Darth Strelok
Came to Planet in: The Silent Erika
Wearing: Black Dress
She had escaped The Amalgam after the attack on Alderaan a mess. Alone, afraid, and needing to go into hiding, she had spent days doing just that, going to the safehouse of an old friend who moved around the Galaxy frequently.
She had kept away from her as the search for the Amalgam had heated up. Possibly out of instinct...even "Ursula" had trouble locating her friend when she was on the move. She had frequently expressed this frustration to no less than Uri herself. Meaning that if Ursula had trouble, the Amalgam definitely had trouble.
Maple had fled to her. Humiliated and broken. Siva, knowing how damaged Maple was mentally with her schizophrenia worsening, and knowing she had only been trying to protect Siva herself, had taken her in without hesitating. She was still in love with Maple, even after being seperated for so long.
The Apple Green Twi'lek had nursed Maple back to some degree of functionality over the next few weeks, making sure she ate regularly and was under as little stress as Possible. Maple couldn't sleep without magical runes placed everywhere that blocked the Amalgam's unholy spirit, The Brain Demon from entering her sleep.
So it had went, being in near total isolation on Har Binande with her Ex-Girlfriend(?).
The apartment of Siva was full of open spaces and tasteful if utilitarian furniture and black tiles on the floor and walls. The windows offered a wide view of where the Festival of Love was taking place.
They had planned on having dinner together inside. Maple had finally started to be more talkative in the last few days, even smiling.
She wasn't used to dressing like a civilian out on a date. Being with Siva again, Maple felt guilty for pushing her away, for not having loved Siva the first time around the way she had deserved to be. But it had all gone wrong. Mostly it was The Amalgam's fault. But it was also hers to a not insignificant degree...
The more Siva sat across her, looking beautiful in that little black dress, eating pasta with meatballs, the more Maple realized what she had lost the first time around. But the disease would win. There was no cure.
Maple was becoming aware of the fact she didn't care as she ate Pasta with her. Skip. Siva was actually the Mindbinder, and had been the entire time. Skip. Back to reality.
"The food's delicious." Siva complimented, staring with emerald eyes at her on-again infatuation.
"Thank you..." Maple answered, wearing her own black cocktail dress. This was the closest she had gotten to feeling like an ordinary person in months. Maybe years. No bounties to collect. No chance to drown her sorrows. Nothing to kill. Nothing to survive. No indicators of the hell waiting for them both out of the false safety of apartment walls beyond the two hold out blaster pistols, strapped to thigh holsters.
For just a second, it reminded Maple of the old days when they had lived together. Before Maple had quit The Marksmen. How bright the future had seemed back then.
"Its nice to see you smile again." Siva remarked, spooling Pasta around her fork, stabbing a meatball and taking a bite.
Maple hadn't realized she was smiling.
"I was thinking of the old days..." Maple admitted. "I'd...I'd started to understand...what it was like...being in a neighborhood with people thanks to you..."
Siva took another bite of Pasta. She chewed thoughtfully.
"I would have shown you more about neighborhoods and such, if you had stayed."
"I was afraid of putting you through my disease." Maple admitted, sipping grape juice like Siva did. "I didn't know how to deal with it except run."
"You got a raw deal. You were scared. You've been tricked by an evil Witch. There's a literal fething Demon haunting your sleep. I don't hold it against you..."
"I feel like you should. I kept you in the dark for a lot of it..." Maple admitted. "That wasn't fair to you..."
"Maybe not. But we can't change what you did in the past..." Siva told her. "Its enough that you're letting me help you now. I was worried."
Maple sipped more grape juice. She didn't deserve a friend like Siva. Didn't deserve to know her, and she knew it.
Yet Siva was here. No questions. No rebukes. Just her green eyes and keen mind, not affected by mental disease.
"Uri..." Siva began slowly.
"Yes?" Maple asked after swallowing another bite.
"I think I should be helping you on a more permanent basis."
"Like...living on the Silent Erika?" Maple asked.
"Yes." Siva said. "You're being hunted. The Amalgam tricked and manipulated you for years, and your allies have their own problems. You need someone in your corner..."
"The Amalgam is not some two-cred Sith, Siva. She plays for keeps. She does that chit because she likes it."
"I'm not afraid of your...whatever she is to you now."
"You should be, Siva..." Maple said. "Because I'm afraid of her. I'm afraid of her and her whole damned cult."
"Never thought I would turn out to be so right about Ursula...and I never thought I'd wanna be so wrong at the same time..." Siva admitted as she ate. "I never wanted to say it back then but I could tell she was poison."
Maple, knowing Siva well enough to know she was subtly venting, simply asked. "What did you spot that I didn't?"
