Private The Bartender and Fate

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Kayden Lind //:
//: Coruscant Lower - Levels //:
//: Reprieve Bar //:
//: Attire //:

"Why are civilian clothes so itchy?" She asked the significant shadowed figure that followed behind her. It didn't answer, but she continued to squirm slightly as they rode the long elevator heading to the lower levels of Coruscant. Others rode with her, and the shadowed guard stayed between them and her; the last thing she wanted was to deal with the grime of the underbelly of Coruscant.

Quinn ignored most of the chatter; she had a mission down in this horrid place. There were rumors of someone who could create sparks or lightning. She was surprised this individual hadn't been picked up by the Jedi, and how they hunted anyone who smelled of the Dark sickened her. They were so distrustful, and instead of learning about the Darkness, they banned it. Quinn rolled her eyes as the soft ding of the elevator announced her arrival. Bodies pushed through, and Quinn made a face of disgust until the shadowed guard reached in and grabbed her, plucking her from the thick crowd.

Her feet touched the duracrete, and she dusted herself off. Once more, pulling at the fabric of the commoner clothing. Her gaze was sharp as she looked at the guard who said nothing, but she knew what he was thinking. "Fine, I'll stop," her voice pointed to the shadow. One last adjustment and the woman began walking towards the bar she had heard the rumors about. Looking back and forth, she finally found it. It was an attractive palace; she could see why people spoke of it beyond the folk legend of the lightning protector.

Quinn mused at the name, mostly having embellished the story when she mentioned it to her uncle. Walking in, she was met with quiet music and several patrons who didn't take a second glance at the woman who walked in. She was alone; the shadow had disappeared now that she didn't need the added protection. She walked through the bar, hazel orbs peering at each of the faces - searching for anyone that could be this lightning rider.

People seemed nervous seeing her. Quinn had drawn in her force aura, preventing any Jedi from suspecting that a Sith Lord had arrived on their planet. Lowering the grey hood, ashen hair shook loose, and she ran her slender fingers through the locks. The Echani beauty smiled sweetly as she caught the eyes of the bartender.

The echo of her heels tapped against the flooring of the bar, and she slowly took a seat. Once Quinn had settled in, the rest of the bar seemed to relax. Her head was in her hand as she leaned on the bar, and she bit the lower corner of her red-stained lips, a deep contrast to her pale features. "So, are you in charge here? I'm looking for someone with a great story tied to their existence." Her voice was smooth, almost hinting that she knew the answer to the question she proposed. As she finished, her smile spread, waiting for the bartender's answer.

 

[Kayden Lind]

CORUSCANT-LOWER LEVELS

Quinn Varanin

Outfit: Simple brown tunic and pants. Work boots.


He was in a dark room. Dark and cold. Cool mist swirled around him, tendrils snaking up his legs, over his torso, as if alive. Breathing was laborious and rapid.

Where was he?

His mind ordered him to move, but his body would not cooperate. He opened his mouth to cry out, but no sound emerged. In the wake of his silence, a voice from the dark spoke, low and gravelly. It seemed to come from every direction, all at once.

"Thy fear is tantalizing. Like a sweet nectar born of unparalleled anguish..."

A shiver shot through his body, try as he might to suppress it. Sweat trickled down the back of his shirt, as he furiously tug his body once more against his invisible binding, still to no avail. The mist continued to encircle him, covering him, seeping itself into his mouth and eye sockets. The Voice of the Dark chuckled wickedly, amused.

"Such cowardice... surely one born of such vile blood carries a sterner spine."

Pain seared straight up his back in response to the Voices taunting. Kaydens body finally was free, as he fell to the floor, writhing in anguish. It was unbearable, like the hot magma of Mustafar had swaddled him like a hellish blanket. And then, as soon as it appeared, it was gone. As he lay their on the floor, gasping for air, the Voice came again. This time, quiet, and eerily serene. As it spoke, the coolness of the mist began to wash over him once more lapping at his twitching, helpless form.

"Let thy very marrow be obliterated, and made into a glorious canvas of hate. Submit yourself to another, let yourself be reborn... Child of Darkness."

The mist engulfed him completely, and his vision faded into nothingness.

