Meeting of the Lost

[Seras Rose]

Seras did not know how long it had been since she had witnessed that sight. The ressurection of a Sith Lord, the deaths that had been required for it and the darkness that had been eating away at her. The battle of Atrisia, that alone had weighed heavily on her concious and soul, but after escaping alive with that corruption she couldn't take it. Time just flowed from one point to another, hazy and indestinquishable. Sometimes on a ship, sometimes sitting at table, a bed, even in the back of an alley.

The only new change in her daily life that was not drifting from image set to image set was pain. A dull, deep bodily pain. The same kind when a person is slowly wasting away from hunger. Her insides felt like they were burning up, but as her conciousness slowly faded back into play she could feel the heavy sheets of rain crashing down on her body. Her robes which had been dirty were being cleaned bit by bit, her hair slowly matting up as the dirt and grime was being forcefully washed out. 'Oh.' She thought as she slowly walked along the road, body trembling uncontrollably. In a detached sort of way she found it amazing she could put one foot in front of the other. Her head raised against the pelting rain and her eyes winced as she looked around at the bright lights of the city. It was dark, overcast day on Iridnoia, rather chilly as well with the high winds and the extreme torrential rains. This paticulary city was in a canyon which did not help with the wind, indeed it made it worse as it funnled right at her. But Sera's did not pay mind to any of those things. She simply didn't care. She had lost the will to care. The idea of dying to starvation or hypothermia never crossed her mind as likely as both were for her.

After a moment she heard something from a nearby alleyway. A shout that was filled with anger. She did not know who it was at or why. But she did still have some semblance of a good person left somewhere inside her husk of a person. Stopping her pace she turned and headed slowly into the alleyway, her hand resting on the vibrosword at her side. Its vibration unit had long been shot, but it still held a edge.

"The hell do you mean by that you shutta!? We offer you a place to stay for a small fee and that is what you say!?" A Zabrak man bellowed. There were three of them and in their midst, a single woman, human it looked like. Two of them had blasters and one had a stun baton. The one behind the woman had a hand resting on the stun baton. The woman made a quiet and simple response that Seras could not quite hear, but she could see their reactions as the one with the stun baton started to draw it. This sight drew exhileration into her mind, broken and unfocused as it was. A chance to do something that just might matter. When she drew her blade and charged at the man who was reaching for his blaster, she did not even contemplate the idea of just helping the woman who was being attacked. This was to save herself and for that reason alone, her blade cut deepy into the shoulder of the Zabrak man as he turned around at the quick foot steps in the puddles behind him, the man letting out a scream as blood ran out from the wound.

 

[Jairdain]

As Jairdain had walked through the streets of this town, an unexpected squall had moved in. The sudden rain from the sky had cleared the streets, but it didn't matter to the young woman. Getting surrounded by three rather large and threatening Zabrak's didn't phase her either. She stopped in her tracks and had warned them they really didn't want to mess with her.

The obviously didn't like what she had to say and made an unwise move. Almost like taking a breath, the young woman drew the Force in and exhaled. On that exhale, a Force blast emanated from her. It knocked backwards the man that was behind her, sending him out into the street at the other end of the ally. The other two got knocked into the walls of the buildings that were either side of them.

The one Seras had stabbed died when he hit the wall. The sound of his skull crushing on impact filled the area around them. The one that got knocked out into the street took off running as soon as he regained his feet. A bruised ego was better than death in his mind. Another weak victim would be around another corner.

Letting go of the Force as quickly as she took it in, Jairdain looked in the direction of the woman that had come to her aid. What she saw was somebody that looked broken. There was light and dark like she saw in everybody. The rest of her state though was a mix. Like Seres didn't know what was going on and just felt whatever was strongest. These emotions flickered, but she had no real control. This as something maybe the former Jedi could help her with.

Having recently been in a similar situation, Jairdain had pieced herself back together. Even if she didn't know it, in a way she was still just as broken as the woman in front of her.

"Thank you for the help."

