Red and Green

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

He made a ‘tsk’ sound with his teeth and tongue, looking down at the Jedi with a slight smirk painted on his lips.
”That’s not very Jedi like behaviour.” Actually, as far as he knew it was. The Purebloods on Athiss knew the Jedi was a very different entity than everyone else in the galaxy did. To them the Jedi weren’t the Silver’s, they weren’t the New Jedi Order, they weren’t even the Grand Order of the Republic.

They were the ones that had slaughtered their species.

In the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War the Jedi had been both ruthless, and efficient. They had seen Sith, not just fallen Jedi, but the entire Sith Species as a threat to the galaxy. Thus they had set about systematically eliminating them, all of them. They nearly succeeded as well, pushing Purebloods to the very limits of the galaxy in order to escape the Genocide.

The Galaxy was no doubt a better place because of it. Had the Jedi not intervened the Sith would have eventually taken over, Vrak and the others on Athiss were confident of that. Of course, Taheera wouldn’t know this, he would doubt that she’d ever even seen a Pureblood before in fact.

”Where’s your sense of compassion?’ Vrak said as he thumbed the remote, nearly threatening the button but holding back for now. ”You saved my life after all.”

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Eye cracked open again. Limbs moved slowly as she struggled to push herself to a seated position, back against the wall he'd pushed her toward. "Compassion?" She snorted and turned her mouth into her shoulder, wiping away some of the dried blood onto her clothing.

"I'm surprised you know enough about that word to use it in a complete sentence."

With some difficulty, the healer's legs crossed. Taking a deep, centering breath her good eye closed again. The force flowed away from her mended but still sore ribs and up toward her face. The swelling around her eye began to diminish and there were small pops and cracks heard as the cartilage around her broken nose was healed beneath those layers of dried blood. Air was inhaled sharply through her nose as she worked through the pain.

The deep blacks, purples, and yellows of the bruises remained.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

He didn’t let her words bother him, after all, he was the one in control here. For a moment however he did not repute her claim, simply watching as she started to heal herself.

Fascination dawned in him.

Sith, in general, were not healers. Though Athiss had a few, they did not use the force to maintain their techniques. Most healers on Athiss were scientists, using Bacta or another similar substances to conduct their art. The Darkside of the Force didn’t allow for such things, and thus he was understandably transfixed.

”How interesting.” He mused out loud.

”Where did you learn to do that?” Vrak asked. ”Your Master?”

He began to probe into her life.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Eyes snapped open, the swelling finally gone enough for her to do so.

FREX frexfrexfrex

How could she have been so careless?! He was too out of it to notice when she saved his life earlier. Jaw clenched and purple lips thinned. Frustration edged across her features.

"Yes." She didn't have a master but he didn't need to know that. She wasn't the best liar but she also wasn't the worst. "The Alliance will be here soon. I'd suggest you get going while you can. They'll come for me."

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

”Doubtful.” He told her as he glanced towards the panel. The shuttle had been smashed to bits, but the com-array had still worked well enough to receive a few transmissions.

He knew that she had contacted them right before the crash, or rather, right before he had forced the crash, but they were light years away. He likely had several hours, if not days before they saw even the first sign of an Alliance ship.

She was trying to bluff.

”Nice try though.” He looked at her for a few more moments, inspecting her. Miralin were...interesting creatures. Really just humans with green skin and odd speckles on their face. ”We have some time to ourselves.”

A good thing too.

Vrak needed to figure out what to do.

Unlike Taheera he couldn’t call someone for help, half the people he knew would try to kill him and the other would sell him out to his enemies. He had to show strength in a situation like this. There was no time for weakness.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

She shifted against the wall, clearly uncomfortable in his gaze. Eyes searched around the cockpit for...anything. Something she could use against him. Bloodied-face turned stony.

Jaw ticked.

Slowly, realization eclipsed her features. "You're stranded here," she said quietly. "You were running from something...someone when I found you. And those someones might still be here. Is that right?" Myrtle-ellipses snapped up to his fiery orbs.

"You don't have much time."

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

”Wrong again little Jedi.” Vrak said with a smile. ”I wasn’t running from something. I was running to something.”

His own ship of course.

The assassin that had been sent after him had been dispatched, but as he had realized the poison was in his veins his urgency had picked up and he’d begun to sprint back towards his vessel, a vessel that very likely was now half a planet away on the the opposite side of Ruusan. He frowned slightly and looked down at her.

”Good guess though.” In a way however, she was right. Once his rivals back home realized that he hadn’t returned yet they would retrace their steps, and once they found the assassin dead they would figure he shared his fate, or was on the run. Either option was not a good one for Vrak.

