Private Into the Woods

[Thelma Goth]

“Oof,” Thelma muttered in sympathy. “Well, I’m glad you survived.”

She picked up a stick and used it to poke at the fire. “I don’t eat sweets every day,” she said. Shortly after saying that, she reached into her pack and pulled out a candy bar. “Master Noble isn’t among the Masters watching us right now, so…” She waved it tantalizingly in front of his face. “Maybe after dinner?”

Silas was quiet as she told her story. Thelma wasn’t sure he was listening, until he said she had been “running wild” before joining the Order. “Not exactly. Max and his junk food was the exception. Everything else at the Citadel was very strict.” She chewed her lip. “My parents were there, but my mother was sick, and my father was always working...”

She trailed off, not wanting to dampen the mood any more than he did. Instead she watched Silas hang the fish over the fire. With night having fallen, the fire and the stars were their only source of light.

Silas moved closer to her. She wished he wouldn’t get so close, and yet…

With a slightly awkward metaphor involving the eons-long lifespans of stars, he brought up the topic of the future. “Most people aren’t sure where they’ll end up, you know,” she said. “In fact, the Padawans who already know exactly the type of Jedi they’re going to be are pretty annoying. But I sort of envy them, too. I wish I was that certain of what I wanted.”

She hugged her knees to her chest, staring into the flames. “What do you want, Silas? You’re almost grown. You’ll be knighted soon, and then what?”

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: The woods
Objective: Survive the camping trip
Tag: Thelma Goth

“Master Noble isn’t among the Masters watching us right now, so…” She waved it tantalizingly in front of his face. “Maybe after dinner?”

Silas's face seemed to light up when the bar was waved close to his face, his stare watching every swing "Uh..." for a few seconds Silas looked around himself to double check if there weren't bright orange eyes watching them from the shadows, after he was content he finally gave into temptation "Fine, only as long as you don't tell Valery" He smiled before looking back to the fire to refocus on the food that was cooking on the fire.

When he sat back beside her he'd remember to ask her about her past another time, Silas didn't want to wreck the good vibes they had going by going too deep on his questioning. Thelma seemed to offer good points about how some Padawan knew what they wanted already, something of which Silas had thought about more as of late.

"I wouldn't say I'm close right now, but I'm getting there," Silas remarked, looking back to Thelma who was poking the fire "If I do get knighted, I'd want to have a padawan of my own and pass on what my master has taught me. I see it as giving back to the order who have given me a second chance at life," the teen said proudly with a shrug "Then who knows, whenever the time is right I'd like to go back to Azbrian and create something there"

Ever since he left Silas had been thinking of his homeworld every day. He loved the calm atmosphere it provided, and couldn't think of anywhere else to go "You can't be a Jedi all the time right?" the boy warmly smiled, placing a hand on hers to lightly squeeze again. For a few seconds, he looked into her eyes silently, taking in the fine details of the person's face before him. Blushing again, he looked down "I better go plate up our food..." he said in a lowered tone before crawling back to the fire to check and see if it was ready for eating.

"Do you mind grabbing two empty tubs from my bag?"
​

 

[Thelma Goth]

“Isn’t she a little too busy saving the galaxy to worry about a candy bar, anyway?” Besides, Thelma had never even met Val. Would be a bit weird to seek her out just to narc on poor Silas… especially when her own sweet tooth was even worse than his.

She listened to his plans for the future. “I can imagine you as a teacher. You seem very mature for your age,” she said. He was very serious for a teenager, and seemed more responsible than many of his peers. If merely eating a candy bar was him cutting loose a little, he clearly had excellent self-control, too.

“You’re from Azbrian? I’ve never been there. What’s it like?” He had alluded to a traumatic childhood, but he spoke highly of his homeworld, so that aspect must’ve been positive at least.

"You can't be a Jedi all the time right?"

She felt his hand against hers, and met his gaze. Silas had beautiful blue eyes, and she was caught between wanting to keep staring but not wanting him to notice that she was staring. “No. I suppose not,” she murmured, with a bashful smile.

Finally he looked away, and she took a deep breath. Crawling over to his bag, she opened it, then paused. “Uh… what’s a tub?”

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: The woods
Objective: Survive the camping trip
Tag: Thelma Goth

“I can imagine you as a teacher. You seem very mature for your age,”

"You think so? I'm not too grumpy am I?" he joked back to the comment of his maturity. Silas had always acted above his age ever since he was young. His parents were strict, yet fair, and always strived to make Silas the best kid he could be. Thanks to them, he was able to get into the Jedi attitude way before most padawans.

"Azbrian? you'd love it. It's a planet full of green hills and straights as far as the eye can see. The planet itself is littered with small towns and villages, spaced out enough that you could be the only alien within miles. Walking across those hills... I'll never forget it" he said with another smile, thinking about how peaceful it was while he was living there.

