Premonitions

[Kana Truden]

The man raised his gun. Kana had thought him dead, yet he had raised his hand from the ground and before she had been able to act the trigger had been pulled. The sound of the slugthrower ripped through the alleyway and echoed back into the streets as Kana gasped in a surprised stutter. Her eyes wide open, blood covered hands held out in front of her and for the first time in a very long time: genuine fear. She looked at the man, then back at her hands, then back at the man who grinned with nothing but the greatest amount of self-satisfaction that a dying man could muster before collapsing to the ground once more with a thud.

One hand on her wound, another against the wall. Her head turned and looked towards the entrance to the alley. A one-way road leading into a dead end. Her knees were growing annoyingly weak at an alarmingly rapid rate, but this wasn’t the time to sit down unless she wanted this to be the last thing she would ever remember. She had to fight it just like she had so many times before. Perhaps if there was the one thing she could always thank the jedi for it was for insinuating that will to go on despite the horridly stacked odds.

They were good at that. Pushing against the inevitable end. Refusing to just lay down and surrender. Though the problems at hand were hardly comparable, were they? The Jedi were rigid in their ways, Kana was merely trying to survive. The situations were completely different somehow.

Kana’s hand patted away at the wall, leaving bloody handprints along her path. How had she even ended up like this? For each step she took she could feel her legs shake and shiver but she kept on going. Things got blurry, both visually and mentally as for a moment she paused in her stagger towards the main street. A cough forced her lips apart. Her free hand reached up to cover it only to find herself with more blood in her hands.

“Not good.” Kana hissed. Her stagger continued. “Not good at all.”

What had hit her? Where had it hit her?

No. That wasn’t important. What was important right now was to not worry about what had happened to her. Keep her mind running on an operating system not coded by a terrified human being. The only other thing that came to mind would be what had happened to the men that laid dead before her only a few minutes ago.

“Was it the bar, or the... Hmm... No, no ‘Hmm.’ Stay focused, Kana. Life or death, idiot. Go on, just focus. Yes. Focus.”

“It was definitely the bar. The man there, the... Hm- The man from there... and his gang.”

The man and his gang that lay dead behind her in the alleyway. Yeah, that seemed right.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Kana Truden"]

Jacen was laying down bricks. Each oddly shaped brick felt like a great weight in his hands, but he endured. Over time as he had practised the routine [member="Adele Adonai"] had shown him on a daily basis the shape of each brick had becoming increasingly complex. Once they had been simple cuboids, now they were jagged and twisted, yet they interlocked to form an infinite tessellation. The bricks represented each facet of his mental defences. Together they formed a barrier that kept outside influence away from his mind, helped him focus and immerse himself in the Force.

Jacen put down the brick. His head turned to each side in confusion. He opened his eyes. Nothing was out of place. He was still sat cross-legged in the atrium on Sullust, on a lush green expanse. Adele Adonai sat in that excruciating posture that he had only attempted to emulate once. Odd that he had sensed some minor eddy in the Force. He heard no disturbances, saw no distress.

Ah. Despite her placid expression, he saw her fingers curl up, drawing a handful of fabric from her robes. Something was bothering the Iridonian healer, yet he sensed her focus was far away.

 

[Adele Adonai]

Sitting in seiza was not for everyone.
To sit seiza-style, one must first be kneeling on the floor, folding one’s legs underneath one’s thighs, while resting on their bottom on the heels. The ankles are turned outward as the tops of the feet are lowered so that, in a slight “V” shape, the tops of the feet are flat on the floor and the big toes are sometimes overlapped, leaving ones rear to finally lower all the way down.

Depending on the circumstances, much like in A’dele’s case, the hands are folded modestly on the lap, or are placed palm down on the upper thighs with the fingers close together. One's back is kept straight, though not unnaturally stiff, leaving a proper respectful posture for meditation. Those who were not used to the position would quickly find that the lack of circulation and the ‘pins and needles’ effect to be rather troublesome. For experienced seiza practitioners like the Jedi Healer, the Iridonian was able to sustain through the position with little discomfort.

