Private Through Leaves and Legends

[Aiden Rennek]

Aiden hadn't meant to stare. He really hadn't. But stars, was it getting harder not to. The way her skin glowed in the dim light, the way the flickering red illumination from the cave cast shifting shadows along the curves of her body, the way her lips parted just slightly when she breathed — it was distracting. And if her eyes flicking over his body meant anything, he wasn't the only one having a hard time keeping his focus.

Maybe it was the cold. Maybe it was the close proximity. Maybe it was something else entirely. But whatever it was, he was fighting a losing battle.

"Indefinite leave," he murmured in response to her question, his voice lower now, quieter. "Trying to figure things out for myself. Might go back someday, might not." He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his still-damp hair. "Not exactly sure where I'm meant to be right now."

But this moment, right here?

This felt like a pretty damn good place to be.

His eyes flicked back to hers, his pulse hammering against his ribs. She was close. Too close. Her breath warm against his bare skin, her hands still rubbing along her arms in a desperate attempt to fight off the cold. And damn it, he was shivering too. Without thinking, his body angled toward her, his arm just beginning to lift — muscles tensing, debating, about to pull her into his side for warmth...

Then—

Footsteps. Slow. Rhythmic. Mechanical. Aiden froze, every muscle going rigid. He knew that sound. Metal. Aged. Worn. Something ancient, something wrong. His head snapped toward a path up ahead, his instincts flaring just before a hulking, rusted droid stepped into view.

Red eyes. Old wiring. And a rifle that looked just as ancient as the rest of it — aimed directly at him. Aiden shot up instantly, stepping in front of Kinsey without hesitation, his bare feet barely making a sound against the stone. His arm instinctively stretched backward, fingers just brushing against her as if to tell her to stay behind him.

His gaze locked onto the droid, his body going perfectly still.

Not good.

BANG!

Kinsey Starchaser
​

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

Well, at least he wasn't here to haul her arse in for some old bounty the Alliance probably had out on her. Back when she was under the influence and brainwash of Sage Bane. And she wouldn't put it past the Alliance to use her to get to Uncle Coren, either. Superpowers that big, either jedi or sith, didn't have that much different when it came right down to it.

There was something about his eyes that kept drawing her in. And the rough edge to his voice. That ring of vulnerability and earnestness. About the same time Ayden turned his head, she did too. Head cocked.

She was up on her feet as fast as a lightsaber blade crackling to life.

"Ayden," she hissed in warning as he blocked her line of sight. And his fingers brushed against her arm. And damn if that wasn't the most distracting thing that had ever happened to her. The bang happened nearly at the same time that her droid's blue and white form rolled in front of them with a loud whirrr.

Metal screeched on metal as the slug hit the edge of Pib's domed head. Kinsey took off, running for their pile of (mostly) dried clothes. She wasn't worried about looking indecent. It was because that's where her bag was with all her tools. That droid reloaded as she crouched over her bag. It's red eyes attracted to movement as it followed her. There was a cock of the weapon again and Kinsey through her hand forward, sending a sloppy force-push in the droid direction.

"Ayden! Can you try getting behind it?" Her other hand still dug wildly in her bag. She could handle sith. She could handle monsters. But feth they were in trouble with droids. I had to be a droid.

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Aiden sucked in a sharp breath as the shot rang out, his muscles tensing for impact — only for the sound of screeching metal to cut through the cave instead. His eyes flicked down just in time to see Pib roll in front of them, taking the shot like a damn hero. "Oh, hell," he exhaled, relief hitting him just as fast as the adrenaline still pumping through his veins, "Thanks, bud."

But they weren't out of trouble yet.

Kinsey was already moving, darting toward their pile of clothes, her focus locked on her bag. Aiden barely had time to process anything beyond the fact that she was half-naked and throwing the Force around like it was nothing. The sloppy push staggered the droid just enough to throw off its aim, but the damn thing was still standing.

His eyes flicked toward the cave, scanning for anything that might give them the edge. Big, armored, ancient. A slugthrower. Not quick, but tough. They needed to keep it off balance.

Getting behind it? He could do that.

