Public Paradox: The Dark

[Cortana Jade]

​

She threw herself back into the chair, sinking into the cushion -- a large exhale followed. At this point she was just counting her blessings. She was a bit sore, but sustained no serious injuries as far as she knew. She slouched forward, looking through the viewport, nothing outside resembled anything she saw before...there were tons of small rifts or tears spread about; it was all very alien.

"PIP, you picking up anything familiar on your scans?" she was met by a low robotic hum...one that sounded confused, but was followed by a series of consistent beeps. He was just as lost as she was.

"But like...where are we?" She threw the question out into the universe.

Beyond her perception and suddenly from above was a heavy crash atop the nose of the fighter. She jumped at the collision, thrown off by the bump, but through the window she could see that it clearly was a body.

On instinct she deftly punched the switch and popped the hinges to the cockpit much to the dismay of her companion droid. "Calm down." She commanded the droid, before snatching it from its port and sliding him into her holster slot.

The door popped open and she crawled, "Hey!" she yelled, "Are you alright?" She made her way over to Talsin Lota 's body.

 

[Rik Perris]

Stranger in a Strange Land
Tag: Teyla Ee'everwest

Rik had headed back to where he was staying during the restoration of the Coruscant Temple, after a long day of lending his strength and stamina to that purpose. He was full of intent to complete some needed maintenance on his armour after the events that had ruined the Temple, and was carrying a fresh well of doubts and other considerations in his mind, but as he sat down to unwind a little before starting that work, pain lanced through his head, bringing with it a splitting headache that laid him out cold on the couch. There was no way of knowing what was to come, next.

When he did regain consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the not-unfamiliar coarse feeling of dirt against his face, acquainted as he was with it over the years. That alone forced him to sit upright in sharp confusion, planting hands on either side of himself... but when one hand landed on what definitely felt like an arm, instead of dirt, that hand pulled back as he jolted away in surprise and turned his head, knowing for certain that he'd been alone.

Had been.

But what Rik wasn't expecting at all when he came face to face with the owner of that arm was familiarity, however vague. The brown hair and lighter brown eyes, the shape of her features... his eyes narrowed a little and his brow lightly furrowed. He wasn't one to forget a pretty face, much less a name, but here he was drawing blanks. He didn't sleepwalk, he hadn't been drinking and getting blackout drunk wasn't his way... and he was certain he couldn't pull this off in his sleep, either, so that wasn't the answer. Mind, that didn't explain here, either.

"Don't take this the wrong way, ma'am, but--"

The bleak landscape, its features, and the pervasive feeling of danger filtered in as he began to speak, causing him to look around as much as it propelled him to get up on his own two feet, returning his equally brown gaze to the woman beside him after a brief moment as he offered her a hand up, while his other hand checked for his lightsaber hilt out of ingrained habit; it was where it was supposed to be, on his belt, partly covered by his jacket.

"--do I know you from somewhere?"

 

[Teyla Ee'everwest]

Outfit: XoXo | Equipment: XoXo | Tag: Rik Perris ​

Teyla's last memory was the cold, metallic surface of Ferian Adair's operating table, those glowing blue eyes of her monster in the shadows hovering over her.

His presence alone was enough to make Teyla feel as if she'd been plunged into an icy river, her breath and body frozen in a futile attempt to try to move, to scream, anything that might stop what was to come next.

But, what was expected never came... the feeling of his blade slicing into her flesh, the feeling of fresh-flowing blood as it snaked down her arms and drip-drip-dripped into the trenches below her.

Instead, there'd been an abrupt transition, as if she'd fallen from the top of a very high cliff, only to be swallowed into a dark void. Everything in her world spun up and over itself at high velocity, tossing her around like a rag doll in a laundering unit, until finally she slammed into something hard and lost consciousness altogether.

Curled into a fetal position, Teyla couldn't say where she was or what exactly happened, nor did she know how long she'd been out.

All she knew when her thick lashes finally lifted, was that there'd been a stark change in her surroundings and a litany of unfamiliar sensations flooded through every inch of her body. Her legs and arms felt somehow stronger, body thrumming with newfound power, able to sense the emotions and the intent of every living thing around her, as if mortality had been shredded from her like tattered cloth.

It was too much, too loud.

With a moan, Teyla clutched at her head, fingers digging into her scalp as if to claw free the pulsing pain that threatened to cleave her skull, vaguely aware of a figure beside her, though he barely registered through the torment ravaging her mind.

"Don't take this the wrong way, ma'am, but--do I know you from somewhere?"

The deep timbre of his voice cut through her agony like a blade. Teyla's eyes snapped open, her gaze locking onto the stranger. But there was no recognition to be found, whoever this person was, he meant nothing to her. She turned to glance at the desolate landscape beyond him, her mind making an effort to try and make sense of what made none.

"I... I don't think so," she replied, her voice steady. "I'm Teyla Ee'everwest...and the last thing I remember, I was..." Her words trailed off, lost in the haze of her fractured memories. With a jolt of fear, she reached down to touch her stomach, along her arms, her fingers probing for the warm stickiness of blood, the jagged edges of wounds. But there was only smooth, unbroken skin. A shaky exhale whispered past her lips. "...somewhere else entirely..."