"Her smiles never reached her eyes most of the time. And when she did smile, and I mean genuinely smile? There was always something in the back of my head that made sure my hand didn't pull the pistol out on instinct. Because something else in my head told me to shoot her whenever she genuinely smiled. Guess I know why, now."
"How come I didn't see it?" Maple asked herself more than she asked Siva. Skip. The Amalgam had imprisoned her at the center of a black hole. Skip. Back to reality. Back to Siva.
"We tend to ignore flaws in those we care for more than we realize..." Siva replied, "You're not the first to fall victim to this. You won't be the last."
Maple twirled more pasta around her fork.
"I know...but part of me loves her still and I feel sick and guilty over it..."
"That, I can't help with. Only you can let go of that." Siva replied, hand reaching out to clasp Maple's.
Maple had forgotten how soft her skin was. Her fingers entwined with hers as they both ate some more.
Maple needed help and she knew it. As her condition worsened, assistance would become mandatory. There was no one else she could truly trust with that role.
Maple wasn't stupid. She had immediately tested Siva upon meeting her again by running bio scans with counter enchantment filters, trying to detect telltale signs that Siva had been murdered and replaced by one of The Amalgam's Witches. She had breathed a sigh of relief that they had all come up negative.
"I'm glad you are still in my life..." Maple said to Siva Joyuese. "But are you sure about this? I'm in the deepest chit possible, Siva. You'll have a target in your back the size of a Death Star."
"Helping you kill that psychopath may well be the most important thing I ever do with my life. And if killing the Witch brings you at least a little closure before...before..."
"Before the disease gets me."
"Before that..." Siva agreed. "If it gets you closure...I'm in."
"You'll never be safe again, Siva."
"We have never been safe..." Siva clarified. "Not with our lives..."
Maple thought about it.
"If you really want to...then alright. But just know...its gonna be a horrible death for both of us if we feth up." Maple warned, spooling more Pasta around her fork.
Later on...
The Festival of Love was being celebrated this day. She and Siva rested on patio chairs on a balcony outside, watching the celebrations below, the ads on repulsor vehicles...
Their hands were still entwined, and Maple knew it wouldn't last. That soon she would be away from this quiet and this false safety, killing brutally again...
Sooner than she thought, at that, because as they rested, Brain Demon Cultists spied on them from another building, readying their weapons on the Orders of The Amalgam...
Wearing: Black Dress
She had escaped The Amalgam after the attack on Alderaan a mess. Alone, afraid, and needing to go into hiding, she had spent days doing just that, going to the safehouse of an old friend who moved around the Galaxy frequently.
She had kept away from her as the search for the Amalgam had heated up. Possibly out of instinct...even "Ursula" had trouble locating her friend when she was on the move. She had frequently expressed this frustration to no less than Uri herself. Meaning that if Ursula had trouble, the Amalgam definitely had trouble.
Maple had fled to her. Humiliated and broken. Siva, knowing how damaged Maple was mentally with her schizophrenia worsening, and knowing she had only been trying to protect Siva herself, had taken her in without hesitating. She was still in love with Maple, even after being seperated for so long.
The Apple Green Twi'lek had nursed Maple back to some degree of functionality over the next few weeks, making sure she ate regularly and was under as little stress as Possible. Maple couldn't sleep without magical runes placed everywhere that blocked the Amalgam's unholy spirit, The Brain Demon from entering her sleep.
So it had went, being in near total isolation on Har Binande with her Ex-Girlfriend(?).
The apartment of Siva was full of open spaces and tasteful if utilitarian furniture and black tiles on the floor and walls. The windows offered a wide view of where the Festival of Love was taking place.
They had planned on having dinner together inside. Maple had finally started to be more talkative in the last few days, even smiling.
She wasn't used to dressing like a civilian out on a date. Being with Siva again, Maple felt guilty for pushing her away, for not having loved Siva the first time around the way she had deserved to be. But it had all gone wrong. Mostly it was The Amalgam's fault. But it was also hers to a not insignificant degree...
The more Siva sat across her, looking beautiful in that little black dress, eating pasta with meatballs, the more Maple realized what she had lost the first time around. But the disease would win. There was no cure.
Maple was becoming aware of the fact she didn't care as she ate Pasta with her. Skip. Siva was actually the Mindbinder, and had been the entire time. Skip. Back to reality.
"The food's delicious." Siva complimented, staring with emerald eyes at her on-again infatuation.
"Thank you..." Maple answered, wearing her own black cocktail dress. This was the closest she had gotten to feeling like an ordinary person in months. Maybe years. No bounties to collect. No chance to drown her sorrows. Nothing to kill. Nothing to survive. No indicators of the hell waiting for them both out of the false safety of apartment walls beyond the two hold out blaster pistols, strapped to thigh holsters.