Aiden moved, bare feet barely making a sound against the stone, he circled wide, sticking to the shadows where the flickering red light from the droid's sensors didn't quite reach. His heart hammered in his chest as he crouched behind a outcrop of rock, fingers brushing against a loose chunk of stone.

Not exactly a blaster, but he'd make it work. He grabbed the rock and, without hesitating, hurled it straight at the back of the droid's rusted head.

CLANG!

The impact echoed through the chamber, loud and grating. The droid jerked violently, its red eyes flickering as it twisted toward him, metal joints groaning under the sudden movement.

Aiden slowly raised his hands.

"…Kinseyyy…" he drawled, voice edged with forced patience as the droid leveled its rifle in his direction. His brows lifted just slightly as if to say, Anytime now would be great.

Kinsey Starchaser
​

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

Pibs warbled and booped. The pebbledrone shaking its head as if shaking off that shot from earlier. Kinsey's hand finally closed around what she was looking for. Hearing a 'clang,' Kinsey's head jerked up as the droid swiveled its deadly gaze away from her. And she took off across the rocky ground for the droid's back as it leveld its gun on Aiden.

Arm raised behind her, grip tightening on the hilt of the strange-looking dagger she held.

If Aiden looked closely, it was as if the blade of the dagger itself was voice of color. Like it was a blackhole, sucking in all color and life around it. It pulsed with a dark kind of energy.

Without hesitating, Kinsey made it to the back of the droid's circuit panel and stabbed that mysterious blade downward just as the droid was about to fire. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the droid began to spark and whir. The very energy of the droid itself being drawn out of its circuits and into the dagger Kinsey held.

Those sith runes in the cave began to pulse with energy, turning a bright white color.

With a cry, Kinsey yanked that blade free from the droid as it began to tip over. Completely drained of power.

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Aiden stood frozen for a second, eyes wide as the droid sparked and fizzled, its very essence — its power — seemingly ripped straight out of its circuits. The eerie glow of the Sith runes pulsed in response, casting strange, shifting light across the cave walls. His gaze flicked to the dagger in Kinsey's grip, its blade dark as the void, pulling at the very air around it. His gut twisted, instinct screaming at him that this thing was bad news.

And yet, somehow, that still wasn't the most distracting part of the moment.

Because when he finally pulled his eyes away from the weapon and back to Kinsey, he was immediately reminded — violently — that they were still both standing there in nothing but their underwear.

Right.

He cleared his throat, shifting his weight slightly and resisting the very real temptation to move his hands to cover himself, "So," he drawled, forcing his brain to focus, "We're just gonna... ignore the whole glowing cave situation and the fact that you just drained a damn droid with a knife, or...?"

His eyes flicked back to the runes, the pulsing white light intensifying, stretching along the walls like veins. His brows knit together, concern creeping into his tone. "What the hell is that dagger, Kinsey? That's not normal, right?"

Kinsey Starchaser
​

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

Kinsey's arm shook as she loosely clutched the blade, stepping out from the shadow of the droid. Her hand with that dagger falling to her side. A wound from a few weeks ago on her right thigh split open and began bleeding. Crimson ichor slowly creeping down her leg. She looked suddenly worn. Her skin looking pallid in the glowing runes around them.

"I hate droids," she huffed ignoring that proverbial bantha in the room. Blue eyes flicked over Aiden's form checking for injuries. To see if he was hurt. Relief flickered briefly across her face then she took a step forward, wincing and looking down. Finally noticing that wound.

"Chit. No, it's not a normal dagger." A grimace as she looked over at him again, trying not to be too distracted by...everything she saw. Turning, she began limping back toward their clothes and Pibs. "I found it in a place a lot like this, once." And it was clear using it had a cost.

"You okay?"

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Aiden caught the way Kinsey’s eyes flicked over him, quick but unmistakable, and for a second, all thoughts of creepy glowing runes and knives took a backseat to the very real, very obvious fact that they were standing there practically bare, staring at each other.

He swallowed hard, willing himself to focus. Because, yeah, sure, the way the dim light from the cave danced along her skin was distracting, but then he noticed the blood.