Accepting his outstretched hand, she pulled herself up, legs trembling beneath her like a newborn fawn. "Who are you and... what is this place?"

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

Despite it being a dry season, and the stream having all but dried up, the air smelled damp. Things grew in plenty within this cave. It was where he had met Onrai the first time, and something about the place and drawn him back.

Barefoot and cautious, Brandyn stepped from rock to rock, avoiding the small trickle of water than ran down the middle of the cave. His eyes were on the vanishing point, where the light from outside stopped aiding him in seeing ahead. Was it a curve in the cave, or was it simply darkness.

Darkness.

He shuddered. Even since the death of Marr at his hand, Brandyn had found himself unable to shake what felt like a tether of darkness on his soul. Briana had filled his mind with nonsense about a prophecy. It was hubris to assume they were a part of anything. If anything, Briana was likely to be granted the honour of some grand cosmic scheme. He on the other hand? He was not that person. He was not that important.

He was a murderer.

“You were weak…and pathetic…”

His hard stop. Head spun about looking for where the voice had come. He saw no one. But that scared him less than the fact that he saw nothing. The darkness that had been ahead and wrapped around him. It felt as though a noose of regret and defeat wrapped about his throat.

”…you are the reason they all died…”

“Who…are you?” He said. His words choked out in a cough as the tendrils of darkness pulled him down. He waited for the impact of the rocks, but it never came. Instead, he fell.

He squinted, trying to make out what it was that was flashing past his eyes. It was like trying to see shooting stars through the light pollution of Coruscant. Before he could make out the images, his body jerked and he awoke on a flat rocky surface.

Disorientation took hold as he stood, eyes glazed over from he sudden departure and return of inertia. Brandyn coughed. Blood spattered on his hands as they tried to push up on the red rocky surface.

A presence, more a tear in the Force, appeared to his left. He stumbled towards the edge of the rocky shelf that was now his perch. The sound of metal clattering across rock was followed by the cold touch of metal touching his fingertips.

”Pick it up.”

The woman’s voice was dry, and undercurrent of disdain the only thing that gave it life. Brandyn looked down, and his eyes focused enough to make out a lightsaber, primarily black with just a couch of gold woven ornately through its understated design. Tentatively he reached for it, as it slipped into his hand he felt his stomach sink. It was as if the grip were made for his hand.

”What is this?”

The woman stalked. Brandyn struggled to make her out as she turned her back to him. She was one the shorter side of average for a human female. Chin length black hair was swept mostly to the right, giving her an extra inch or two of height. She wore a deep blue flight suit, leather jacket that only came part way down the small of her back. Most clearly defined was the large emblem on the back of her jacket. Some variation on the insignia for the Exploration arm of the Jedi Service Corps.

”You…you are a Jedi?”

She lowered her head. Shoulders seemed to slump.

”Just like my parents.” More signs of emotion, this time a hardened edge and callousness that seemed practiced.

Brandyn stood, holding the unfamiliar but perfectly suited dark hilt in his grasp. “Do…I know them? Do I know you?”

His eyes followed her hand as she unclipped her lightsaber from her waist and held it towards the ground, and slightly away from her left leg. Left handed.

“You killed them,” she replied, voice shaking in time with her words. With a snap-hiss her cerulean blade emerged from its hilt, followed quickly by two smaller auxiliary blades that came from its cross guard design.

“What…no…”

He could not finish the sentence as she turned and in a flash descended on him with her blade. Brandyn’s blade shot into life before his eyes blocking her first strike. The clash of blue against his red…his red blade…stopped what could have been a quick death. She withdrew a step and with graceful precision came in for a flurry of attacks. Brandyn kept his weapon close to his body, deflecting and redirecting each hit.

He had seen this fighting style before.

She struck again, downwards. He blocked up, blade hoizontal to the ground. With a yell, his young assailant pushed her and against his chest and a pulse of Force energy sent him flying off the cliff. He tumbled head, over heels, hands pushing the air against his momentum. As he picked up speed downwards, he saw another cliffside approaching. He reached forth, pulled himself to it, and landed with a bone crunching thud.

His cry of pain was guttural. His legs hit first, and they collapsed sending him tumbling into a wall. Through the windswept gorge, and thumping of his own heart in his ears, he heard his attacker screaming into the wind. It was a sound of gross dissatisfaction.

Brandyn pushed himself into a reclined position. He quickly examined his legs. There did not seem to be any compound fractures, the ache his in left leg in particular made him wonder if there was still something more serious beneath the surface. He tried to stand, only to find that it was his right arm that should have been of greater concern. The pain spiked, his breath escaped and he collapsed onto the ground again.

Moments passed, as he regained focus, and he took to meditation and made an attempt to heal himself. It was only partially successful. The pain, at the very least, had eased enough for him to stand.

Whoever this woman was. She did not seem the type to leave her prey alive. He had to move.