Truth be told, she welcomed it. Much like a devoted Vahla zealot, A’dele used the discomfort to help her keep focus. Perhaps it was more as a reminder on the strict protocols and tenets she constantly adhered herself to day in and day out. Her life was seemingly that of an orthodox Jedi, a practitioner of the Jedi Order of Old. For all of her her quirks and demureness, it didn’t seem too much of a flaw for those who were aware of her existence.

Little did anyone know the true purpose behind the several hours of meditation the Zabrak female strictly adhered herself to. And were it up to her, none ever would. So here she sat, meditating along with Knight Voidstalker. To a degree, it allowed her a measure of ensuring she was keeping her mental defenses in tiptop shape. The Jedi Investigator was naturally curious, and could not help himself when it came to probing questions. They came naturally to the man, and it was a curious dance to carefully watch her words and steer the conversation whenever he came too close for comfort.

Consequently, it was this higher state of awareness that would allow the Iridonian healer to sense the minute ripples of [member="Kana Truden"] ‘s distress through the Force.

Not good

The flat plane of A’dele’s smooth brow would start to furrow, folding skin as a sense of forebearing brushed the edge of her senses. Hmm... No, no. It was a pressing smoldering sensation, as if one’s lungs were fighting for air, time slowing in that desperation to breathe.

… focused.

A sharp intake of breath would lift her shoulders, cutting the ambient silence of the botanical gardens upon where they sat. A spike of a heartbeat, and then fleeting images blurring into a cacophony of anxious, fragmented questions. Then suddenly, a sharp shaft of pain struck the woman, and A’dele’s eyes snapped open. A gasp tore from her throat and her fingers grew knuckle white against the fabric of her robe.

Kana.

 

[Kana Truden]

“The Hanged Tusken.” The name rolled off of Kana’s tongue. “Sinjin and his crew.”

Kana didn’t much care for Nar Shaddaa. As far as she was concerned the place was nothing but trouble, yet a lot of the time there was nowhere else for the freaks and fools of the galaxy to go. At least not when every waking moment was a time trial in which your only opponents were your own memories, both old and new. She took no pleasure in her actions. Acting out on having acted out, shielding yourself with an act you have no real belief in. A suckerpunch here, a small mind trick for a boost of capital there. As much as she wanted to discredit her new ‘face’ had more often than not helped her keep the small-timers off of her back. And when that didn’t work she could always rely on brute force to keep her safe.

It was a valid application of the force, right? It was just self-defense. At least for most of the time.

Such as the scene from a few minutes ago. Before the shooting. How many were they back there? Twelve? No, she was still seeing double at increasingly frequent intervals. It had been six men at most. Six men and tiny Kana who seemed like an easy mark. It was at that moment the echoes of her victims began creeping up on her. Their pained screaming as the saber on her belt cut through them just as easy, if not easier, than they thought they would cut her. Imagery of lacerations, of pain.

“Had it coming.” She told herself. “I am... I am still within the rights of...”

She had no rights. Did anyone on Nar Shaddaa? Kill, be killed. Khaleel had shown her the place before. Perhaps she could reach Jimmy’s if she mustered her strength. Unless that place had burned down. She had suppressed that particular part of her life as best she could. Not the Khaleel part, the rest of it.

“I am going to kill that smuggler if he set them up to this.” Kana coughed up once more. “Then, maybe take his ship and get off this forsaken rock.”

“Yeah. Get out of here.” She agreed with herself as her stagger for that exit continued. “A ship, new clothes and then...”

“Then what? Not sure. Anything. Possibly Ruus- No, not there. Not safe. Anywhere. Anything.”

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Jacen didn’t need any particular skills he had developed during his time in law enforcement to see the discomfort on A’dele’s features. This couldn’t be normal. For once he sensed just the slightest ripple of emotion from the Iridonian.

His hand moved a fraction as he considered reaching out to touch her shoulder. No, he decided. Given her predilection for closing herself off at the slightest hint of a personal question, he didn’t know how she would possibly react to physical contact. He still feared that something traumatic in her past had changed her and he...didn’t want her to shirk any future contact with him.

