Of memories & lost hopes

[Seki Otara]

For those whose home worlds were no more than a birthplace, whose lives were spent on one ship or another, nighttime was less of a time and more of a daily task to be completed alongside meals and exercise. Sleep was a necessity for most living creatures, and Seki was no different in that regard, despite her personal misgivings about her surroundings. Perhaps the company could have been better, the captain could have been be more trustworthy, the ship could have been more reliable. Her roommate was the Jedi Master, D'Kai. A foolish man, whimsical and silly, but of all the people on the ship, he was the least likely to stab her in her sleep, and her own powers were no match for his. This was the safest combination by far.

Even with the strangely optimistic fellow as her roommate for the time being, Seki was not prepared to trust him entirely. She planned on keeping watch the entire night if she had to. Surely they couldn't be that far from Coruscant, so hopefully a single night would be the only one she would have to spend with the Jedi. Nevertheless, uneasy as it was, sleep eventually took her upon its wings and spirited her into the inky black void between the stars. Curled up in a laughably tiny ball in the center of her bunk — the one furthest from the door, in case someone should get any ideas during the night — the young Sith was unconscious within minutes.

For some time there was silence, only the sound of her measured breathing, and there was a calmness in her that could rival that of a Jedi master, though such a thing was impossible when her mind was awake. When that changed, it changed quickly.

Some time during the night, there was an abrupt and violent disturbance in the Force, originating with the orange girl in the bunk in the corner. Serenity became tension, calmness turned to fear, and the quiet girl slumbering on her bunk had rolled from one end to the other and back again. Gripping her sheets with both hands and releasing an unnerving sound as her teeth began to grind on one another, a dark ripple in the Force extending from its point of origin: Seki. Her wide brow was pulled tightly inward, furrowed in a deep frown that followed the curve of her chin whenever another dark ripple spread through the Force.

 

[Cassus D'Kai]

Sleep did not come easy for Cassus tonight, nor did it ever. After Seki got laid down and was asleep, the Jedi Master would be seen sitting cross legged in the middle of their shared cabin, having slipped deep into a meditative state. If one wasn't paying attention, one could assume Cassus was a pile of old rags and clothing with the way he has them bunched up around him and enveloping him. He was reaching out to the Force, asking it for guidance and to simply reconnect with it after a centuries-long respite Just like anything that had been out of use, Cassus' connection to the Force had waned a bit when he first woke up from his hibernation. But now..now it was all coming back to him like one would return to a lover after a long absence.

He felt..a Disturbance. That oh so familiar feeling of cold fear and anxiety crawling up his spine. Seki. The young Sith who Cassus had taken it upon himself to ensure that no harm would come to her from any of his Force using travel companions. Emotion had run high during the first hour or so of their awakening, leading to a brutal attack by the young Jedi Corbin. Cassus' eyes would flutter open, the room itself pitch black but he did not need eyes to know where she was at. He could hear the sounds of her teeth grinding, the tossing and turning..it was such a shame to see her like this. He stood, bare feet padding softly over to her bunk, a hand resting on the mattress next to her, pushing down on it a little bit to rouse her. He didn't want to touch her.

"Seki, wake up."

 

[Seki Otara]

Even that small disturbance was enough. Seki sat bolt upright with a gasp and her hilt soared through the air and ignited the instant its metal met her palm, a bright red glow filling the pitch black room as she swung the blade up — curiously not to strike, but rather to block. In the glow let off by the saber's blade, Seki's face was visible: Eyes clenched shut tightly not in sleep but in a violent flinch. These were the reflexes of someone with more darkness in their past than which side of the Force they drew from. For several moments she waited, and then slowly risked opening one eye, then the other. The darkness and the saberlight made them seem even larger than they were, round and briefly disconnected from reality. Then her gaze shifted and focused on the Jedi in front of her, and she scrambled back toward the wall and away from him.

"What are you doing? Don't touch me!"

 

[Cassus D'Kai]

Cassus seemed unphased when Seki bolted out of bed and pulled her lightsaber. He expected some sort of outward display of aggression, and so when Seki woke up he didn't move. He didn't go for his saber, he didn't even make it look like it phased him. Instead, he hopped up onto her bunk settling in a bit with a slight look on his face. "Hmm, Warm" He looks to Seki, giving her a smile. It was dark in the cabin, but he figured she would be able to see him in the dark.

"You were tossing and turning..grinding your teeth like you were in some type of nightmare. I wasn't going to hurt you, Seki. I was just trying to wake you up to see if there was any way I could help you. Come, have a seat." He scootched over on the bunk, patting the spot next to him in a welcoming gesture, kicking his feet slightly as they dangled off the edge of the bed. "Don't worry, I won't bite and I'm not going to lecture you or anything."