TO BE CONCLUDED​

 

[Cybelle Sal-Soren]

TAG: Brandyn Sal-Soren
EQUIPMENT: Petal Blossom | Green Lightsaber (Generic)

Cybelle stirred in the cold darkness, her head throbbing, and for a moment she was entirely at a loss. She blinked rapidly in the glom and struggled to sit up for a moment. Gravel dug into her palms while bioluminescent lighting gave her just enough visibility that she didn't feel blind. She couldn't remember what she'd been doing before…Talking to Brandyn?

But about what?

She could recall his handsome face smiling at her in the sunlight and assurances that everything would be fine. That they both needed a little adventure…But why was she on the floor? Why did her head hurt so badly? Had they breathed in some sort of poisonous gas? Had they been attacked?

"Bran…?"

Nothing but the echoing of her own voice returned to her and worry turned the edges of primrose lips downward. She shivered, cold, and wrapped her arms around her body. Her memory was a foggy blur and that startled her more than anything else. Her attire was strange. Beautiful, odd, and out of place. Robes made of a gossamer textile with embroidery that she could feel in the long sleeves. It wasn't made for spelunking. It was…Something festive? Possibly white?

It was hard to see.

She took a shallow breath, trying, to steady her racing heart. If there was something harmful in the air, she really didn't want to breathe in any more of it. The first vestiges of fear began to curl in her stomach, but she pushed it down, reaching out with the Force. She could feel Brandyn Sal-Soren through the thick stone walls but the presence was distant. He felt as if he were everywhere and nowhere. The bond they shared hummed with a familiar warmth that offered a shred of comfort in the oppressive darkness. It told her that he was alive.

"Where are you…", she asked, knowing, that he wouldn't be able to hear her voice. Her whisper was swallowed up by the cave which was slowly becoming a suffocating void. She walked. Feeling her wall along the dimly lit walls but it wasn't long before she found herself back in the main cavern where she'd awoken alone. Cybelle, frowned. There was something here. Something…Something that didn't want her to leave to find Brandyn. Leading her in a circle. Were the walls moving?

Carefully, she kneeled on the stone, and rest back on her haunches. Wandering around blind would only waste her energy and make her more difficult to find if Brandyn was looking for her too. Rather than to become swallowed by fear of the unknown she dug deeper and focused solely on the Force. On the energy that moved, binding all things, and her thoughts became a soft plea for guidance. She pressed positive feelings into her meditation. Hope, for the sun. Peace, to calm her nerves.

Love, for her one and only.

Cybelle gathered her strength and channeled it into a warm sphere of luminescence. Slowly, the light grew, casting a gentle glow around her. It wasn't much, but it was enough to illuminate the immediate area. She subtly tapped into the nature that filled the cave and small flickering shimmers broke away from the main source and disappeared down darkened and jagged corridors. Little flickering lights that would hopefully guide Brandyn back to her. She stayed where she was, head inclined, with the sphere contained close to her chest. From there…

She waited.

"Don't be stubborn…Just follow the light."

He couldn't hear her, but it helped her to say it. To reinforce her position. To hope that his heart might hear her even if his ears couldn't. Finally, she heard footsteps, and her head drew up to look at the furthest entrance. She could see a blue glow and her body sagged with relief and the strain from channeling the Force for so long. "It's about time…I was so worried…Are you—"

It wasn't Brandyn at all. Topaz eyes focused on a young woman with features that seemed vaguely familiar. Had she gotten lost in here too? But how? The Elyance Estate was located quite the distance from any of the cities or villages on Hapes. Her head tilted and she raised the ball of light to see her a little more clearly. She felt so angry, incensed, about something. Her beauty was twisted into grim determination and Cybelle felt it to be…Out of place. This was not, a cruel person.

She was hurt. Deep down. Deep in the places that no one else would ever see, buried, in the marrow of her bones. Cybelle's expression softened…

"Are you lost?"

The sound of her voice seemed to shock the young woman. She had frozen a few feet away with her lightsaber raised, as if, she intended to attack Cybelle. But now…She just looked astonished. There were so many emotions flowing through her that the Jedi Knight couldn't follow them all. So much pain, confusion, and so much fear…But there was one word that turned that confusion on Cybelle.

"Mom?"

Cybelle didn't say anything…A little stunned, surprised.

"…M-Mom?"

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

Something about the environment shifted, just moments after he began moving again. It was an unmistakable presence. Wherever here was, and it certainly was not Hapes, Cybelle had joined him. He looked up, towards the faint light of her presence in the Force. She was not far away from darker form that burned with anger and confusion.

Thump thump.

Thump thump.

Thump thump.

His heartbeat drowned out the painful cry of his limbs as he ran, stumbling up a jagged path. The black and gold Sith weapon clung to his hip. It seemed to fuel his assumptions. Cybelle was here. Cybelle was in trouble. Cybelle is going to die.

Scenes of a vision, given by Darth Wallgof while they fought above Exegol, Cybelle dead at the feet of a Sith. But it wasn’t just a vision. It was real. She had died. She had died and Brandyn had failed to protect her. Only by some archaic life altering ritual had she been brought back.

Never again.

Never.

Never again.

His breathing was ragged. Words in his mind even taking pause between each lung full of air. Despite what felt like a slow pace his form actually darted up the ravine quickly, and finally came to rest above and behind the would be killer. The Jedi who had their heart set on murder.