Instead he closed his eyes and deliberately slowed his breathing with deep diaphragmatic breaths. Immersing himself in the Force he tried to determine the cause of her discomfort. However, the sudden burst of determination and focus had him plunge far deeper into the Force than he had before. Jacen was reaching beyond their current surroundings, beyond this point in space and time.



The future was emotion and feeling. But it was akin to experiencing it through a stained glass window. The multifaceted filters putting their own unique taint on the experience as the colours danced to the shifting view beyond. No matter how this view altered, the sense of pain and loss was a constant.

His grimy hand gently pulled a strand of blonde hair from her face. It was matted in blood. He was unfamiliar with the pale, still face.

“She’s dead,” he heard his own voice say.

The view turned to take in A’dele’s face. Yet that beautiful serenity was marred by a look of horror. Her eyes...her eyes were…



Jacen returned to the gardens, eyes snapping open. He was on his feet a moment before her eyes opened. A look of consternation was plastered across his features.

“What is it?” he asked bluntly.

 

[Adele Adonai]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"] [member="Kana Truden"]


It was incomprehensible what the images all meant. There was no context, but there was no denying that there was a suffocating sense of dread and dark foreshadowing. All revolving around a blonde Jedi Master A'dele had attempted to connect with long ago.

"M-master Truden." Her voice stammered for a moment, hands set down upon the floor. Her shoulders rose and fell rapidly, every quickening breath almost painfully taken in and out. A grimace twisted her lips, and another shudder wracked her body. Her hand rose and set against her chest, feeling the flutter there, the spike of her heartbeat.

"There - " she swallowed hard, and if her face could get any paler it did. Blanching, A'dele attempted to gather a hold of herself. Her breathing slowed, and she exhaled through her mouth, forcing herself to calm.

"Master Truden is very troubled. Fear. Desperation. Confusion." Her brow twisted, the violet tattoos of her face scrunching as she concentrated.

"So much pain... and suffering."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Adele Adonai"]
[member="Kana Truden"]

He probably shouldn’t have done this, but it was instinctive. Jacen had seen through the cracks in the serene visage before, but they had manifested as subtle tells. The shift from the norm was jarring and his brows came together in concern. One knee came down hard and put a divot in the turf beside A’dele. He placed a hand on her shoulder as he knelt next to the healer.

Master Truden, I’ve heard the name. Was that who he had seen, with her blonde hair streaked with her own blood? A’dele’s anguish being so visible suddenly made that vision seem plausible. It sent a cold shift down his spine. It tied his guts in a knot to see her affected this way. However, it occurred to him that invading her personal space like this probably wasn't going to help her calm down.

“She’s in danger isn’t she?” he asked in a quiet, soft tone. “Do you know where?”

 

[Kana Truden]

“Nar Shaddaa.” Kana gurgled up. “Should have known better.”

Like a whole planet that could summarize “recent locales” around every corner she passed. Having hoped to be left alone it had made sense at the time to go here. It had worked for Khaleel, right? Just never mind that he had been raised around the area. He had been used to this kind of environment from the start whereas for Kana it was a very recent hangout and as-followed bunch of critters.

Well the exterminator had emerged. Had Kana turned around she would have seen the dissected corpses, some mutilated beyond recognition. The look of the Rodian, gutted like the fish he was. The Corellia-Atrisian gang leader split in two in a diagonal running down his shoulder to his waist. The two men whose hair would point in all directions with the burn marks associated with electrocution. She wouldn’t be proud of these outcomes, but just like the rest of them she tried her best to suppress them knowing that they weren’t her first and most certainly not her last. Trouble followed her, or maybe she followed trouble. Those lines had been blurred enough as it was already.

Her eyelids began to weigh heavy as her vision grew ever blurrier.

“No. Not yet.” She gasped in panic. “So close. Stay alert. Focus.”

Knees weak. Energy running out.

A thud. Garbage cans getting turned over.

Teary eyes and panic.

Eyes jitter.