His eyes dropped to her thigh, where a thin trail of it was slowly winding its way down her leg. "Shit, Kinsey," he muttered, concern cutting through the moment as he closed the space between them. "You’re bleeding."

She winced as she took another step, clearly just now registering it, but Aiden was already reaching for her. "Here," he said, voice softer now, steadier. "Let me see."

He eased down beside her, his hands careful as he pulled a strip of fabric from his discarded clothes and pressed it gently against the wound. His fingers brushed against her skin and when he finally looked up, their faces were close. Too close.

A moment of silence.

The flickering light made her starburst eyes seem impossibly deep, and Aiden found himself momentarily caught, breath tightening in his chest. His jaw clenched, but he didn’t pull away.

"Thanks," he murmured, voice low, rough. "For saving my ass back there." A beat, then a smirk, slow and teasing. "Even if it did involve some weird Sith magic bullshit."

His fingers lingered just a second longer than they probably should have before he forced himself to focus, tying the makeshift bandage around her leg with a little more care than was strictly necessary. Anything to keep his hands busy, because if he didn’t, he wasn’t entirely sure what he’d do next.

Kinsey Starchaser
​

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

"It's nothing. It's okay I'm-"

She looked down at his face as he kneeled before her. And the fingers of her free hand twitched at her side. Having the sudden urge to want to bury her fingers in that tousled light hair of his. And that heat in his gaze.

Stars if it wasn't about to burn her up more than the dagger in her other hand.

LOOK AT ANYTHING ELSE.

But then his fingers were dancing all over her upper leg. For feth sake between her legs as he wrapped that bandage tenderly around her skin. Her free hand fell to his shoulder as she used him as balance. Yeah that was it. Not that she didn't feel like she needed to touch him more. Needed him closer to her.

"Thanks," her voice was just as throaty as his. Strained. Fingers brushed along his shoulder and as he finished wrapping up that old wound, she stepped away before she did something they might regret. Swiping hers and his clothes from the ground, she tossed his shirt at him. Very pointedly NOT looking at him. One went her shirt and then she shimmied on her pants. Then she took a seat and began tugging on her boots. Pibs warbled and wheeled over to them.

As much as being touched by Aiden and having him that close to her woke her up - got the adrenaline going, she could still feel the cost of using that dagger. A weariness sinking into her bones. Finally risking a glance at Aiden she asked, "Think you can keep watch for a little while? I need to rest for a little bit. Using sith weapons can be...costly."

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Aiden forced himself to breathe.

It should have been easy — patching up a wound, keeping things casual, keeping his damn hands from wandering. But the moment Kinsey’s fingers brushed over his shoulder, using him for balance, he felt it. Her warmth, her touch, rough and strained, like she was fighting something just as hard as he was.

His fingers tightened for half a second as he finished the bandage, his mind caught in a loop of really, really bad ideas. He could move — just a little. Could slide his hand up, fingers tangling in her hair, pulling her down into him. Could close the last few inches of space between them and finally, finally...

But then she stepped away.

Aiden exhaled sharply, tilting his head back like it might clear the haze she had left in its wake. It didn’t at all.

He caught the shirt she tossed him, barely, his grip clumsy, distracted. He took the extra second to shove it on, running a hand through his still-damp hair and pretending like he wasn’t currently in the fight of his damn life just to keep it together.

"Yeah," he finally said, voice rough as he sat back against the cool cave wall, stretching his legs out. "I got it. You rest."

He grabbed his canteen, offering it to her without really looking, because if he did, he wasn’t sure his resolve would hold.

Already, she was irresistible to him, a feeling he hadn't experienced since... He schook his head and forced himself to focus again.

"You’re gonna owe me for this, though," he added, smirking just enough to play it off like he wasn’t completely, utterly wrecked. "Standing watch while you nap? Feels unfair."

Kinsey Starchaser
​

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

She took a sip of that water from his canteen. Trying not to let her mind wander that his lips had been on this not that long ago. Her grip tightened on the canteen and out of the corner of her quickly drooping eyelids, she caught him staring at anything but her. But she didn't let herself think about that long enough.

