Lonley In Your Nightmare

[Stephanie Swail]

Sarkany
Paxe System

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsKau2jLFl8

She didn’t steal a refurbished Jade Squadron A-Wing. She borrowed it to fly to Sarkany. It was an emergency.

Surely [member="Cassius Droma"] wouldn’t notice? After all he did give her a few pointers.

Right now however, Stephanie Swail wasn’t thinking about what anyone thought or even what Master [member="Valae Kitra"] may be thinking, if she even noticed after Anzat and the Alliance battle of Thyferra. The Padawan was lucky to be alive, but she still was suffering greatly.

Pain in her abdomen, blood that was gone but never seemed to wash away and her identity ravaged by the brutal [member="Vandra Zambrano"] the Sith. She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since. Nightmares kept her awake, be it her own screams or the thunder rolling above Malachor V or those ghastly beasts that howled and snarled.

She wretched at the thought again, losing control of the A-wing for a second, rolling to the side, hand jutting out to the cockpit hatch to steady herself. The craft slowed, and she calmed her breathing.

Branded.

The mystical Sith rune engraved on the flesh on her right ribcage, which was lucky if anything there was no dismemberment or limb loss.

She couldn’t look at herself, and felt the Jedi Padawan in her had been stripped away and the Light faded. Her long brunette hair was chopped short now to compensate the barbaric hacking away of her hair that Vandra did for nothing but pleasure.

The back of her hand wiped away the tear as the coordinates beeped for Sarkany, the moon world where the only person who could possibly save her was located. She had wanted to contact [member="Srina Talon"] of the Confederacy, but the silver-haired apprentice would have far more important things to do than listen to the fears and upset and anxiety of a Jedi Padawan in over her head.

Stephanie swallowed hard and took the emerald green fighter down to the equally emerald green tropics to fly over and above the place that Kyra Sol had built with her one time friend Connor, the fallen Silver Jedi.

Lush greens and tranquil blues greeted her, and she knew Kyra was there because the com signal she had never used since leaving Bakura had led her here to her oldest and probably only friend in a desperate attempt to salvage something of Stephanie Swail before it was lost forever.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Despite the taint which had been left behind by Connor's brief appearance, Kyra had remained behind in their hut on Sarkany.

All around her the sound of lapping water and creaking wood engulfed her senses, and further afield birds cawed to mark the steadily rising dawn. As with the night before, and the one prior to that, she had fallen asleep in a chair out on the deck, with the bifolding glass doors which fully opened out onto it remaining open throughout the night.

It was warm here on Sark. Even in the night a somewhat humid heat remained in the air, enveloping her body like the blanket she had forsaken. She had watched the sun travel upward from the horizon, and now as it slipped behind the dense forestry surrounding her idyllic lake she finally stretched her limbs and let out a small sigh.

But it was the sight of a starship that truly had her rousing from her comfortable position, not a drive to stand up and seek out food, or a clean set of clothes, and with a frown she eyed it from her placement on the deck.

There were so few who knew of this moon's existence, fewer still who had cause to be here, and only two who knew of this hut.

Had Connor returned to throw her through a further loop? Or had the Silver Dove returned to her once more?

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

The A-Wing bumped down and jolted her in the cockpit once, twice, three times. It certainly was a responsive craft and the landing gear would probably be a little dented.

But that didn't bother her. She slid back the hatch and stood up, wiping the sweat from her face and inhaling the fresh, warm scent of the moon. Wincing slightly as she twisted and turned to get out, she slid down the wing and landed onto the grass.

If her read-out was correct, then she would simply be a klick or two away, through the clearing and down by the lake to find the scavenger, the Je'daii, the friend.

--

With arms wrapped around her body, looking like a shrunken flower compared to her usual bright, beaming demeanor, Stephanie saw the fishing hut built over the lake. It was a peaceful, pleasant structure and it was such a peaceful, pleasent place. A shame it had half been built by a monster. She could understand more of their peverted dark ways now; the enjoyment from causing pain on others and their blind hatred to the Jedi.

As the large wooden hut came closer, she stepped around and saw her sat in a rather comfortable looking chair. Least she could do was force a smile and shrug.

"Surprise!"

It had been Bakura since the two had met, before Stephanie had found her place with the Silver Jedi and since Kyra had found a path of her own. How times change.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

She hadn't risen from her seat, not even with her curiosity as piqued as it was.