He looked down on the scene, assessing the situation. Cybelle looked at the other woman, confused, and seemingly fearful. The other Jedi had their saber drawn and in an attack stance. They lowered their blade slowly.

To attack?

Cannot wait. Cannot risk it.

Brandyn lept forward, hilt flying to hand in the Force and fell towards the one that would take his beloved’s life.

———— FLASHBACK ————-
​

He sat quietly under his blanket, the volume on the holo down to almost nothing. He watched the battle in the flim bplay out with wide eyes and a grin. Suddenly, the blanket was pulled off from his head, and he looked up in shock. The holo illuminated the displeased look of his mother Teyla Sal-Soren .

”I told you to go to sleep.”

”But mom…its just about my favourite part…”

“Your Jedi film can wait till the morning, Brandyn.”

”But I want to see what happens, mom…”

”How many times have you seen it?”

”Only once!” He said pleeding.

”How many times before today?” His mother asked, intuitively.

”A dozen or so…I guess,” came the rueful reply as he shut off the projector.

”There are plenty of other days to dream Brandyn. For now you sleep.” Teyla bent over her young son, his frown turning to a playful nose scrunch and silly laugh as he pretended to not enjoy her kiss. “Now go to sleep my little hero.”

——————NOW——————​

“Mom…you…you are…alive…”

She waved her saber to the side, anger giving way to awe and love.

”…it’s me…its…Teyla, mom I never thought…you are so young…”

Time seemed to stand still as a beam of red light erupted from her chest, searing the blood and viscera within her instantly. Her face contorted in pain. Her saber dropped to the ground and retracted. And she collapsed forward.

Behind her, nostrils flaring, eyes redder than a supernova, stood Brandyn with the red Sith blade still pointed down where he had unknowingly killed his daughter.

Cybelle Sal-Soren

 

[Cybelle Sal-Soren]

TAG: Brandyn Sal-Soren
EQUIPMENT: Petal Blossom | Green Lightsaber (Generic)

Cybelle watched this young woman from her knees in a mixture of confusion and compassion.

She must have been lost, the poor thing, and obviously mistaken. Cybelle was too young for a child that old and had certainly never been pregnant before. Her expression melted into concern and the light in her hands kept the room illuminated enough for the Hapani to see that the girl wasn't a threat of any kind. She could feel her love as easily as she could feel the air move through the cave system. It was a well that seemed to have no end. Such love, such sadness. She must have lost her mother to something incredibly tragic to have such an intense response.

"I'm sorry—"

I'm sorry, I'm not your mother. But I'll help you any way I can.

That's what she would have said were it not for the fact that a red light appeared through her chest in the span of a heartbeat. Teyla? Her name was Teyla? Cybelle could only watch while the girl fell forward and her saber clattered to the ground. She let go of the light sphere she was generating to catch her with a startled cry. It was just like Exegol. It was exactly, like Exegol. Her face super-imposed over the face of the young woman over and over. She knew that feeling.

That pain.

Her eyes shot toward the attacker but her heart knew who it was before her eyes could adjust. The dead weight of the girl in her arms made her sink to the floor and she cried out with disbelief and horror. His eyes were crimson. His weapon, was crimson. This was impossible. It wasn't real.

It wasn't real.

It wasn't real.

It wasn't real.

Her body bent protectively over the still form of "Teyla" and Cybelle released a cry that would have been akin to that of a wounded animal. It brought back the trauma that she had buried from Exegol to make room for the grief that others felt. To be strong in the wake of those that had passed away so quickly afterward, she had never, ever, dealt with the crux of her own issues. Her body…It was still warm. She sat up and her eyes were full of tears.

It wasn't real… But if it was?

"She wasn't going to hurt me! Brandyn…Help me. Help me, please."

Cybelle reached for the red-eyed man without fear of him regardless what he had done. In her heart she knew why, but it also didn't matter. They had to be quick. She couldn't just let this girl die without finding out who she was or what was going on. She felt a wave of nausea that was almost crippling and her heart ached for this girl. The true tragedy hadn't caught up with her yet, nor, had the fact that the Brandyn that stood before her…Might not be her Brandyn at all.

"…Come to me, now."

The statement was touched with a tone Cybelle had never used before. It was sharp. Commanding. The softness of her being seemed to be buried beneath something else. If she could be brought back from the dead? If she could be saved from a lightsaber through the chest?

So could this girl.

She hadn't been able to save Teyla or Baros. But, perhaps, she could save this Teyla.

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

He had done it. He had saved her. Brandyn leaned back and roared towards the swirling sky. His primal display drowned out the words of Cybelle, initially at least.

”I did it!” He shouted to himself.

”I told you you were always going to be safe…”

His eyes fell to the ground and Cybelle as she huddled the young woman that he now saw properly. She bore a striking similarity to Cybelle. Perhaps this fallen Jedi was Hapan too? Is this why Cybelle wept? Weeping for a fallen countryman?

Pathetic…

A sting of guilt broke through. In questioning Cybelle’s moral compass, he had done a grave injustice to the woman before him. He looked down at his hand, at the black and gold blade that had just killed this angry young Jedi.

”She was trying to kill me,” he muttered ruefully.

"…Come to me, now."