Slow breathing. Keep it going for as long as you can.

“No.”

 

[Adele Adonai]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"] [member="Kana Truden"]

The Iridonian gave a grimace. She barely felt the press of his hand upon her shoulder, heard the concern in his voice.

Breathing was difficult, but after a few moments she felt it pass. Wane. A grimace would lance through her features anew, twisting the violet tattoos that decorated her alabaster visage. With a breath, she drew herself back into a sitting position, her brow furrowed, her mind… searching.

The Force was such a curious thing. Mental translocation was no different. But it took strength and power, concentration of the like that the Jedi Healer normally would take hours to fulfill. It required a steady mind. A deep concentration. Having felt Master Truden suffering through the Force without forewarning had the unfortunate effect that would impede A’dele from reaching into that center quickly.

A breath came in. Out. Then in again. The furrows of over her brow deepened, and in that slip she had to lower her mental defenses to search.

Letting out far more to be picked up by the Jedi Investigator than she would ever desire. Concern, confusion, and just the brush of something swimming in the dark depths of that mirror slick arctic pool surface.

Master Kana Truden? Or something else in its entirety?

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Adele Adonai"]
[member="Kana Truden"]

For a moment she seemed to be recovering, then her face screwed up once more and he felt a fresh wave of panic. Jacen stayed there as she sat back up, removing his hand from her shoulder with unnecessary haste. He recognised the deliberate change in pace of her breathering; she was trying to concentrate on something.

Whilst she appeared to have returned a modicum of control, it wasn’t his eyes that were presented with a fresh perspective on the healer. For just a moment he felt her walls recede and the opaque barrier fade.

There was a depth to her anguish that wasn’t reflected in the look of concentration on her face. A’dele so rarely showed any emotion, just the odd tell his picked up on, that it was something of a shock to feel them directly. But there was something else there, down under that layer of emotion being radiated. Like a black serpent uncoiling to meet a threat, something dark seethed beneath the surface.

A look of consternation cross his features and Jacen closed off his own mind to them. If she valued her privacy so deeply, this felt like crossing a line of intimacy and violating that. He had heard of Kana’s fall to the dark side. He’d been fighting for the Republic on Telti when she had been present. Perhaps A’dele was connected to the ex-Grandmaster, though why he had no notion.

She was concentrating, perhaps even trying to answer his question. He stayed silent, but remained by her side in case she was at risk. As he thought on that, he opened his mind to a degree. With such control over her outwards demeanour, he wanted to be receptive to pick up any more distress, just in case she managed to stop it from manifesting physically next time.

 

[Adele Adonai]

A sheen of sweat would rise over her brow, A’dele’s face blanching another shade as she sank deeper into the Force. She wasn’t just searching for Kana, she was attempting to cross a mental bridge, a path that would bring a certain amount of clarity to the situation at hand.

Her surroundings would fade, blurring within the sphere of her influence as A’dele carefully would scan. Where was it? Where…

Ah.

The line of her brow would relax a smidgen, her focus and concentration tracing the threads that would follow that sense of forebearing she had felt before. Much like a fishing line, A’dele slowly would reel it in. At times it would grow taunt, forcing the Iridonian female to take her time, in others, she could feel herself getting closer. Finally, she traced her way through that connection, until she found that which she was looking for.

Jedi Knight A’dele Adonnai’s body began to slowly relax, her shoulders sinking. Under her lids, her eyes began to lightly sweep left to right and back again, as if scanning the distance. Brief images came to mind, and she felt suffocated. Where was she?

In her mind’s eye she was now elsewhere, hunched over. Liquid clung to her hand, stained crimson and smearing against a wall. A stumble, a sharp intake of breath. Bright neon lights in the distance, and her pale blue eyes would latch upon a weathered, grungy poster. Chunky, magenta letters spelled out in bright Aurabesh.:

“Nar Shaddaa.” A’dele suddenly said, her eyes snapping open, pupils dilated until only a thin circlet of ice lined the dark sphere. Blinking rapidly, she took a shuddered breath, giving another grimace.

“.... we must hurry.”

