walk again. It wasn’t a hostel after all, and the next few fighters were bound to trickle in any moment now.

“You… Lost it?” Kaili perked her brow. “Are you saying you were stripped of the force?”

Part of Kaili had to ask if it mattered in the end. Being stripped of the force, while most certainly a setback, was not enough for her to see the reason in why he was here. Violence wasn’t the answer, no matter how much of a hypocrite she was for even thinking such a thing. Sure, Kaili had her episodes and she was a participant in such fights every once in a while, but there was a very distinct difference between doing it for practical observation and doing it to lessen something else. To use it to learn was a way to stay ahead, to use it to dampen emotions was just to delay whatever it was you needed to face.

Kaili couldn’t help but sigh.

“Is that why you fight? Because you can’t feel the force?”