The saber dropped from his hand. It seemed to fall slowly, like a feather, and when it hit the ground a heartbeat later, Brandyn’s mind had begun clearing and his understanding became more accute.

He knelt before the two young dark haired women. His hand, tentatively reached out to touch the dying girls forehead, and brush hair from her eyes. Such familiar eyes. He did not know her though. He had known her fighting style though. It reminded him of Briana. Was she a relative? No. He knew them all.

His eyes fell on the wound he had inflicted. A stabbing pain ran through his gut, guilt for his actions despite them being reasonable. He was not in the wrong for what he did.

“Cy…she can’t come back from this…”

He reached for his beloved’s face, held it firmly but as gentle as he could and directed her gaze his way.

”…Cybelle…listen to me…her wounds are too severe…she made her choice…and I protected you.”

That is what a Jedi does…

He could tell by the look in Cybelle’s eyes that she was not going to take no for an answer. But that was not an option here. He reached for her arms, trying to pull them away from holding the young would be murderer.

”Let her go…Cybelle…she is…not important…”

Cybelle Sal-Soren

 

[Cybelle Sal-Soren]

TAG: Brandyn Sal-Soren
EQUIPMENT: Petal Blossom | Green Lightsaber (Generic)

He was out of control.

Manic.

"She was confused…She needed help."

Cybelle was in shock, feeling frozen, and forced to act at the same time. She distantly heard what Brandyn said. That this young woman had tried to kill him. The auburn-haired Hapani didn't discount that it had happened but taking a life was a last resort. She could even understand the confusion with the way the mysterious stranger had held her saber high over Cybelle's head for a moment. It would have appeared from any angle, any at all, that she was going to swing down.

Had that been the intent? It would have been clean, possibly, unavoidable. Execution style.

Brandyn got rid of the crimson light-saber and came to her side. He seemed…More himself. She could see his emotions passing through him but her focus was on this girl. This young woman that for some reason made her heart ache. Cybelle, wept. Not loudly. It was soft. Silent. It was salty water overflowing from horrified auburn eyes without end. Brandyn…He said she couldn't come back.

Cybelle didn't look at him. Only, the body of the youngling she drew closer. Held tighter.

"I came back."

She could feel Brandyn pulling her face toward him but it was so hard to take her eyes away from the prone figure in her arms. The scent of burning skin and fabric. When her eyes did meet that of the man she loved they were filled with so much agony. So much urgency that wouldn't make sense for an unfamiliar person that she had only just met in a cave. "Her name is Teyla."

Her voice cracked.

"She called me her mother. She…I think she knew me."

Cybelle pulled away from Brandyn for perhaps the first time…Ever. She was always rushing into his arms. Never out of them. A little fire burned in her stomach at the notion that this person wasn't important. That in any world, any version of it, where this woman deserved to die for what might have equated to a misunderstanding. "Don't you see it?"

"Something isn't right here. Where did she come from? Where did you get that saber?"

She gathered up Teyla in her arms and bent her head. Murmuring words, soft things, that couldn't be understood even if she'd shouted them from the top of her lungs. They were things to be heard and comprehended with the heart. Cybelle tried to remember how the Sith had gathered so much energy on Exegol that had been utilized to anchor her soul. Mend her body. Doing something so unnatural had nearly cost him his life. If she hadn't intervened when she had the wherewithal to do so…

He would have died in her place.

"Help me like we helped that little girl on Naboo…"

Her voice was pleading…While her hands took on the telltale glow that she was gathering her strength. She couldn't give up on her. Couldn't. "If you can't…If you won't…"

"I'll do it myself."

 

[Onrai]

OPEN

The twisted and transfigured form of Onrai - or was she Vanessa? Was she Via? Names and aliases overwrote one another with horrific rapidity to the sense that the woman was unsure of what to do next. She stumbled forward through the hellish landscape, nothing impeding her progress even as she transubstantiated between mortal, then mimicked, then ethereal again and again. The experiences drove her mad, and soon her shambling pace became a run across the world's landscape. She ran past Brandyn Sal-Soren and Cybelle Sal-Soren , and past Cortana Jade 's ship (and Talsin Lota 's unconscious body), ranting madly as her voices shifted, unable to control herself.

"The phage malefices into the void of entropy, we engaged the spread of Kooroo, Kooroo, so shall it be, I left them there, Jack, beatific countenance is only half the unity, a curse upon them, the dead always die except when they die to find life, anterior port fins need to be bent, why a false corona? The makers are unmakers to the Maker, not all love love or hate hate, according to all laws of aviation there is no way for a bee to fly, and the machine keeps pushing time through the cogs like past into strings and paste again to use time to make time to make time, radiation is a toy of purification and purgation, divinity is in the eye of the beholder, Kad Ha'rangir will walk again, why would you miniaturize a giant phasing doppelganger two-headed hydra space hamster, the people of the bread have superior second-tier ammunition, come, the black pilgrimage awaits, the cancer spreads in the veins of many, I have three hundred confirmed kills, hide all you want, cloth is a two-dimensional universe of its own..."

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

The flurry of information sent him reeling. It was too much to take in, too much to process. The easiest way to deal with it, and the possible pain that could come with any reality to Cybelle’s claims…well…it was unthinkable. The young woman was lying.