The near impossibility of finding a single sentient within Smuggler’s Moon was a well known risk. Yet, putting it simply, all A’dele could do was the following:

Trust in the Force.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Nar Shaddaa. Outstanding. It was one of Jacen's very least favourite worlds and even in the grip of the Techno Union it remained as lawless as it had ever been. The gangs and cartels kept order on that moon, not the authorities.

“I'll get my guns,” Jacen stated, making a statement about their destination as much as the practicalities. “I'll get a shuttle with civilian ID. Have you… erm… got anything a little more discreet you can change into on the way?” he asked tentatively. His expression was apologetic, but her bright robes would attract a great deal of attention. He hoped this sortie wasn't headed for the lower levels of the moon.



The grim visage of the dark side of the moon loomed before them as they reverted to real space. The ship's systems automatically worked out the challenge-response with the control towers. No one hailed them with any questions and a few moments later they were cleared to land. So many ships came in and out of the system they would hardly pay attention to another civilian shuttle.

Jacen was garbed in fairly typical spacer wear, though he hoped it wouldn't look out of place if they had to head to the seedier districts. Currently he had dark grey cargo pants and a form fitting black t-shirt on, but across the back of his seat was a waist length dark brown jacket.

He'd stayed relatively quiet through the journey, leaving Adele to either recuperate or concentrate on finding Kana. Whatever had happened back on Sullust had clearly taken its toll.

Turning towards her now he asked: “What was Kana to you?”

 

[Kana Truden]

Was this how she was going to die? Face down in an alley and tearing up in pain? Even Kana had to admit that it wasn’t how she imagined it all going down. A morbid thought, perhaps, but she was going to die. What was the point in denying that? Sure, it wasn’t on the battlefield or even of old age. Hell, it wasn’t even an assassination or after a rigorous retaliation from whatever gang she had pissed off the most. No, it all boiled down to her own stupidity and a well-placed shot. As fitting of an end to ‘her kind’ as any other, perhaps.

She grew tired. Each breath started to feel like a hurricane and the strength to muster each storm was slowly dwindling. The sounds of the passer-bys only a few feet away from the alley slowly faded away into a noise she could only describe as static. Rain almost.

Kana rolled onto her back. The wound burned as the dirt from the ground came in contact with the exit point. The bullet had gone straight through her, figures. A futile attempt at getting up had her pushing herself from the ground with her elbow, raising her knee for the skies and desperately reaching out to grasp at them. But she couldn’t. Her arms were too heavy. All she could do was let her knee fall by her side, stare at the polluted sky and keep on breathing.

Yet why bother? The inevitable end was still inevitable.

Her eyelids grew heavier. Her breathing slowed.

One gasp...

Two gasp...

Three gasp...

 

[Adele Adonai]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"] [member="Kana Truden"]

Voidstalker had a point. As uncomfortable as it made her, she would stand out within the Smuggler's Moon if she kept to her healer's garb. So it was to this matter that the wimple would be left behind, leaving the Iridonian's pale blonde hair free from their usual confinement. Perhaps it would be strange to to set eyes upon her. Without the cowl, the crown of vestigial horns would lightly protrude amidst the gossamer strands of blonde hair, the long length of it plaited thickly in a braid down her back. It was a wonder that she wore the lightweight traveling clothes, and perhaps one would mull over if she had those tucked away or if she had to ask another to borrow for use.

As it was, despite the change in clothing, there was no mistaking the familiar aura of the Jedi Hearler. The entirety of it all unsettled her, perturbed her. She spent much of the travel time meditating, attempting to find some level of bearing and balance that she had lost earlier. When the quiet query came from the Jedi Knight beside her, her shoulders rose as she took a slow, steadying breath.

"Master Truden is a student of mine." she said simply, quietly. Her lips thinned briefly for a moment, thinking back to the time when she had taught the young blonde woman methods of healing... and the subsequent time thereafter that A'dele had visited her through the Force.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Adele Adonai"]
OOC/ playing with time now


Jacen watched the slow transition through the viewscreen. That grimy grey marble laced with the orange stitching of artificial lights started to fill the view. Soon Jacen could pick out details in the view: some of the largest super structures, several mega airspeeder lanes. It always bewildered and enthralled him to get this lesson in scale first hand.