---

---

"Bartender! Another drink?"

Kaydens eyes fluttered open as he shot awake. He was sat hunched over on a stool just behind the bar counter of Kashyyyks Reprieve. He had fallen asleep on the job. Again. He looked over at the source of the request. Mulvin Donez, one of their regulars. He held up his empty glass expectantly. Kayden rubbed his eyes and face, grimacing.

God my head hurts.

Another dream. He'd had recurring nightmares of more or less the same variety on and off for the past couple weeks the moment he shut his eyes. It made for a very groggy day when he was awake. He couldn't make heads or tails of what they meant, though he had considered seeing one of those Seers that some of the patrons had been discussing to get them discerned. Whatever their meaning, he could be certain it was nothing good.

"Child of Darkness? What the hell does that even mean?"

Kayden sighed. Problems for a later time. For now, he had to prepare another drink. He grabbed the large tankard of Hutt Ale and brought it over to Mulvin.

"Sorry friend. Haven't been getting enough shut eye at night these days."

Mulvin merely grunted in response, his mood clearly turned by the wait. As he set back to his drink, Kayden caught his reflection in the the patrons glass. He was a bit worse for wear at the moment. His brown tunic was weathered, and stained here and there with different drink ingredients, and his blonde hair a little greasier than usual. He pushed it back out of his face, and quickly got back to work preparing a variety of different strange liquids for the dwindling patrons dotting the cantina, as he pored over the contents of his recent dream, trying to discern any kind of meaning.

He was intensely engaged in the mixing of a C980 Martini when he felt his blood run cool. Something was wrong. He immediately stopped his preparation of the drink, setting it to the side with care, and looked up and out among the Reprieve frantically.

A woman stood in the door, adorned in simple outfit that brought none too much attention upon her. She had blonde hair and hazel eyes that pierced right through him. Now this was a face he hadn't seen before in the Reprieve, and these days anyone who wasn't a regular stopping in for a drink was a surprise. As she walked in and circled in on the bar, Kayden could not avert his eyes. Something about this woman was so unusual from anything he had ever seen before. He had no idea why, but he felt strongly pushed to the her. As if his very bones yearned to get closer.

Must be deja vu.

She sat down at the bar, looking at him.
"So, are you in charge here? I'm looking for someone with a great story tied to their existence."
Her lips curled into smile as she pontificated the question forth. Kaydens breath hitched, as he tried to match her white hot stare, not very efficiently.

"If you're looking for the Wookeie in charge, you're looking for Norroku. I'm just Kayden the bartender." He said dryly.

There was a pause in which he held her gaze silently, shifting despite himself.

"And I'm just warning you now, if you're one of them whose looking to cause trouble talking about that... incident, you better leave before it happens to you too!"

A slight tremor in his voice betrayed just how truly afraid and uncomfortable he was by that topic. He looked the woman over, trying to gauge her reaction.

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Kayden Lind //:
//: Coruscant Lower - Levels //:
//: Reprieve Bar //:
//: Attire //:

The Princess tilted her head slightly as she watched the bartender introduce himself and answer her question. His voice hitched, and while his body betrayed his nervous energy, there was the flicker of something close to fear behind the dryness in his words. Quinn's eyebrows rose slightly, quietly gesturing that she knew more than she was letting on. "Oh?" she asked, her voice remaining the same as when she inquired moments prior.

Quinn let his warning hang in the air before answering. There was more to this incident than anyone was letting on, and it only made her more curious. Her gaze had a quiet intensity while she continued to smile. Quinn squinted her nose playfully before she spoke. "The incident," she echoed, her voice smooth and measured—revealing nothing. It seems like it left an impactful impression on you." She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the bar countertop, her eyes studying him.

Kayden didn't seem much younger than her, but he seemed someone who knew his fair share of struggles. Whatever the incident appeared to have rattled him to his core, or there was something more going on than he was letting on. She mused over his actions. The Echani people were masters of reading even the most subtle body language.

There was a fear, one that changed people. Quinn had seen it before, having experienced her own horrors.