For just a second, it reminded Maple of the old days when they had lived together. Before Maple had quit The Marksmen. How bright the future had seemed back then.
"Its nice to see you smile again." Siva remarked, spooling Pasta around her fork, stabbing a meatball and taking a bite.
Maple hadn't realized she was smiling.
"I was thinking of the old days..." Maple admitted. "I'd...I'd started to understand...what it was like...being in a neighborhood with people thanks to you..."
Siva took another bite of Pasta. She chewed thoughtfully.
"I would have shown you more about neighborhoods and such, if you had stayed."
"I was afraid of putting you through my disease." Maple admitted, sipping grape juice like Siva did. "I didn't know how to deal with it except run."
"You got a raw deal. You were scared. You've been tricked by an evil Witch. There's a literal fething Demon haunting your sleep. I don't hold it against you..."
"I feel like you should. I kept you in the dark for a lot of it..." Maple admitted. "That wasn't fair to you..."
"Maybe not. But we can't change what you did in the past..." Siva told her. "Its enough that you're letting me help you now. I was worried."
Maple sipped more grape juice. She didn't deserve a friend like Siva. Didn't deserve to know her, and she knew it.
Yet Siva was here. No questions. No rebukes. Just her green eyes and keen mind, not affected by mental disease.
"Uri..." Siva began slowly.
"Yes?" Maple asked after swallowing another bite.
"I think I should be helping you on a more permanent basis."
"Like...living on the Silent Erika?" Maple asked.
"Yes." Siva said. "You're being hunted. The Amalgam tricked and manipulated you for years, and your allies have their own problems. You need someone in your corner..."
"The Amalgam is not some two-cred Sith, Siva. She plays for keeps. She does that chit because she likes it."
"I'm not afraid of your...whatever she is to you now."
"You should be, Siva..." Maple said. "Because I'm afraid of her. I'm afraid of her and her whole damned cult."
"Never thought I would turn out to be so right about Ursula...and I never thought I'd wanna be so wrong at the same time..." Siva admitted as she ate. "I never wanted to say it back then but I could tell she was poison."
Maple, knowing Siva well enough to know she was subtly venting, simply asked. "What did you spot that I didn't?"
"Her smiles never reached her eyes most of the time. And when she did smile, and I mean genuinely smile? There was always something in the back of my head that made sure my hand didn't pull the pistol out on instinct. Because something else in my head told me to shoot her whenever she genuinely smiled. Guess I know why, now."
"How come I didn't see it?" Maple asked herself more than she asked Siva. Skip. The Amalgam had imprisoned her at the center of a black hole. Skip. Back to reality. Back to Siva.
"We tend to ignore flaws in those we care for more than we realize..." Siva replied, "You're not the first to fall victim to this. You won't be the last."
Maple twirled more pasta around her fork.
"I know...but part of me loves her still and I feel sick and guilty over it..."
"That, I can't help with. Only you can let go of that." Siva replied, hand reaching out to clasp Maple's.
Maple had forgotten how soft her skin was. Her fingers entwined with hers as they both ate some more.
Maple needed help and she knew it. As her condition worsened, assistance would become mandatory. There was no one else she could truly trust with that role.
Maple wasn't stupid. She had immediately tested Siva upon meeting her again by running bio scans with counter enchantment filters, trying to detect telltale signs that Siva had been murdered and replaced by one of The Amalgam's Witches. She had breathed a sigh of relief that they had all come up negative.
"I'm glad you are still in my life..." Maple said to Siva Joyuese. "But are you sure about this? I'm in the deepest chit possible, Siva. You'll have a target in your back the size of a Death Star."
"Helping you kill that psychopath may well be the most important thing I ever do with my life. And if killing the Witch brings you at least a little closure before...before..."
"Before the disease gets me."
"Before that..." Siva agreed. "If it gets you closure...I'm in."
"You'll never be safe again, Siva."
"We have never been safe..." Siva clarified. "Not with our lives..."
Maple thought about it.
"If you really want to...then alright. But just know...its gonna be a horrible death for both of us if we feth up." Maple warned, spooling more Pasta around her fork.
Later on...
The Festival of Love was being celebrated this day. She and Siva rested on patio chairs on a balcony outside, watching the celebrations below, the ads on repulsor vehicles...
Their hands were still entwined, and Maple knew it wouldn't last. That soon she would be away from this quiet and this false safety, killing brutally again...
Sooner than she thought, at that, because as they rested, Brain Demon Cultists spied on them from another building, readying their weapons on the Orders of The Amalgam...