Looking into her cute eyes, the world around them went quiet. There was something about her that made him feel different, he just couldn't get his finger on it. Turning back, she asked him what a tub was. Damn it, Azbrian slang was easy to slip back into sometimes "Oh... let me show you" leaving the cut fish chunks behind he crawled over and took out two small containers perfect for eating food out of. He took them both with him and went back to the fire, where he evened out the chunks fairly "This sure does smell good, you'll be in for a treat!" Silas said gladly before handing over a tub and a small stick to pick up the chunks with.

Silas stabbed into his fish and nudged her on the elbow "Here, you have first try" he said to her as he hovered a chunk next to her face. If he was allowed, he'd bring it closer to her lips so she'd be able to take it from him with her mouth.

"What do you think? taste any good?"
​

 

[Thelma Goth]

"You think so? I'm not too grumpy am I?"

Thelma shrugged. “I like grumpiness. I mean, I uh, prefer it to immaturity, at least.” She cleared her throat and looked away.

She listened to his description of Azbrian, which admittedly did sound wonderful. No people around for miles? Perfect. Heavenly, even. Not that she was totally adverse to company, provided she had the right kind of companion…

“So a tub is like a bowl?” she asked, a bit amused at the slang term. “And here I thought you had somehow shoved a tub into your bag. You know, just in case you wanted to take a bath in the woods.” Those bottomless farseer traveling bags had to be good for something.

For once, she caught herself not staring at Silas’ throat or eyes, but at his mouth. Did he have what they called “bow-shaped” lips? Or were they more “heart-shaped”?... Her attempt at solving this very important mystery was interrupted by him nudging her elbow, and then holding out a piece of fish speared on a stick. Oh. He was trying to feed her now? Okay…

Not wanting to make things weird, she gingerly took a bite, and nodded. “It’s good. Could maybe use some seasoning.” As if either of them would've thought to bring a whole spice rack with them. She held out her “tub” to receive her share of the fish.

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: The woods
Objective: Survive the camping trip
Tag: Thelma Goth

“And here I thought you had somehow shoved a tub into your bag. You know, just in case you wanted to take a bath in the woods.

Silas coughed a few times and almost choked on his food "Oh stars Thelma..." he laughed, repeatedly hitting his thigh from how funny the statement was "Do you know how bizarre that would be? the masters will interrogate me for hours if they ever found out I brought one" Silas giggled before placing another piece of fish into his mouth "And for your information, yes a tub is a bowl"

Soon after he said that Silas placed a good piece of fish into her mouth and carefully examined her reaction. From the looks of things, she seemed to like it, even if it wasn't seasoned to her liking "Seasoning?! did you expect to bring a whole spice table with me too?" he teased back with a light nudge of her arm. Thelma was good company to Silas, especially when they were able to go back and forth on the jokes "Unfortunately I'm not a five star chef either, you can ask Valery Noble if you want quality meals" the teen smiled before placing the last chunk into his mouth and putting his bowl to the floor.

Silas yawned quietly and stretched off his arms when he got up, a hand reaching down to place some of the left over firewood into the fire "I think I may get some sleep and leave you with your unseasoned fish. Considering you'll be up late, keep an eye out just in case any of the wildlife get curious?" he said with a more serious tone as he walked up behind her and ruffled her hair "See you tomorrow Thelma, wake me if there's something the matter" Silas with a warm smile down to her.

Kneeling down, he crawled into his tent and got comfy, laying back first with his feet by the tent. With no worry about his surroundings, he eventually drifted off to sleep.
​

 

[Thelma Goth]

“I think it would be pretty awesome,” Thelma persisted, grinning as he coughed and slapped his knee. “Especially if it was a bubble bath.”

She laughed when they moved on to the subject of seasoning. “Just little salt and pepper for the fish in a tub,” she said, imitating his accent surprisingly well. Her species had a natural talent for sound mimicry.

All their goofing around provided a welcome respite, taking her mind off of things. But all too soon, it came to an end. Silas finished his meal and announced that he was going to bed. He tasked Thelma with the night watch, leaving her outside while he headed into his tent.

Eating the last bite of her fish, Thelma wiped her mouth, then glanced back toward Silas’ tent. She quickly looked away, gazing into the fire instead. The fish had taken away the pangs of hunger for a few hours, but her stomach still felt hollow. The night was long. She didn’t know what morning or the coming days would bring. But if she could feed on one strong memory, it would be enough to last her for weeks…

She kept catching herself sneaking glances back over her shoulder, gazing at Silas’ tent. He had to be asleep by now. If she was quiet, and left no trace…

No! She couldn’t do that to Silas. He was her friend. It would be a betrayal of his trust, preying on him like this when she was supposed to be watching out for him.