Not if he wanted to maintain his standing when he got back home.

”The Alliance.” She had mentioned them earlier. ”I don’t suppose they expected to find Sith here. I don’t suspect you did.”

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

"Expect the unexpected," she said quietly as if reciting something she'd read in the jedi archives or some old master's mantra. Eyes refocused. "But no. Finding a sith is about as rare as finding a jedi these days." Eyes remained on his this time. Unwavering.

There was thunder in the distance. It rumbled across the sky low and deep. And she felt that prick of something wild and untamed. Almost a longing to plug into that energy.

Head shook.

"I need some water," she spoke dryly. "Unless you'd just like to be on your way and find some scintillating conversation elsewhere."

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

He thought for a moment. Vrak wasn’t one for mercy, in fact that was about the direct opposite of his inclination.

This woman had tried to arrest him, had laid hands on him, why would he offer her anything to drink? The Sith Pureblood straightened slightly in his chair. No no. There would be no mercy today, there would be nothing of the sort. Slowly he leaned back and tapped his chin, running a finger over one of the small bone protrusions on his cheek.

”I’ll give you a drink.” His voice was almost mocking.

He didn’t really care if she lived or died or not. Sure she was more valuable alive, but Vrak wouldn’t cry over spilled Jedi blood.

”If you answer my questions.” His smile crept up again. ”Honestly.”

He gently tapped the remote on it’s side, as if threatening.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Teeth clenched again. Back shifted, slightly. The healer took a quick, short breath through nose. Classic nexu and mouse game. Wrists shifted against the cuffs. If only she was the nexu.

"You'll get one answer to one question. Then I want a drink. Otherwise, I might as well just keep my mouth shut for the rest of our...lovely time together," mocking tone crept in. As if to prove her point, chin turned to look out the cracked viewport. She stared silently at the bent and broken trees as if ignoring the sith completely.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

"Very well." He accepted her demands.

It wasn't a difficult one after all, and it really still left him with all the power, which was what he wanted. A small smile crept on his lips. What to ask? There were many things he wanted to know. Despite all the legends he'd heard, despite all the stories he knew...this was his first time actually meeting a Jedi.

"How did you come to the Alliance?" Her personal story of course. "Remember."

He waved the water bottle. "Be honest."

Vrak wouldn't stand for anything less.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Eyes tracked lazily back to the sith pure blood. Head tilted. Chestnut strands fell across her bruised face in a half curtain. Green nose twitched. Why did he care? Simple curiosity? Goading?

Lips pursed.

"I started with the Jedi academy. Resources there dried up and the Alliance needed more healers so...here I am."

All the truth. Not every single detail. Not how she was searching for answers. Not about the Pirates. Not about the essence transfer. Eyes peeking though those chestnut strands drifted down to that water bottle in his hands.

"There. An honest answer. Water please."

She still had manners unlike someone.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

He wasn't a sadist. Though he had occasionally tortured prisoners he took no real pleasure in it. He had always felt that his time was better spent doing other things. There were lesser ones who could do the torturing for him, more brutish men and women who enjoyed such things.

"Remember." He slowly stood and unscrewed the cap, placing it gently on the armrest besides him.

The remote was kept in his hand, his thumb held over the button. "I won't hesitate to use this."

He really wouldn't. Vrak couldn't afford to be knocked out once again. His body was slowly recovering from the injuries she had given him, the force slowly and naturally knitting him back together, but it would be days yet before he was at full strength again. The fight had taken a lot out of him, and thus another fight would either end with him knocked out for good, or her dead on the floor. He would show absolutely no mercy if she chose to strike once more.

Slowly he wandered up to her, placing the bottle gently to her lips while holding the remote far away from her, finger over the button and ready to be pressed as he gave her a single sip of water.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

She eyed him warily as he approached. Bound hands lifted slightly so her fingers could curl loosely around one side of the water bottle so the liquid didn't drible down her chin. Fingertips brushed lightly against his.

She took a large gulp. Washing out the lingering metallic taste of blood in her mouth felt good.

Just as quickly, she released the bottle as if his presence burned her. Wrist pushed across her purple lips and green chin, wiping more of that dried blood away. She knew without looking in a mirror though that her face looked like a nightmare.

She didn't care.

"Why're you doing this?"

She wasn't talking about the water, obviously. A lightning strike pierced the earth outside. She felt a buzz of energy run through her. It made her breath catch in her throat. Lips clamped down.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

He blinked. "I'm only responding in kind to what you did."