Her smile didn't falter as she sighed with a gentle laugh. "I'm not here to cause any trouble, my apologies. I'm Quinn by the way. Pleasure is mine to meet you Kayden." There was a playfulness in her voice as she looked away from the bartender, her eyes wandering the different choices of the bar and its patrons. It was a quaint little place that was more common for locals than strangers like her. One curious thing, she didn't sense any Jedi. With the New Jedi Order changing their hub - she wondered if the Jedi abandoned Coruscant to her own devices.

The woman exhaled slowly as her attention returned to the young bartender. "I'm just looking for this person; they seem to know something I'd like to know about." She put her hands up and laughed. "I promise again I'm not here to start trouble - but if you care to share this tale about a man and his bravery to protect something he cares about - I'm all ears."

Something told her she was staring at that man. The Princess was curious now more than ever about this story, and gently, through the Force, she hoped that Kayden would soon also feel the need to tell his story.

 

[Kayden Lind]

CORUSCANT-LOWER LEVELS-KASHYYYKS REPRIEVE CANTINA

Quinn Varanin

Outfit: Simple brown tunic and pants. Work boots.

---

Well, it seemed his threat had not been effective in the slightest. The woman, Quinn she said her name was, barreled onward in conversation, cool and calculated, laughing even, as if they were a couple of old friends just meeting up for lunch. Most people he threatened with a beating were quick up and out the door, and if not, they at least exhibited a healthy fear before trying to put up a fight. It was unsettling, how Quinn sized him up from across the counter. What use was his story to her? He would've taken her as some sleazy reporter from HoloNet, trying to scrape together something newsworthy, but she was far too charming with her words. Playful even. The thought of it unsettled him. He grabbed a glass and began cleaning it absentmindedly, trying to drown her out, as she kept pushing forward with her questioning. He had dealt with annoyingly persistent customers before, and it wouldn't be any different now. He began to walk way from her interrogation, ready to prepare another drink or two.

"I promise again I'm not here to start trouble - but if you care to share this tale about a man and his bravery to protect something he cares about - I'm all ears."

Kayden stopped dead in his tracks. Visions of that night flashed through his head, smothering him in painful memory. The pulling of a blaster. Norrokus' face as she backed away, prepared to empty her life savings out on the bar table for the man. Kayden leaping into action, outraged by the injustice of it all.

The flash of light...

The dead mans body littering the floor.

Fear enveloped him, slowly shifting into rage as the feeling brewed in his gut. He violently whipped back around towards Quinn, and leaned in close, intensity flaring in his dark blue eyes. He leaned in inches from her face, and spoke in a low, savage tone.

"Look woman, I don't know who the hell you are, but if you keep asking your questions I swear to everything that I will rip out your vocal chords, and nail them on the doorpost as a warning for any who comes in here and doesn't know how to keep their mouth shut!"

As their eyes locked, his rapid breathing slowed. His tense muscles relaxed. Her eerie tranquility pierced his rage, and popped it like a balloon in a single moment. All of the sudden her presence was strangely comforting. Why shouldn't he trust her? By some sudden revelation, he no longer had a reason not too. He backed off of the table, and gave her some space. Maybe she deserved his story after all.

"Look, I'm not a killer, okay? I don't know what you've heard from people out there who have spun the story their own way, but the bastard had it coming!"

He leaned back against the corner of the counter, and began working on washing out another glass as he spoke, fidgeting nervously.

"I was about sixteen. Norroku and I were closing down the bar for the day. We were about finished too, when one of our old regulars, Bossh Kannal walked in, striking up conversation. It was late, but the kind soul Norroku is,she held a quick chat with him and served him up a drink. He was being awful fidgety, and never usually came in that late. He was always more of an afternoon patron, coming in on his lunch break. I should've suspected something was up from the beginning."

As he ridiculed himself, he finished washing the glass and picked up another to dry.

"The next bit is all a kind of blur now. With no warning, he pulled his blaster on her, said he needed everything we had. He was stammering, nervously trying to explain himself. He said something about a Sith. Something about the situation being out of his control. I didn't believe a word of it, never would've. Always a lying snake that Bossh was. Cheated me out of a game of Holochess more than once. I'm convinced he was cheating on his wife too. No... he knew what he was doing."

His hands began shaking a bit as he started drying another cup, more fervently now.