His hands gripped Cybelle’s shoulders. “She was lying to get close you…to kill you…”

His mind raced to put together a logical answer.

”…she’s probably a New Way agent…”

That made no sense. He could feel the Force within her, fading as she drifted to her final rest.

”…an assassin…she is lying Cybelle…”

It wasn’t possible. It wasn’t real. Brandyn looked about the ravine and the stars above. They were not on Hapes. Somehow transported elsewhere.

”…its a dream…a horrible nightmare…we will wake soon…I promise…”

He grabbed Cybelle again, this time shaking her. His eyes plead with her to not go through with any risky healing technique. He knew her compassion though. It held no respect for persons. She would give herself to save a true villain, or an orphan child on the street. He loved her for her compassion. But he had to save her from it.

”You changed. Cybelle. You came back. But you know. Something changed.”

He tread on untested ground with this line of reasoning.

“Please. I cannot lose you, not again,” his words were quiet, broken, quickly whisked away in the wind.

She would not relent. Her mind was set. And Brandyn’s heart broke, just a little. He had saved her life. This woman lied to her, deceived her. And she would not trust him, nor listen to his wisdom. Resignation came across his face as he reached out to this so-called Teyla.

How dare you use my mother’s name against me.

He closed his eyes. And with what little focus he could muster, he tried to assist in the healing process. He knew the truth though. It was already too late.

Cybelle Sal-Soren

 

[Cybelle Sal-Soren]

TAG: Brandyn Sal-Soren
EQUIPMENT: Petal Blossom | Green Lightsaber (Generic)

Cybelle was doing everything she could not to hyperventilate.

There was something about seeing this young woman so devoid of life that hit her in a wound she hadn't known existed. She could feel Brandyn holding her shoulders. She could see his lips forming words that were for the most part, logical, were it not for the fact that she could feel the Force in this woman. She could feel it as easily as she could feel it in Brandyn or the flora in the ravine. It was possible that the New Way could have swayed disgruntled Force Sensitives to their side but…Were they also capable of changing the stars? Of moving them both to another place so seamlessly?

"None of this makes sense…None of it."

Brandyn shook her and it would be easy for him to hear the pieces of her heart rattling around inside like loose credits. Cybelle knew that he was worried about her. She knew that he loved her and wanted nothing more than to keep her safe—But her potential safety couldn't come at this price. It was sheer madness. Her fiancée had an answer to everything. Every question, but one.

Where had that sith-saber come from?

The New Way had access to all manner of technology but the creation of a lightsaber was sacred for both alignments. It was not something to be fabricated. When Brandyn claimed that she had changed her eyes darted to his face. Trying in vain to see herself from his eyes. To see what it was that he saw in her that was no longer the Cybelle he loved. "Changed is better than dead.", she murmured, slowly, turning her head away while an unspoken hurt settled in. There were things about Exegol that she left behind locked doors. The shock…When she'd returned to find the world exactly as it was.

The despair of knowing what lay beyond the pale. The loss of it. There had been no fear. No pain. No doubt. Because it was peace. True—Peace.

That existence was not this one.

Cybelle did not respond to his plea. Not…Because she didn't want to assure him. It was because she didn't want to lie. She couldn't think about how he saw her, how he perceived her, as possibly less than the woman she had been before Exegol. Instead…She focused on the girl. On the love that she'd heard in her tone. The lonely affection in her eyes. The auburn-haired Knight tapped into a pool of knowledge that conflicted with everything she was. Healing was an art that the Jedi had favored for centuries. Raising the dead was a sin the Sith would have delighted in. Light and Dark.

How could she combine the two? How could she use a technique that she never had? That she had only felt from the perspective of the man who had killed her?

She bit her lip when she felt Brandyn join her.

A silent node of gratitude ran between them, relieved, that she would not be alone. That whether he agreed with her or not…He would stay by her side.

This security brought a sense of eerie calm, coupled, with a deeper connection to the fragments of the woman that were left. She held on to them. Held on, to her. Refusing to let her spirit return from whence it came. It was unnatural. But still…She pushed forward. The words that left her lips weren't Basic, Hapani, or any language she would have been intimately familiar with. The volume was barely there but the tone was growing increasingly sharper. Harsh.

It wasn't enough.

Cybelle dug deeper and pulled life from the foilage around them. Draining vines, moss, plants, and the bioluminescent flowers all seemed to shrivel and wink out one at a time. She held the woman to her. Close. Pressing power through her hands and into her body. She reached for Brandyn as she had done before, searching, for the connection that made her more. Better. Stronger. She followed natural circulation and could feel the edges of a ragged wound in her chest.

Slowly, feeling them mend. But her soul…It was slipping.

Faster than she could heal cauterized flesh.

"Please…Stay.", she begged, so quiet, that it merely became an undertone…"Don't…Don't go."

It was the death of Teyla Sal-Soren all over again.

Promising to help her.

Promising to save her.

If only…She was stronger. If only she wasn't weak. If only, he loved her. If only, If only, If only...

Cybelle breathed in sharply and choked back tears. She could feel herself failing. Not again.