Vrak said simply.

"You put me in shackles." He reminded her. "Attempted to arrest me with no evidence, no writ, nothing. You saw what I was an immediately attempted to apprehend me. Why should I treat you any differently than you treated me?"

He had a point, though of course he was twisting things to fit his narrative. The truth was she was probably right to have attempted to arrest him. Though he was not known in the Galaxy nor Alliance space Vrak had committed hundreds, if not thousands of crimes. On his homeworld he had outright murdered dozens, and on the planets in surrounding space, like Ruusan, he had for years been causing trouble in one way or another.

Not to mention he was Pureblood.

Still, in some areas of the galaxy he would have been completely and entirely right. The First Order for instance likely would have been more keen to throw Taheera in jail for false arrest rather than bring charges against him. An amusing fact to be sure, though not really relevant since they themselves were not inclined to...well good.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

He had a poin.....wait no! Wait. Did he? She frowned.

He was manipulative. She knew it. But part of her couldn't help to question. No. She'd shown mercy and gotten beaten and bloody in return. He'd nearly killed her. Twice. She'd healed him and peacefully cuffed him.

"If you're innocent, then you had nothing to fear. I would've been punished and you would've gone free. Instead, you choked me. And I acted as you did, awoken in cuffs. Can you blame ME for fighting back?"

She eyed him. The storm was building and so was the buzzing energy in her system through the force. Teeth clenched but this time not from him. Fists clenched in her lap. She'd have to release it, soon. Body jerked as another lightning strike lanced across the darkening sky.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

Vrak hid the smile that nearly spread across his face. She was getting into an argument that she couldn't win. This was a game that he played nearly every single day of his life. The world that he came from, Athiss, was built upon the backs up politics. It was a planet that had for so long looked inward they didn't know how to look outward anymore. All they did was play political games, fight among one another, and try to gain what little power they could.

What came with that? Lots of arguing.

"Do you know what I am?" She could of course answer that question with 'Sith' but did she truly know what that meant? His culture was common enough, but his species? No. His species was rare these days. One could likely count on one hand how many Purebloods had crept up within the galactic scene over the last few years. His people were nearly extinct, and the reason for that was the Jedi, the very people that Taheera had almost taken to him.

"I am Sith." He told her. "A Pureblood."

He doubted that would surprise her. "We aren't all too common in this galaxy. Do you know why? Because of you. Because the Jedi wiped us out, slaughtered us. Men, women, children by the thousands. Do you really think I'd be safe with your kind?"

Doubtful. His thumb hovered over the stun cuffs buttons.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

She was still naive in a many ways. She didn't know about the history of pure bloods but she did know the devious nature of sith. "I know some Jedi are responsible for horrible things." She wasn't naive about that history. Not all Jedi but there were a few. It could be said for any government. Any people.

"But you can't deny the sith's history, either. You would've been given a fair trial. Whereas I would be put to death. Instantly with your people." It was true. Or, she'd rot in a prison somewhere, then be tortured to death.

A gasp left her throat again as the storm outside built around them. Fists shook as she clenched them. Teeth grit. She shouldn't warn him but it went against her nature as a Jedi.

"You should leave the shuttle, now. I...I can't control it."

A breeze that shouldn't be there swept through the tiny cockpit.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Taheera Sollo"]

"They wouldn't kill you." Vrak said simply. It was the truth. Some might have killed her, but others would know better. She could heal, with the force. That was something no one back on Athiss could do. It might not have been a secret, but it was a rare tool that most of the Council members would have killed for. They were smart enough to realize when something was an asset, and a healer? A healer was most definitely an asset.

"They would enslave you." He told her. "Or perhaps turn you."

His intentions were to do neither.

Vrak wasn't a fool, he could feel the build up of power, the press of wind. How or where it came from he didn't know, but he could sense that she was the source well enough. A small smile spread on his face as he looked down at her. She was a conduit for...whatever this strength was, and that meant that she could be stopped. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

With that, he pressed the button.

The Stun Cuffs would quickly knock her unconscious, ceasing her connection with the force and hopefully stopping whatever build up was going on.

 

[Taheera Sollo]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

She scoffed. She didn't believe him about the not killing part. The buzzing grew. She couldn't contain it anymore until the breeze in the cockpit turned into something considerably more violent. Chestnut strands of hair whipped around her face as...wrists jerked and head hit the back of the wall as she slumped over, the energy in the cuffs doing what they were designed to do.

Knocking her out.

His smile burned in her mind. And she wanted anything to wipe it off his face.