But what if she lost control? That would be much worse. She might hurt him, and her cover would be blown. It was bound to happen sooner or later. If she chose to act now, she could at least control how it happened.

Biting her lip, Thelma finally stood up. While she had debated what to do, the fire had died down to almost nothing. She retrieved more firewood, adding it to the pile and stoking the flames until they burned strongly, before she slowly moved toward Silas’ tent.

She peered through the slit of the tent flap, searching his face for any sign that he might still be awake, before she climbed inside. Her movements were careful, making no sound as she crept over him. Hovering above her fellow Padawan and friend, she began to have second thoughts. Guilt twisted around her, digging in like barbed wire as she looked for any reason not to do this. What if the Jedi Masters witnessed it?

Reaching back, she closed the tent flap to block their view. Now it was just her and Silas.

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: The woods
Objective: Survive the camping trip
Tag: Thelma Goth

For a long time, Silas rested peacefully in his tent, not a sound to be heard other than a few shufflings from Thelma who was collecting firewood. Compared to the outside it was nice and warm, perfect for the rest of the night which seemed to be a tame one for the padawan. However, without knowing Thelma had been fighting mentally to decide what she'd do to his newfound friend. Was it to feast, or save him the important memory?

Soon enough, temptation caved into the girl's mind and so did her hunger for Silas. While the padawan was still sleeping, she made her way into his tent and kept above him. Nothing seemed to give her away until she finished zipping down the tent. Silas wasn't a heavy sleeper, and upon the last sound his eyes shot open to see Thelma by his legs looking down at him "T-thelma?" he said sleepily to the girl, his arms raising his upper body up to get a better look at her.

"Is... is something the matter?" he said with red cheeks, eyes looking back to the closed tent which was unusual if she was going to tell him something. As well as that, the fact they were in such an enclosed space made him blush even more "Are you okay? what's going on?"
​

 

[Thelma Goth]

"T-thelma?"

Silas’ voice startled her. She froze in panic, not sure what to do.

He had questions, of course. She didn’t know what to say, but she couldn’t just run away like usual. Not unless she took his memory of the incident with her. Yet she couldn’t quite commit to feeding from him, not while he was awake and looking at her with such concern.

She leaned toward him tentatively, her lips parting slowly. “Silas,” she began, speaking in a whisper, as if she were afraid to be heard. “I… want to do something. To you. It’s bad, but I can’t resist it for much longer. I’m sorry…”

The vagueness of her words and the proximity of her face to his might lend themselves to another meaning entirely, but in her guilt-ridden state of mind, Thelma couldn’t think beyond her fear and shame—and the ever-present hunger that plagued her.

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: The woods
Objective: Survive the camping trip
Tag: Thelma Goth

"Something bad?" he repeated back to her with a few unsure blinks, his face turning red from how close she was getting to him "Is... is this about the thing you were going to tell me before that fish hit me in the face?" Silas questioned with a more softer tone, his eyes looking back into hers which was only a few inches away.

Silence soon followed and all he did was stare. He wasn't entirely sure why she was in here but his feelings were telling him their time together had finally reached some kind of milestone. Slowly, he lifted a hand up and placed it on her cheek gently "Don't worry... it's not bad" he whispered up to her before he began closing his eyes and moving his lips up to hers.

They had been showing interest in each other all day, if this wasn't what he meant, he didn't know what else she was on about.
​

 

[Thelma Goth]

"Is... is this about the thing you were going to tell me before that fish hit me in the face?"

Thelma hesitated before answering, “Sort of.”

She wasn’t quite sure what she had expected Silas to do with the vague, limited information she had given him, but kissing her was not it. Her eyes widened when his lips met hers, heat creeping up her neck. By some cruel twist of fate, he had not only completely misunderstood her, but had unwittingly given her permission.

As the initial shock faded, she wrapped her arms around him, deepening the kiss. Part of her had wanted this. After all, there was more to life than just sating her hunger. It had only become an obsession because present circumstances made it so.

But she also knew that she couldn’t allow it to continue any further. Not when she could already feel her self-control unraveling.

Her hands trembled as she turned her head away, burying her face against his neck. Still she hesitated, holding her breath as her lips barely grazed his throat. The memory she took would have to have some power, some special significance if it was to keep her hunger away. But she couldn’t justify taking something so precious from him.

The memory of this present moment was still forming. It wouldn’t be enough, though she would have to erase it to cover her tracks. She recalled him mentioning Iris’ love for spicy food, and how she had given him some and it had nearly killed him. That was bound to be a strong memory, but not a vital one. He wouldn’t miss it.