Not again.

The soft culling of vegetation surrounding them whipped out in a circle surrounding them. Life…Left. The greenery in the ravine turned do dust and the scent of ozone settled. Her eyes darkened and electricity replaced the kind, loving soul, that couldn't bare to see another person die. She pulled at that darkness in her heart and tried to use it as courage. Imagining that she was fighting it…Winning.

But was she?

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

Her words cut through Brandyn like a blade, piercing the haze of confusion and urgency that surrounded them. As Cybelle's hands found his, the sensation of energy flowing from him to the wounded young woman felt both immediate and intense. It was as if he were connected to her by an invisible thread, linking their lives in a desperate bid to save her.

But as he focused on the act of healing, Brandyn felt a profound unease settle in the pit of his stomach. A chill, an unnerving cold, seeped into his very core. It wasn't just a physical sensation but an icy, penetrating force that seemed to gnaw away at his vitality. The feeling was subtle at first—an odd twitch at the edge of his vision, an inexplicable tightness in his jaw. But soon, it escalated, becoming an oppressive weight that settled in his limbs and made even the simplest of movements an effort.

He tried to shift his weight, to find a position that would alleviate the cramping in his calf muscles, but his body felt leaden, unresponsive. Every time he attempted to adjust, the strain only seemed to deepen, as though some unseen force was sapping his strength. It was as if the very essence of life was being siphoned from him, pulled away by an invisible hand.

Brandyn shut his eyes, focusing on the task at hand, desperately trying to fend off the waves of exhaustion that were crashing over him. He hunched over the young woman, his face resting against Cybelle's hand which lay on top of his own. The contact was meant to be comforting, but instead, it became a conduit for an unsettling exchange of energy.

A low groan escaped his lips, barely audible against the backdrop of chaos. The sensation of Cybelle's skin on his was disorienting; it felt as though icy daggers were being driven into his head, each touch sending sharp jolts of cold through his senses. The groan quickly escalated into a tormented scream, his voice raw with anguish.

It was then that he truly understood the gravity of what was happening. The pain wasn't just localized—it was a profound, invasive cold that seemed to bypass his physical senses and pierce directly into his soul. Every beat of his heart seemed to amplify the cold, every breath he took felt more labored as he realized that his own life force was being transferred through Cybelle's touch and into the dying young woman.

He fought to hold onto his consciousness, struggling against the tide of darkness that threatened to pull him under. The more he tried to resist, the more he felt himself being drained, as if the very life energy that sustained him was being drawn out by an unrelenting force. Cybelle's actions, though driven by desperation and love, were having a devastating impact on him, and he was powerless to stop it.

Brandyn's vision blurred, the edges of his awareness fraying as he grappled with the realization that his strength was not just waning but being actively consumed. His scream turned into a desperate plea, a cry for understanding, for the horror of the situation to be recognized. But in the haze of his disintegration, he could only hope that Cybelle would notice, that she would sense the imbalance and cease the act that was pulling him towards the precipice of oblivion.

Cybelle Sal-Soren

 

[Cybelle Sal-Soren]

TAG: Brandyn Sal-Soren
EQUIPMENT: Petal Blossom | Green Lightsaber (Generic)

She couldn't find it.

That sensation of life that, the fire, just the smallest…Spark.

It didn't seem to matter how much energy she pulled from their environment. The essence of all this young woman was kept floating further and further away. The ragged hole that the sith-saber had left behind had healed until there was only a savage pinkening scar but that wasn't enough. The same harsh words pulled from her lips, faster, and with more urgency. The honeyed topaz of her eyes was almost completely blacked out as she performed the ritual in a state of trance.

Cybelle knew what the outcome needed to be. The difficulty was…Getting there. The feelings of tenderness and obligation she had for another human being weren't providing enough power for her to push back the curtain of life and death. To hold onto her soul with both metaphysical hands while at the same time trying to keep her body from fading…It was too much. The auburn-haired woman cried out into the void, feeling, as if she had never been further from the Light…

But never so close to it.

She was right there. This woman who called her mother…She was right there.

There was a distant scream. Not, her own. The sound of it pulled her back from the cliff she had fast been approaching, little by little, letting her hear it with more clarity. Her heart ached. It sounded tormented and distorted. As if she were listening to it from beneath the waves of some great dark ocean. The more she tried to hear…To feel it…The deeper the waves pulled her under.

Pain.

That was the sensation that pulled her free of the dark dream she had drifted into. Pain. It was so cold that it burned a hole through her heart…And in that moment? She knew it didn't belong to her. Her eyes rose from the body in her lap to focus on Brandyn and for a moment she didn't understand. When they had shared energy like this before—It had been exactly that. Sharing. She took no more from him than she took from herself. Two parts to make a whole.

But here?

It was…

…life transference.

Cybelle stopped the flow of energy abruptly. So fast, that it likely hurt. The unearthly glow that wrapped around her faded and her hands lifted from the girl to rest on either side of Brandyn's face. The touch that had become so unsettling would be warm once again. Loving. Returning that which she had taken from him through the pads of delicate fingertips and then some. She knew it then…The truth. The terrible truth that no Jedi ever wanted to admit. That the darkness was twisted, cruel, but so very seductive…To the point that it feels almost inevitable.