"That's when I felt it. It was like an otherworldly sensation, pushing my body forward. I was so angry, angrier that I had ever been in my entire life. He could've robbed any other shop on Coruscant, but no, it had to be ours! The one that had served him and served him well for at least three or four years. And goodness knows Norroku would never hurt a flowerflier! I ran at him, and the ugly bastard would've shot me, had the universe given him the oppurtunity. But something stopped him. It... it came out of my hands. It was like a bright light, there in a moment and then gone. He was dead before he hit the floor."

Kayden steadied his hands and set the glass down, taking short and calculated breaths.

"I didn't mean to kill him. I really didn't. I don't know know what I had meant to do whenever I ran at him like I did, but it wasn't to kill him. What he was doing was wrong, but he had a family. I knew his son growing up, Burshk. He was a nice kid, we hung out. I wouldn't have wanted to leave him fatherless. Nobody deserves that. Ever since that day the nightmares started. It's been years since I've gotten good sleep. Hardly anyone ever comes around here anymore, they think it's cursed, haunted by Bossh's ghost or some such. It's been hard on business for Norroku, people avoid me like the plague around here, and- and-"

He felt his mind begin to refocus. It felt like a fog had been lifted from his consciousness. He snapped his head over to Quinn, who he realized he had just spun this entire personal tale to. What did she do? What did she do to him?

"What did you do to me?"

He asked through gritted, furious teeth.

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Kayden Lind //:
//: Coruscant Lower - Levels //:
//: Reprieve Bar //:
//: Attire //:

He unraveled like a tight-bound spool of yarn being slowly cut open. Quinn didn't flinch; her eyes held steady as he trembled with the fury of emotions. All at once, he felt the rage, confusion, and fear - things that he had buried for years, all laid bare. Something in her eyes lit up, hearing his breath ragged, his hands clenched so tightly around the glass, threatening to shatter it. Yet, in all of his fury, Kayden didn't pull away.

"What did I do to you?" she echoed his question, her voice softer and gentler than before. She studied him, trying to read more of what he was feeling and how to invade his mind further. "I listened." The silence carried, stretching between them as the tension coiled tighter with each passing moment. The Princess leaned in, elbows on the countertop, the distance nearly minimal. Just a breath, a whisper separated them.

"You've been carrying this for a long time, right?" Her voice threaded a calm through the rageful storm inside of him. "No one to tell, No one who would understand." Her face softened with concern. "It's been eating you alive; you didn't mean to tell me - but it needed to come out. I didn't do that, Kayden." Her voice dropped, lower, more intimate. "That's something you did to yourself." She waited, letting the flicker of realization crack through the storm in his mind.

Quinn exhaled softly as she leaned back. As an Echani, physical touch would have been her next move, but she could sense that she needed to press him more, prove that she was an ally and not the enemy. So, she gave the boy a moment's reprieve to let her words linger against his mind. "I don't think you're a killer," she murmured. "And I don't think you ever wanted to be, but-"

She mused with the lyrical cadence of her voice, carrying the words from her lips to the depths of his mind, "You felt something, didn't you?" A hand over her lips as she smiled from behind them, her eyes never leaving the depths of his. "More than just anger, more than fear. Something moved you, not instinct or rage - something deeper." Quinn wanted to see every intricate movement of his face, the way his body tightened and shifted with her words. His reactions were grand and dramatic, telling her everything she needed to know about who he was and what he was destined for.

"It was the Force." Her smile widened at the revelation, her heart fluttering, waiting for Kayden's imminent reaction. Her words would linger between them, hanging like forbidden fruit, waiting for him to grasp them. Everything that happened to him led him down this road to her. She was destined to find him, and he was meant to do something bigger than this hometown bar.

"The Force works mysteriously; it acts through us in ways we don't expect and ways we don't understand. I understand it was terrifying to experience what you did, but there's a reason, and there's a reason it led me to you." Despite her excitement for everything, Quinn did her best to remain understanding to the boy - his whole life was upturned, and she was the bearer of both good and bad news. "You're not cursed, Kayden, and you don't have to continue to suffer under the self-inflicted chains of oppression you've put on yourself."

Her hand fell from her face as she bit her lip with excitement.