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

The sudden use of the force right after she made her blow slightly drew Seras's intrest. Not many things had even slightly peeked it in a long time. Rather then being a simple lack of caring, it was closer to simple apathy. There were plenty of 'emotions' running through her, but she did not comprehend them or even understand them untill now. This was the last sight of real 'life' the young woman had shown in months but already it was threatening to fade. The woman she had rushed to help was plenty fine on her own. 'Aha... how pointless.' She thought, her brown eyes glancing down to her blade which slowly dripped blood from its point.

Empty and broken. A vessel which had once held geat possibilities that had cracked and been lost. That was the young woman who could not even nod in return to the stranger's thanks. Her feet slowly turned to move back out of the alley but it was not to be. Even Seras got the feeling somewhere in her mind that this was not over yet, but she did not care. If she had the events that transpired as she moved to leave might have been diffrent. The second Iridonian had only been dazed by his meeting against the wall, but he clearly saw his cut comrad and Seras's bloody blade. His blaster raised, pulling the triger as he aimed at her head from where he lay amongst trash.

The red bolt flew at her head, Seras not even feeling the call of the force that tried to warn her. In her vision one moment she was walking and in the next her head jerked to the side as the blaster bolt cut into the side of her head and burned out the front part of her left eye. The pain was so sudden and complete she did not even scream, her body tensing up and the sword clattering to the ground as her hands raised to her burned out left eye. She could barely think such was the pain. But the darkside that had been resting inside her now had a emotion that it could finally stick to and empower. Pain. She was overcome by the simple, pure desire to cause pain to the shutta who did this.

Even if Jairdain had already killed the man she would move slowly over to the man and just start pummeling him. Even with the darkside her physical ability with just her fists was pathetic. Terrible form, weak and malnourished and going by how soaking wet she was hypothermia would doubtlessly settle in soon. But in this moment the only thing she had finally chosen to care about was inflicting pain on a lifeless corpse.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Jairdain did not bother to follow the thug that ran off and looked in the direction of the one rising from the garbage in the alley. Sadly she was unable to stop him from shooting at Seras. The other woman's reaction was slow, almost lethargic. She walked over to the man and started to attempt to beat him up. The man just laughed at her futile attempts.

Shaking her head, Jairdain raised a hand and sent an electric shock into him. She timed it between the blows of Seras since she didn't want to also zap her. Rendering the man unconscious, she walked over to Seras and would attempt to place a hand on her shoulder.

"He's not getting up again for a while."

Hopefully her words got through to the woman and caught her attention.

"I am Jairdain. Let's go get dry and cleaned up. There is nothing out here for us, I don't think?"

She wondered what the other woman was doing here, wandering around in the streets. The sudden downpour ended and the almost unbearable heat of the desert started swelling.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Normally one would fall down from the pain she had in her mind, escpially in her physical state. But that was the only focus her mind had in months. It gave her a suprisingly strong adrenaline rush, bolsted by the force which let her ignore the intense mind filling pain that was starting to slowly bring her back into reality. Ironically, that intense pain made her mind 'wake up' like it had not in months, finally 'seeing' where she was for the first time. But the vision from her left eye was black. Gone.

When she did 'come back' around, it was just in time to watch the Iridonian preparing to shoot her again only to be blasted by lightning. It took her mind several long moments to process what just happend and by the time she was 'getting' the situation, Seras heard a voice. Her head tilted around to look at the other woman who presumably had thrown the lightning.

"Aah... I suppose not.." She said with a almost said, wistful tone, looking down at the man. No, he would not be moving any time soon.

Seras shook her head in agreement, nodding with her words about leaving and getting cleaned up. Her head was still hazy, Seras barely able to remember anything besides her name. Which reminded her... "Oh... I am.. Seras. Rose. Seras Rose." She would paitently follow along whevever Jairdain would lead, not seeming to care in the least.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

The broken woman spoke oddly as if her mind wasn't fully connecting, but still firing away. Jairdain looked at her through the Force and wondered what had happened to turn this person into the broken entity that had come to help her. The still nameless woman stood up at the touch of Jairdain's hand on her shoulder and nodded her head as she agreed.

A brief pause happened and in almost the same distracted voice, Seras gave her name.

"Seras Rose, that is such a pretty name."