The small woman refused it. A life for a life was balance…But lives were not meant to be exchanged. It went against the bonds of nature and the very fabric of reality. "Forgive me…", she whispered, so brokenly, but it wouldn't be clear who she was speaking to. Brandyn…While she returned his life. Or the unknown woman that was already fading from existence. Without Cybelle to tether body and spirit it would soon be as if she had never existed at all. "Forgive me…I cannot..."

Her hand caressed his cheek.

She could not save them both.

Being forced to choose…She could not, would not, end the life of the man she loved. Cybelle couldn't return this woman as she had been returned. There was something missing. Some part of the equation she didn't understand. All of the energy she poured into her still form was simply prolonging the inevitable. Silent tears ran down her cheeks and her vision blurred with grief that was almost unbearable. "…For some reason…I love her…"

"I can feel her in my heart…"

It was perplexing, confusing, and the sadness she felt was inexplicably profound. Perhaps it was crossover from another life…But it didn't change this life. It couldn't.

Cybelle…Would always choose Brandyn.

Always.

 

[Talsin Lota]

Cortana Jade

Talsin, in fact, was not alright. He was currently in the progress of groaning and rubbing the back of his head. It didn't seem like he had hurt himself overly, no surface wounds or blood that was seeping out. But every part of his body was aching and making it known. Insistently even. It was a shame it wasn't possible to let a human body know that you got the message.

Yes, I am hurt, everything is shite. Now leave me alone, thanks.

Instead the alarm bells kept running through his body to helpfully remind him that he did in fact fall from a large distance and landed on top of a big metal hulk of a starfighter.

"Unsure if alright is the right word." He murmured as he shifted slightly to eye the girl standing on the ground near the starfighter. "Did I make a big dent in your starfighter? The way my body is hurting, I feel like I ought to have made a hole in it at least."

The Jedi did his best to crawl up from his prone position, but it was definitely not easy.

Each protest his body brought up came in the shape of another surge of pain through his body. "Chit, but at least I am not dead, because otherwise this wouldn't hurt so much. Hey." Finally getting on his knees as he breathed out, grimacing as even the most natural expression of life seemed to be hurting him currently.

"Where uh... are we? I was literally between Denon roofs and your starfighter was definitely not anywhere near that."

 

[Brandyn Sal-Soren]

With his returning vitality came the intimate touch of her mind. He felt her deep sorrow. He felt her understanding and conviction over who this woman was. She could not be convinced. Even he was starting to wonder who this young woman was. Surely it couldn’t be…

Something took his ankle in its grasp. His weary eyes turned from Cybelle’s gaze to see the same inky black tendrils that brought them here wrapping about his leg.

”Cybelle…”

It squeezed. A second took his arm, pulling it away from her embrace. He knew in his gut that there was no threat to life. They wanted to take him home. To take him back to where he belonged. The thing that struck fear into him was that he saw no such things grasping at his beloved Cybelle.

”…come home with me…Cybelle!”

Grunting, he strained against the grip of the tentacles that slipped around his torso. He could only move with them, away from her.

”Please…do not leave her here,” he said in a whispered prayer.

His fingers grabbed at the arm of the dead young woman. His attempt at finding some purchase on the here and now was soon thwarted. Another inky arm stretched for and pulled that arm too. His chest heaved in quiet sobs of agony.

“I will do anything…give anything…”

He groaned against the arms that drew him down into the depths.

”…please do not take her from me.”

All went black.

He felt water trickle past his face.

The smell of rotting vegetation woke him.

He sat up within the cave on Hapes. His eyes darted around for Cybelle but found her no where to be seen.

”No.”

His heart thumped within his chest.

”Give her back!”

He was on his knees, frantically searching about the cave. Nothing. No one else. Just him. Words fell from his lips, promises and pleas, to the Force, to the universe, to Shiraya…to anything that would listen.

Brandyn moved his hand back to the water and felt another hand. He grabbed it and pulled. As if from an unseen shadow, Cybelle entered his vision and fell into his arms. There he cradled her in his arms, the cave echoing his quiet sobs.

Cybelle Sal-Soren

 

[Darth Myrrk]

A tear in the air, like a fresh wound in flesh, formed on the crest of a rocky crag. Two figures stepped through. One draped in a deep grey cloak, and wore a mask of silver and the same deep grey. An imposing figure, enclosed in a metallic suit of armour that was in part fused to his flesh. He held the bearing of one that knew authority, that knew power.

Behind him stepped one much smaller. Just a child. A boy of no more than five years of age. His close cut hair, and deeply furrowed brow suggested a harsh life, though his skin was pristine. His eyes though were a storm. The tumult of his soul born in his red eyes for all to see. A child, so oft the beacon of innocence and hope, was instead a raging vessel of hate and evil.

“What is this place?” Spoke the child in an oddly educated manner.

The taller one looked upwards, towards the stars. He could feel beings about him, on this world. He could sense desperation. He knew what this place was. He had seen it in a dream.

”We are far removed from the place we call home, Bane.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we have more to possess. Come. Let us find a way off this Force forsaken place.”