Truth be told, Kyra figured that whoever had come was here for her anyway. They were going to find her, regardless of whether she stood or sat or lay or swam, they would find here here, so why not remain comfortable?

Out in the distance a small fish leaped from the water, the ripples it caused upon returning lapped against the wooden pillars which had been driven down into the sediment and acted as a stand to hold up the rest of the platform. Fish. Not water birds...

How far she had come.

The sound of creaking boards had her turn her head in time to see a face she had not been privy to for months. Perhaps even longer. For a moment she did not know how to feel, was it really her? Had she come back to her? Why had she been gone for so long?

Questions she could not bring herself to ask.

Instead she remained sat where she was, staring.

"You look well" she finally said, but the moment those words left her mouth she knew that wasn't the case. Shaking her head, Kyra turned in her seat and rose up.

"What's wrong, Steph? You've got that look in your eyes."

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

This was all so wrong. This shouldn’t have been a reunion – it was one forced upon Stephanie out of both guilt and loneliness, not for any of the good things it should have been. She should have come to Kyra sooner, but the stupid excuse that life got in the way was…true.

She had been a kite dancing in a hurricane of recent months, travelling to dark and dangerous worlds as well as bright, flourishing ones. Meeting many new faces who wanted to be her friend but faces who also wanted to kill her.

She didn’t ask to walk this path, but she did choose it. If she had become a fully trained Republic operative, she would have been a better person for it. Now, she was here doing it all wrong. And Kyra? She looked well. Lazing by the lake in a fishing hut surrounded by nature, by the Force and by all the resources she probably needed to be happy and content. There was no evident signs of danger or war, and she was in another world compare to those on the spectrum of good and evil.

The boards creaked slightly as she stepped up, arms across her body.

"You look well too," she said, awkwardly. "I’m sorry it’s been so long. Life just seemed to…get in the way. I missed you. I do miss you. I just wanted to find you and for you to tell me that everything will be ok."

She walked forward to her, a hint of desperation in her dark eyes.

"If you tell it to me, then it will be."

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

"Hey now," Kyra soothed, quick to revert back to the way things had always been between the two of them despite the length of time which had passed since they'd last seen one another, "Sweetheart look at me. Everything is okay, you hear me?"

Reaching out she pulled the young woman into her arms and provided her with a soft embrace. For a moment she did not say a word, she did not break the spell, she simply held her there and reminded her that she was whole, in one piece. From there, anything could be tackled.

"I've missed you too," she finally breathed, pulling back enough to look Steph in the eye. With a gentle touch she tipped up her chin and looked her in the eye, seeing how hard the woman was trying to trick her into believing she was fine. Kyra knew better, of course.

"What happened? Talk to me, Steph... I can't help you if I don't understand."

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Stephanie sighed as Kyra offered a hug, wincing slightly as her body twitched at the pressure on her body. Still, this woman meant the world to her, and it was a safe place to be right now. She rocked gently and stared over her shoulder at the tranquil lake until Kyra moved back.

It was hard to look at her, feeling so weak and stupid. Eventually she did, and twisted and turned her lips left and right, trying to make sense of things. She took Kyra’s hands in hers and squeezed. Her mouth opened…nothing came out.

She looked away for a second to think.

She tried again, nothing.

A little laugh and shake of the head.

"Okay, you saved me. Remember? The cliff. You pulled me back and made me feel better. Helped me, showed me things and made me feel I was bound for good. I will never, ever forget that. What you did. Ever."

Another squeeze of the hands.

"I’ve had a…hard time recently and I know you don’t need this or probably want it, and you’re probably not even the one I should talk to, but….what do you do when you feel you’ve failed everyone again and can’t carry on with the path you took?"

This time, a sigh and hanging of the head. Her grip on Kyra’s hands was now light, as she was drifting into a daydream and talking almost to herself.

"I’ve felt like part of something good with the Silver Jedi, but I still feel alone. I don’t know what it is. Don’t know why. And then I get so much will to do good and take down the entire Dark Side myself, and I don’t care what happens to me in the process, as long as I can do good. But when I always seem to mess up, I feel I’m more ousted than ever. And then I feel I shouldn’t be here or even with the Jedi."

[member="Kyra Sol"]