While Jairdain stayed on Iridonia, she had a small dwelling set up for herself. Even though she was blind, she was familiar with the streets and the path to follow. Leading Seras to her home, she felt comfortable enough to allow the woman to join her.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

There was not much in the woman's mind besides partially connected thoughts, but they were not connected in any 'sensible' way. There was also a great, deeply settled trauma there. It manifested as a mix of extreme depression and a kind of selfish desire for death. It was almost suicidal but not directly. Rather then being 'i want to die' it was 'i do not care if i am dying'. Yet under all of that was a darker feeling, the sensation a person who had been deeply subjected to the darkside and had been nearly consumed by it.

The comment that her name was pretty did not get much of a reaction from her, not outwardly at least. In her own mind she wonder'd how it could be pretty. It was her's after all.

Seras was now much more aware of her surroundings though. Slowly looking around at the wet streets, she finally noticed how completly drenched and cold she was. Her arms went up to wrap around her shoulders, her small body trembling a bit from the cold. It was about then she realized, Seras had absolutely no idea where she was.

"...Where... Is this..?" She asked after a moment, seeing nothing faimliar.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Even though she gave voice to her name, her emotions were still a jumbled mess. It was like this woman's mind and emotions had been thrown into a blender and then dumped back into her. Through everything though, there was a darkness that almost consumed her. Part of her was still light and good, but there was far more dark. There was no desire to live, but she didn't want to die either. Agnostic on the feeling of life, Seras could find herself in trouble quickly.

Seras started coming out of her daze or maybe her mind haze and asked where they were. Jairdain still had her hand on her shoulder to help guide her to her place. Stopping when Seras asked where they were, she looked in her direction.

"This is Iridonia. The planet that is."

When her hands went up around to clutch her shoulders, the one Jairdain had on her was knocked off. Taking her own cloak off, she would move to rest it on those hands and shoulders.

"If you are able to follow me, I'm taking you to my place. There you can get cleaned up and warmed again."

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Untill they both came to a halt Seras had not noticed the hand on her shoulder, looking over to it for a moment in a vaguely intrested anner befrore looking back to Jairdain as she explained where they were. Iridonia was it? How had she ended up here? Well, she didn't really care. What she did care about was the pain. The pain was the only thing giving her focus. The main emotion and desire that was slowly forming was wanting the pain to go away.

Seras looked up from her silent 'rumination' as she felt the cloak rest over her shoulders. It would have been comforting were she not in such extreme pain.

"I am able.." Seras said with a short nod, taking a slow and deep breath, able to walk behind her and follow Jair without much trouble. She was unsteady and after they started moving, her left hand would rest over her left eye which was the source of her pain.

It was also thanks to that pain that Seras had any desires. Even the simple desire of wanting the pain to go away was more then she had before.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Jairdain followed the familiar path she knew to her home on the desert planet. As the storm faded, the peoples here started coming back out and returning to their duties. The two young women were unmolested.

When they reached her small place, Jairdain opened the door and with a wave of her hand, the light turned on. While she was blind and didn't need the light, others did so they could maneuver through her rooms.

"Please, make yourself comfortable."

If Seras didn't stop her, she would remove her cloak and hang it on the hook that was near the door for it.

Moving into another room, the sound of water would be heard running and Jairdain returned with a moist cloth. This she would use to try and clean off the worst of the grime and around the eye wound.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Seras slowly started to focus on something as they walked. Jairdain wasn't talking and Seras herself didn't have much to say. But she did focus on something, her new lack of eyesight. That lazy lethagarthy had just made her quite possibly have lost her left eye, it was the main source of the pain she was experincing. Funnily enough, it wasn't untill Jair went into the left side of her vision that she noticed the blackness of the left side of her vision.

Her mind was still processing what this meant as they arrived, Seras numbly nodding to Jair's words. She didn't resist, the cloak indeed coming off and Seras sat down on a nearb couch absentmindedly. Just as the woman returned into the room, her left hand finally pulled back from her left eye. The blaster had scored the lense off and more or less 'cooked' it out. It would heal up easily enough with proper care, but she would not be seeing out of that eye again.