Yet his eyes didn't stay fixed to that visage. Instead whenever he thought she wasn't looking his eyes turned to his copilot. He'd seen the odd wispy strand of ashen hair escape the confines of her cowl before. Yet he hadn't realised she had such long blonde hair nor quite why that drew his attention.

“I only saw her once, from a distance as we prepared for the Sith on Telti,” Jacen said quietly. “I heard she turned.”

His hands ran across the controls as he aligned to the flight path. “We can bring her back,” he stated, a determined look in his eye. “But first we've got to find her.”

Jacen stood up from his chair and strapped a holdout blaster under one arm. Then he slipped his leather jacket off his chair and pulled it on. As he slid his handcannon into the holster on his thigh, a holomap of the moon flickered into life, showing a number of potential landing sites.

“Can you narrow it down that far?” he asked Adele. At some point he'd need his tracking skills but for now he trusted in the Force and Adele Adonai.



~



The neon haze was the only constant in the bowels of Nar Shaddaa. That and crime. The gunshot, from an actual old fashions black powder antique, rang out around the streets. Jacen turned his head back and forth, trying to discern the source from all the echoes.

It had been his most clear vision ever. Back on Sullust when he'd seen that blonde hair matted with blood. He knew they were close to that moment now, the images he had seen all the more clear as they neared it. Was it a fixed moment? Was he about to hold Kana’s lifeless form and have to see that look in Adele's eyes?

“That way!” he called to the iridonian.

 

[Adele Adonai]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

A breath drew deep, bringing with it the scents of industry, waste, and spice. Nar Shaddaa; filthy, poluted, and infested with crime everywhere. It was one of the cesspits of the galaxy. One of the few areas that A'dele had the inclination to never visit again. It was familiar as it was strange. The lifeforce of the Smuggler's moon pulsating deep within its core, stretching out like festering tendrils to touch all of its inhabitants.

Another tightening of her lips and her attention withdrew from her inner turmoil towards the direction the Jedi Investigator had gesture to. Through the Force, the Jedi Healer would focus on the tiny strands that wound through the currents of the Force. Tracing the one that would specifically lead them towards [member="Kana Truden"]. What manner of shape of condition they would find her in would be up for debate.

Finding one soul within the massive urban area that is Nar Shaddaa was like finding a needle in the haystack. The entire surface was dominated by decaying urban landscape and congested, polluted cities. Never has there been a place so alive with the Force, yet to dead to it. The contrast of it was like a blade.

Her glacier gaze would pan left, and she hovered for a moment. A quick nod would confirm Jacen's suspicions, and they both quickly rushed through the Duros Section. This area was mostly inhabited by Duros, hence its name. It was one of the moon's poorest regions... and one of the most filled with crime.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Adele Adonai"]
[member="Kana Truden"]

Jacen ran, legs pumping hard as he tried to follow the head in the direction of the gunshot. The sector was a three dimensional maze and soon he was more following what he interpreted as the will of the Force rather than his own sense of direction.

A Gran stumbled out of a bar and into his path. The pair collided and Jacen tried to disentangle himself. The drunk scum was having none of it. His clung to Jacen’s upper arms and tried to push him towards the wall. Reflexes kicked in that had been developed long before his final Jedi training. He braced himself, stopping his backwards momentum and snapped his head forwards.

The Gran stumbled back onto his arse, hands coming up to try and stem the blood flowing from his snout. Jacen turned to run again, but he realised it was no use. His hands came up to the sides of his head and he turned on the spot, before he slammed them back down into his thighs in exasperation. The Force told him there was another powerful Force user close by, but this was as accurate as it got.

Before he could ask Adele if she could do better, he heard the clattering of garbage cans being overturned down a side alley. Something told him it was worth following. As he stepped into the side alley he saw her as she rolled onto her back. Same blonde hair as he’d seen in his vision, matted with blood.