Her lips parted and she bit down. It would hurt at first, before her venom numbed and paralyzed him. Then he wouldn’t remember any of it. Maybe a few flashes, like the bits and pieces of a strange dream. When it was done, she would heal the wounds with the Force, clean up any blood, and leave without a trace.

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: The woods
Objective: Survive the camping trip
Tag: Thelma Goth

Silas's lips met Thelmas and soon turned into a deep kiss. His arms reached up and wrapped around her back, dangerously pulling her down closer to his chest which unexpectedly led into a stark trap. Her head turned away for a few moments and went down to his neck, hesitating slightly with a few unsteady breaths before plunging her teeth into his throat. Silas gasped loudly and thrashed around helplessly below Thelma, his eyes wide in shock while the rest of his limbs began to fall limp.

By the time he was completely paralyzed, the only thing that he felt was blood running down his neck and a funny feeling in his body. Although, before he saw the end of her feast Silas finally passed out. In his vulnerable state, the vampire girl took a memory that he held close to his heart. It was a memory he had mentioned not long ago to her during fishing. A memory that was once close to his heart had now disappeared as if it never happened at all.

There was no way he was going to get that happy moment back.

After the night had faded away and the morning returned, Silas finally woke up from his slumber with a groan. A hand went to his sore neck and reflectively rubbed it gently. Tent sleeping wasn't always the most comfortable of things, and it seemed to show now and then "Ugh... I need to bring a better pillow" the boy mumbled to himself before quickly slipping on some fresh clothes to begin the day.

Silas zipped up his tent and got to his feet, lightly stretching off his body to try and loosen up "Thelma? you awake in there?" he called over to her tent. Soon, they'd have to dissemble everything and go back to the temple with the rest of the padawans.
​

 

[Thelma Goth]

Despite her distressed state of mind, Thelma fell into a deep sleep not long after returning to her tent. This was the first time she had fed from a person in months. After such an unusually heavy meal, her body promptly lapsed into, well, a food coma.

When she awoke the next morning, the shame and guilt returned. She couldn’t stop thinking about how Silas had pulled her closer, trusting her, and how he had struggled in her grasp before falling limp. In those last few moments before she took his memories, had he realized what was happening? And had he hated her for it?

She was no longer comfortable staying here, she realized. Just before dawn broke, she got up and began to pack up her things, planning to slip away unnoticed.

"Thelma? You awake in there?"

At the sound of his voice, Thelma froze, her fingers lingering over the zipper of her bag. She had wanted to leave before he awoke and avoid interacting with him altogether, but now that hope was dashed. He doesn’t remember anything, she reminded herself. But she did. She remembered everything.

Slowly, she poked her head out of the tent. “Is it time to leave yet?” she asked softly.

Silas Westgard​

 

[Silas Westgard]

Location: The woods
Objective: Survive the camping trip
Tag: Thelma Goth

“Is it time to leave yet?”

"I'm afraid so, many of the other padawan's are probably packing up for the shuttle by now," he said before releasing a loud yawn and giving a tired smile down to Thelma "We have time though if you need any help don't hesitate to ask me", the boy said politely before rubbing his neck again with a groan. At least he was going to have a better sleep back at the temple to nurse his sore neck.

After a short time, Silas had packed away his tent and hoisted the heavy backpack over his back. The remnants of the fire could be left alone, but everything else they had brought needed to be taken back with them "Ready to get moving Thelma?" he said over to her, eager to get moving and to the shuttle on time "We don't really want to be left behind for another night" Silas said casually as he walked over to Thelma to see if everything was alright.

"You've been a fine companion, Thelma. If you ever want to partner up again don't be afraid to ask" He said with a brief smile before hesitantly leaning forwards to give her a quick hug "Come on, we can enjoy some hot soup when we get back"
​

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma crept outside. Having already finished packing, she needed only to dismantle her tent. She did this slowly and carefully, all the while sharply aware of Silas’ movements behind her as he cleaned up their campsite, watching him rub his neck as though it pained him. You did that, her thoughts needled her. You left him sore. You’re a lousy healer, just like Amani said.

Suddenly he was right behind her. Warmth radiated from him as he spoke, and despite what she had done she was still drawn to him. She caught herself absentmindedly touching her lips with her fingertips, remembering his kiss, and quickly dropped her hand, cheeks flushed.

"You've been a fine companion, Thelma. If you ever want to partner up again don't be afraid to ask."

He hugged her and she froze. Last night’s meal felt like a stone in her belly, her mouth filled with the taste of ashes. She might have burst into tears if he had held on any longer, but luckily it was a quick embrace.

“Okay,” she murmured, forcing a small smile. “Let’s go.”

Silas Westgard​