"Let me set you free."

 

[Kayden Lind]

CORUSCANT-LOWER LEVELS-KASHYYYKS REPRIEVE CANTINA

Quinn Varanin

Outfit: Simple brown tunic and pants. Scuffed work boots.

---

---

The thrashing, violet storm of rage inside him began to subside as she spoke. Her words were a soft and intimate melody, at times almost paternal. Her eyes, sharp, and yet understanding, pierced through him. He felt her looking past his eyes and outward expression. She was looking inside him, peering into his soul. He felt emotionally naked, stripped of any safeguard. Who was she? What was she?

"It was the Force."

Her words struck him like a flash of lightning, reverberating through his skull. The Force? Norroku was a firm believer in the Force, and often tried to coax him into practicing meditation, to lean on it's power. Personally, he had always considered it a load of Bantha dung. His brow furrowed, and he gripped the glass in his hands tighter. It felt like the room was growing dull and silent around him. Like there was no one in the room but him and Quinn.

"You're not cursed, Kayden, and you don't have to continue to suffer under the self-inflicted chains of oppression you've put on yourself."

His breath was deep, and calculated. It was if she had been inside his head, rummaging around and prying open his inner thoughts unknown to everyone else, sometimes unknown to even himself. He had just met this woman, yet she had already proved more trustworthy, more empathetic, and seemingly wiser than anyone he had known. Except maybe for Norroku. But Norroku surely had reservations against him, after all he had done. After he had tanked the business from it's former glory forever. After he had costed her an arm and a leg, needing to be raised and cared for. She would never express these gripes, but he knew that she felt them. He knew it.

But this woman here, this Quinn, she didn't have those reservations. She clearly knew something about him he didn't, and didn't scorn him for it. And she spoke to him like he was someone. Like he wasn't a killer and a fiend. And it had been a long time since someone had done that.


"Let me set you free."

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up at this. Once again, he felt an alluring, otherworldly presence drawing him towards her. A hot pain flared in his spine, rippling up and down. His heart rate quickened. Was she a Jedi? His head throbbed as he, wincing, heard a voice, distant and faint. Like the echo of a memory. It spoke three words.

"Child of Darkness."


The words reverberated in his head, pain continuing to tear through him. He gripped the counter wearily, having to gasp for breath. Over and over the phrase repeated, deafening him to the world surrounding. In his minds eye he saw Norroku, poor and destitute on the street, the Reprieve ran out of business. All because of him. He saw a shade of a woman, writhing in the agony of childbirth. All because of him. And he saw the body of Bossh Kannal, lying dead on the floor. All by his hand. He felt dizzy, as if at any moment the ground underneath him would give way.

He looked up at Quinn, his anger and fear now replaced with desperation.

"Pl-please. Help me."


His vision clouded, but the outline of her frame was calling to his bones like an oasis on the Tatooine sands. He heard the Voice once more, this time loud and abrasive.

"Submit to another and be reborn."

Sweat beaded upon his brow. He doubled over the counter, gasping for a moment's rest from the anguish engulfing him. In his head he heard one word. Over and over.

"SUBMIT!"

He grabbed Quinn by the sleeve, his palms sweaty.

"Free me. Free me please. I can't bear it ."

"SUBMIT!"

He looked her in the eyes, begging fervently.

"Take my chains. I'm yours, I swear it!”

"SUBMIT!"

He stood up and slammed his hands in resignation on the table, and yelled out to the heavens.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE I SUBMIT!"

As his hands smashed down onto the table, crackles of electricity shot out from his fingertips. In response, the countertop split in two, hurling debris all around the bar. The few patrons still drinking spilled their cups and trampled anyone slower and smaller to get to the exit first, yelling their curses as they went. The lights overhead began to flicker, many going out.

A single dull light spilled its warmth over Quinn and Kayden, as the now deserted bar sat in eerie silence.

The voice was gone, but a harsh ringing still filled his ear. It was over. Everything was gone. Norroku was gone sick for the night, but when she arrived tomorrow her business and livelihood would be ruined.

At his hand.

He couldn't bear to think of facing her that way.

He looked once more to Quinn, trying to see her reaction in the dim lighting, as a singular tear streaked down his now dusty, sweaty face.