“Adele!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, risking drawing attention to the situation. Jacen rushed forwards. He could sense Kana’s life force now, but it was faint. But in his vision, he’d held her lifeless form.



His grimy hand gently pulled a strand of blonde hair from her face. It was matted in blood. He was unfamiliar with the pale, still face.

“She’s dead,” he heard his own voice say.

The view turned to take in A’dele’s face. Yet that beautiful serenity was marred by a look of horror. Her eyes...her eyes were…



What had changed? He found himself asking as he ran. He’d never been gifted such a visceral vision through the Force before. Was he always to be shown just one possible future? Suddenly Jacen found himself suspicious of what he was walking into. His sole focus had been the slender woman lying on her back, chest gently heaving. Kana didn’t even seem aware of them running towards her.

Jacen pushed his senses outwards instead as that suspicion increase. The warning was instant. Looking up he saw the gang member. The rodian leant on the wall of the alley, one arm to a wound across his belly that was bleeding profusely. The other arm held a blaster levelled straight at the prone Jedi Master. He didn’t get a chance to fire. Jacen’s Occluder handcannon snapped up and fired in one smooth motion. The powerful spread of bolts throwing the gang member that Kana hadn’t quite finished off to his back.

Instead of falling to his knees besides Kana as he had done in his vision, Jacen stalked deeper into the alley, looking for any more threats so Adele could tend to the wounded Master.

 

[Kana Truden]

“Adele!”

Now that was a name she had long since near suppressed. Part of her mind wanted to believe it truly was the Adele Adonai, but surely it was her mind playing tricks on her again. One final taunt before the curtain call. A dream of what could have been had things just been a little bit different.

Kana knew better than to open her mouth and speak. Which in itself was provided that she even could find the words for it. Her lips were dry, she could feel the blood pool up around her waist, the soggyness of her shirt and the probable infection she would be procuring if she by some miracle even survived. Everything burned, everything was heavy. She wouldn’t get much further than this.

Everything was just right for the one final gasp for air before the show ended.

“Not like this.” The inaudible whisper sounded into the dark of the night. “Not yet.”

[member="Adele Adonai"]
[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Adele Adonai]

[member="Kana Truden"] [member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Master Truden...

The voice would float within the recesses of Kana's mind. Seemingly, A'dele's visage would seemingly slowly appear within Kana's vision, silhouetted behind a faint yellow glow. Blonde strands of hair would brush over her face, tickling lightly.

Master Truden...

A slight warming sensation would be felt wash over the fallen Jedi Master, and the slight clawed hand would lightly hover over her. Was she a figment of Kana's imagination? Was she just a vision of the Force? Or was she again, that ghostly apparition like before?

"Master Truden..." the voice was louder, clearer. The scent of seared skin and the copper tang of blood was thick in the air. That glow was the hanging overhead light of the street , crowning A'dele's head. At that instant, another sphere if faint light would bloom, coming from the Iridonian's hand. That warmth would grow as Adele would use the Force to stabilize the woman.

"Rest..."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Adele Adonai"]
[member="Kana Truden"]

There was a thud and a clatter as Jacen came down on the opposite side of Kana and placed his handcannon on the ground beside him. He keep it inches from his hand in case any other threats decided to show themselves. Whilst he watched A'dele work and saw the concentration etched on her features he kept his senses turned away from them. His mind remained open to any other life forms approaching.

"A lot of dead people down that alley A'dele," Jacen said quietly. "We shouldn't linger."

He looked down at the wounded woman. Her skin was deathly pale, her breathing shallow. She was once of the greatest Jedi warriors of the current generation, he knew, but right now she looked so delicate and fragile. But as frail as the Jedi Master looked she was alive. He'd only ever seen Kana Truden from a distance before, but A'dele clearly recognised her. Just like in his vision, he reached down and pulled a strand of blood-matted hair from her face. Unlike his vision, she was still alive.

"Do you need me to do anything?" he asked A'dele quietly. He had faith in the Iridonian's abilities, she'd get Kana through this.