"...How... What does it..." It took her a bit to formulate the words she wanted to speak but she did eventually manage it, hissing a bit in pain at the cloth cleaning it off. She didn't resist though. After she finished or paused, Seras spoke the words on her mind that she had finally managed to make into a sentance.

"How bad is it?"

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

As Jairdain was cleaning the grime and wound, she did it by touch and feeling. The other woman sat almost stoically as she did it, only making a noise when the wound was cleaned by the rag. Through the Force, Jairdain could see it clearly. She could also tell Seras was malnourished and needed food badly.

Seras attempted to phrase a question and when it finally came out, Jairdain had to admit something to her.

"I can get you a mirror to look if you wish, but can only tell you that you've likely lost vision in your left eye."

She drew her hand back to allow Seras to look at her face with her good eye. The fact her eyes weren't focused would hopefully be enough of an indication as to what Jairdain meant.

"I'm blind and use the Force to see. So the wound and the damage I can see and feel, but not what it looks like."

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

It was kind of funny, there was a certain point where the human brain, even her own in the state it was in, just kind of 'stopped' feeling pain past a certain point. Seras was nearly to that point, on top of the numerous other issues on top of all that.

"A mirror.. I wouldn't mind. I would like to see it with my own eyes. Or... Eye."

She said after a moment, nodding a bit. She looked over idly to Jair's face, taking it in with a absent minded kind of look. She didn't really seem to notice the thing about her eyes, not untill it was brought to her attention.

"Oh. I hadn't.. Known. Sorry."

Seras was not even sure what she was sorry for, or why she was blushing a bit and shifted in her seat. It was embaressment, more or less, but it had been more then a while since she had felt such a feeling it took her a while to realize what it was. While she was searching for something to say, there came a deep, low grumbling from her stomach which paused Seras's fragile mental train of thought.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

"Until you get yourself fully cleaned up by taking a shower, I'm not going to be able to offer you healing. Once that happens though, I should be able to heal the cuts, bruises and any other physical injury you have sustained. The eye is beyond my skill though, I'm sorry."

If Seras was able to pick on emotion, then would know Jairdain really was sorry for her lack of healing ability.

"I will be right back with that mirror and get a start on some food."

Hearing the stomach growl of Seras, she gave her hopefully a comforting smile and motioned to the kitchen.

"I have everything set up for me to cook, but you can sit in there if you want."

Moving away again from her company, Jairdain washed the cloth out she had used on her face and wound. Grabbing the mirror she had offered out of a closet, she carried it to the other woman. Holding it out to her to take when she did, Jairdain went about preparing them both some dinner.

"It's not much, but it'll taste good going down and is really filling."

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Seras was not quite able to directly pick up on emotions. She was, but her mind was not 'processing' them in any manner, she just kind of knew it but didn't really pay any mind to it.

"I see... That will be fine then, a shower is it. Alright. If that will help."

She didn't really know much about this kind of thing but did know enough about it to know that sanitation was needed. As the other woman got up she stood up and took a few steps, only to realize she did not know where the shower was in the first place, so she took her seat again. A few moments later, Jair arrived with the mirror.

Nodding her thanks Seras took the little hand mirror, gazing into it. Her face was much diffrent compared to the last time she saw it. Tight skin, thin cheeks and a complete lack of any plumpness she might have had once before in her face. Her expression didn't change but the look in her eye's did. After a moment she would return the mirror with a nod.

"..Thank you, Jairdain. The shower, where is it?"

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

The distracted attitide of Seras made Jairdain wonder again what had happend to her. Once her needs were taken care of though, she had every intention of asking. If she even knew.

Jairdain had moved off into the kitchen and couldn't see the reaction of Seras as she looked at her face. Any emotional reaction was lost in the jumble that coursed through the broken woman. When she asked where the shower was, Jairdain came out of the kitchen and held her hand out.

"This way."

She would guide Seras down the very short hallway to a room just to the right at the end. Her place was very simple, but had everything the young woman needed to live on her own. Pointing to the shower, she opened the same closet she had taken the mirror out of, putting it away and handing Seras a towel to dry off with.

"When you're done undressing, let me know and I'll get a wash going on your current clothes, Seras."