"Please. I want to be free of this anguish. I don't know who you are, but if you're my ticket out of this hell then I need you. I'll do anything."

Exhausted, he fell to his knees before her, as tears began to flow quietly, dotting the dusty ground.

"Anything."

 

[Quinn Varanin]

//: Kayden Lind //:
//: Coruscant Lower - Levels //:
//: Reprieve Bar //:
//: Attire //:

It was hard not to feel his pain; it echoed in her chest as she watched him. The way his body trembled from the weight of his emotions, the desperation and pain. It was an overwhelming flood that had nowhere to go but out. Kayden's tear-streaked face and raw pleading cut through her; she watched him as he unraveled - fighting against something. A slow and soft exhale escaped her lips as she focused on the boy. Whatever it was that tormented him was beyond the tragic memory.

A part of herself pitted him. No Jedi or Healer came to help or listen to his story. His darkness had rooted, and she was here to help it flourish.

Everything came to a headway; Quinn listened to his words, and he soon realized what her presence meant. Kayden's words echoed in her mind, his quiet surrender reverberating with guilt and regret. Anything.

The echos of his outburst faded into the eerie silence as the air remained thick around them. Debris from the revelation lay scattered, a physical manifestation of the storm that raged within him. Quinn glanced up, the lights flickering, casting a long shadow across the room. Yet, the warmth of that remaining light seemed to settle on only him and her—a beacon in the middle of chaos.

Quinn knew this moment was inevitable; it was when everything finally spilled over as his heart cracked open from the dark seed. She sensed it from him from the start when she entered the bar. His presence screamed for freedom, to find the peace of acceptance; all of it weighed down on his soul. It had been too long, like a ship caught in a storm never being able to find the shore. Now, she called him like a siren, and he reached out for something to save him.

Quinn stood still, her expression unreadable as she watched him hunch before her. His body still trembling, his voice raw and desperate - begged her to take it from him. Begging her to set him free. The Princess had seen people like this before, consumed by their darkness. She had been there once; she had felt the agony and carried the weight of what she was. Her existence of pure darkness, she defied the laws of life with the horrors of the Dark Side.

Often, she questioned her existence, but she had learned to control it, to believe there was something more destined for her. Kayden would learn this lesson even if it killed him. She would show him the way out, the power that he was born with.

Stepping towards him, no one could get in her way. The bar had emptied, and his ragged breath was the only sound between them. The Echani knelt down to meet him at the poor boy's level. Her eyes softened as she regarded him; she could feel the ebb and flow of the Force - somehow unconsciously, he was calling for her, reaching to her, and she accepted it. Her presence warmed his own, weaving and soothing the connection between them. She needed his trust and for him to see her as his savior in this plight. Quinn knew she could force the thoughts upon him, but having him develop this independently was better. His loyalty would be sound.

Quinn felt his pain, fear, and shame from everything that had happened. She also felt something stronger; it fed the dark emotions and used them to grow stronger. The Echani wanted to dig deeper, but she ran the risk of another outburst. He had no control, and while she could contain him, it would eventually draw the ire of the Jedi. Tch, she drew in air through her teeth as she made the audible noise when she thought of the meddlesome Jedi. They would only break the boy further and lie to him that this darkness could be erased.

Not this, not ever.

Finally, the Princess reached out. The gentleness in her touch contrasted with the dark energy that she emitted. Fingertips guided his chin, his gaze to look at her. As an Echani, her intent bled through her touch, something he wouldn't understand, but his body would. There was a calmness and a strength that radiated through her—she was to become his savior, the fury that controlled the storm.

"Control this, what you're feeling - that's who you are. Control the storm, ride it, make it yours." Her gaze never left his as she commanded the boy. Kayden's face told her everything; she could sense the suffocating nature of his self-loathing and uncertainty. There was a fear that loomed over him. Ripe for the Darkside, she would teach him to use that fear and turn it into power.

"The Force shall set you free," she whispered, her fingers gently brushing the tenderness of his cheek. She was like a mother, calm and guiding through the fear that held its grip around his throat. "I'm here; I will guide you, teach you, set you free of your anguish." Her voice was steady, but behind her words, he would feel the anchor the Princess could be for him.

"I'm offering a way forward towards the person you're meant to be." She nodded, a smile crossing her face. She remembered the pain he felt, knowing that the evening was a loss for profit. "You're worried about the owner." Her voice searched for confirmation of the feelings she had felt between them.

"You care about her because - she took you in. If you come with us, she'll never want to. It may take some time, but my support will be for your caretaker." Quinn nodded, pulling a small stack of credits and slipping them into the broken register. "She will receive monthly payments; just tell me the amount, and it will be handled." Quinn hoped this would ease his heart and allow him to take the necessary steps.

Leaning into the boy, Quinn's voice lowered, a silken whisper threading through his mind. Knowing the emerald flecks almost glowing in the dim light, her hazel eyes bore into Kayden. Her hand offered to him not only comfort but something deeper - something more intoxicating. "You don't have to fight it anymore," she whispered, her fingertips brushing the edge of his jaw once more. "The pain, the rage, the power, all part of you. Stop running from it. Embrace it. Let me show you what you were meant for."

Her presence was magnetic, her words a promise wrapped in temptation.

"Come with me, Kayden. Walk into the dark, and I will show you how to make it yours."​

 

[Kayden Lind]

CORUSCANT-LOWER LEVELS-KASHYYYKS REPRIEVE CANTINA

Quinn Varanin

Outfit: Simple brown tunic and pants. Scuffed work boots. Bartending apron.

---

Her touch was unlike anything he had ever experienced. As she raised his chin to match her gaze, he felt a warm sense of calm pulsing through him, steadying his breath, and stopping his heavy stream of tears. To every question, she had an answer. To every problem a solution. It was overwhelmingly perfect. For the first time in his entire life, he felt like he was understood. Like he was seen.

Her paternal tone reached something inside of him that had only ever been reached by one other person. Norroku. But Norroku had always taught him to overcome the darkness inside of him. Quinn was urging him to use it. But he couldn't just abandon his adoptive mother, the one person who had stuck with him through and through! Especially not after the destruction that he just caused, now for the second time. No, he would have to stay on Coruscant for a bit, and find a way to pay her back.

Even as the thoughts crossed his mind, Quinn gave him a knowing smile. She vowed to help pay for the damages, and make sure she was taken care of. Kayden gave her a smile back, weak and appreciative, as her hand traced along his jaw. He closed his eyes, and let her warmth soothe him. He couldn't remember the last time the voice in his head was so quiet, the storm inside him so serene.

"Come with me, Kayden. Walk into the dark, and I will show you how to make it yours."​

His eyes flew open, and locked onto hers. In an instant, everything fell into place. Her talk of darkness. Her understanding of his condition. Her quick, charismatic tongue. Quinn was no healer. She was no Jedi.

She was a Sith.

Kayden looked up at her. His eyes wide with fear. Norroku had told him stories of the Sith. How they were angry. Power hungry. Dangerously violent.This woman in front of him however showed no signs of those traits however. Had Norroku lied to him? Why would she do that? Why was this savior from above, this Quinn, supposedly the antithesis of everything he should stand for? He furrowed his brow, wincing in frustration. Looking back up at her, their was no malevolence in her eyes, not twinge of hatred. There was care, and concern. And ambition.

He had been deceived.

"I know what you are."

He spoke plainly, in a trance like manner, as he held her gaze.

"I once felt like I knew what was right, and what was wrong. Meeting you has shown me that I was mistaken."

He gripped her arm, now speaking more fervently now. His words were laced with hate and anguish.

"My entire life I have been trampled down and spat on for what I did. Who I am. Not a single person wished to understand what I felt! Not that they would have understood anyways."

He looked up at her, the light of fear in his eyes replaced with a different flame.

"These people. They looked at me like I was an animal! Like I was some beast that would go rabid at any moment!"

His breath quickened, as angry tears welled up once more.

"I am not an animal! A voice in your head doesn't make you an animal. I will cure myself, and I will become something so much greater."

He looked up at her, the light of fear in his eyes replaced with a different flame.

Ambition. Ambition intertwined with desperation.

"Teach me. I am yours, I swear it."