Closing the door behind her as she left the room, she returned to the kitchen to finish cooking the dinner. By the time Seras was done, it would be ready to eat.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Seras took the offerd hand with a bit of a poliet nod, the fact that the woman could not even see the jesture taking several long moments to register in the back of her mind.

"ah... Thank you." She said as they were about halfway through the simple house to the shower. She didn't mind it's simplicity, in a way it reminded her of the temples she had ben in long ago. She could barely remember those places and trying to recall them hurt, yet it was so similar somehow to Seras.

"I will" Was her short response, going ahead and undressing from her soaking robes and looking over her body for a moment. In the last memory she could recall, she was not this physically puny. Bones were being just a bit more obvious then they should, the slight traces of fat her figure had before were gone. It wasn't untill she saw that with her one good eye that Seras thought to ask herself 'how did i get to this point?'. That one thought was what ran through her mind as she stepped into the shower, calling out to Jairdain right after.

What shocked her the most after she finished the shower and dried off was that... She didn't know. Seras did not know how she got to this point. The last thing she could remember was sand, a Pyramid and a deep, all encompassing darkness. A darkness that even now still plagued the edge of her vision, of her mind. Just thinking about it made her frail frame tremble in fear.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

The fact the blind Jairdain lead the other woman through her own house might seen surprising, but Jairdain knew the layout far better than anybody else. Once Seras was in the shower, Jairdain found one of her old Jedi robes and set it in there for her. Picking up the soiled items, she got them into the wash. She would do her best to salvage what she could of them.

She was unable to see how skinny and bony Seras was, but knew she was malnourished and went about fixing up something for them both to eat. Hoping it wasn't going to be too strong on the fragile system of the other woman, she decided on a thick stew to start.

Iridonia was an already hot planet, but the stew should still be good. Filling, but not strong enough to make the other woman ill. When Seras got out of the shower, Jairdain would be found in the kitchen cooking the dinner for them.

[member="Seras Rose"]

 

[Seras Rose]

Seras did realize the oddity of the blind woman leading her through the house so effortlessly after a while, though she did fail to see the irony in the 'blind leading the lost'. Though perhaps that paticular irony might not be lost in Jairdain. Supriignly, the old Jedi Robes while rather worn were still going strong, if rather pungent and filthy.

After getting out of the shower and slowly drying off, she changed into the simple extra set of clothes she owned. Nothing paticularly fancy, just a simple set of pants and t-shirt. Walking on through her nose quickly caught on to the smell of food, inadvertantly sniffing at the scent as she stepped into the kitchen.

"...Smells good.." She said after a moment, standing there at the entrance to the kitchen, her intrest piquied. The young woman managed to stomach the stew suprisingly well, though she was not able to eat much of it before feeling full. It would likely be a week or two before she could eat a full and proper meal again.

After finishing the meal, Seras felt a bit awkward. She didn't deserve this kindness, not at all, but here it was being given to her. It would be easy for Jair to feel those thoughts and emotions as the young woman sat there silently in her seat, not speaking for a few moments.

"Thank you, but... Why?"

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

The stew shared by the two lost and confused women went down well. Of course, Seras couldn't eat much, but ate as much as she could before setting her bowl down. Jairdain had once been in a similar situation and starved. The time it took to recover was longer than she expected, but it was what she needed. Jairdain felt she and Seras would be spending a great deal of time together in the near future.

They ate in silence and Jairdain could almost hear Seras' thoughts, but she clearly picked up on her emotions. The feeling of awkwardness and the fact Seras felt like she didn't deserve the kindness were obvious to the blind woman.

While Jairdain was under a dark cloud of influence, she was not an evil natured person. A change was happening within her, one she was unaware of. The Jedi that was buried within her was manipulating her very subtlety and in a way where she would not notice it. It exploited her own past and brought forward the truth of what happened in it. The people that helped her, how grateful she had been even when she felt it was out of place to even get the help. To go off the feeling of, "pay it forward," would be the most accurate sentiment.

"I don't know how you got here, where you came or your past. However, I have the ability to help and want to make you better."

That applied to the physical and mental aspect, but left the second part out for the moment.

[member="Seras Rose"]