What it might mean.

Didn't take her long to stretch out on that cavern floor, curling to her side with her back firmly to Aiden. Then again...maybe not a good idea so she turned to her other side to face Aiden.

"Owe you?"

A quiet huff with a tired smirk curling around her lips.

"I dunno, seeing as I saved your ass twice it's the other way around." Her cheshire grin widened for just a moment before her eyes snapped closed. Pibs booped something before she drifted off. She dozed peacefully for a little bit. But then she began twitching in her sleep. Head shook as a whimper left her lips. Then another.

"No. Nononononno!" Limbs thrashed as she cried out, clearly caught in the violence of a nightmare.

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Aiden just grinned when she threw his own words back at him, calling out his very obvious bullshit. Yeah, okay, fine — she’d saved his ass twice now. He wasn’t about to argue. But he also wasn’t about to admit it out loud, so instead, he just huffed softly and let it slide, watching as she curled up on the cavern floor.

She turned away from him first, then turned back, her tired smirk still lingering before she finally drifted off. Aiden stayed where he was, his back against the cave wall, fingers idly tapping against his knee as he kept watch. The distant glow of the Sith runes flickered against the walls, but he bad gotten used to them by now.

Time passed, slow and steady. The cave was quiet — until it wasn’t.

At first, it was just a twitch. A slight shake of her head, a shift of her body. Aiden frowned, his gaze flicking toward her, but he didn’t move.
Then the whimper came.

His jaw tightened as he sat forward slightly, eyes locked on her face. The way her brow furrowed, the way her breath hitched. She was deep in it, trapped in whatever hell her mind had dragged her into.

Then the thrashing started.

"No. Nononononno!"

Aiden didn’t hesitate anymore.

In an instant, he was at her side, his hands reaching for her shoulders as he knelt down. "Kinsey — hey," he called, shaking her gently at first, then firmer when she didn’t respond. "Wake up. It’s just a dream." His voice was rough but steady, his grip solid as he hovered over her,.

He didn’t stop until her eyes snapped open.

And suddenly, they were way too close. Again. His hands were still on her, his breath shallow as he watched her blink away the terror. His fingers flexed slightly, as if reluctant to let go, but after a beat of heavy silence, he forced himself to pull back just a little.

"You’re alright," he murmured, voice lower now. "I got you."

Kinsey Starchaser ​

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

His hands were closing in on her. That voice she knew she'd never get out of her head. Stop hearing. Even if he was vaporized in the stars. It was still chilling. HIs whisper against her ear.

Pateesa.

Her eyes snapped open, wild and wide. One leg flew out and her first swung wild on instinct. As if she needed to protect herself. And a little too late what she saw caught up with her. His voice first broke through the heartbeat rattling against her ribs like a frenzied bird. Then that steady pressure on her shoulders and the warmth from his hands.

Then those eyes of his looking down at her.

"Aiden," she breathed relief crashing into her. The tendrils of the nightmare still clinging but quickly turning to vapor as she became more and more aware of her surroundings. Of him and his touch. And as she stared up at him, she didn't immediately reach for the mask of bravado that was so easy to slip on.

Her arms would slip around him and she'd bury her head against his shoulder. For a brief moment, she trembled like a piece of flimsi against him. Her embrace was tight.

"Thanks for," she paused and took a steadying breath. There was a lot she wanted to say. For being there. For him being around. For him being him.

"Thanks," she settled on quietly.

 

[Aiden Rennek]

For just a moment, Aiden froze.

Kinsey wasn't the type to lean on anyone — he knew that much. She was strong, confident, sharp as hell. The kind of woman who would fight through anything, who would grit her teeth and push forward without asking for help. So when she suddenly reached for him, arms wrapping tight around his shoulders, he felt it. Not just the warmth of her body against his, but the quiet vulnerability in the way she clung to him.

For just a moment, she let herself need someone.

His hesitation didn't last long.

Aiden exhaled softly and closed his arms around her, pulling her in close, his grip steady and firm. He could feel the way she trembled, the way her breath hitched slightly against his shoulder. It was a rare thing, seeing her like this — unfiltered, unguarded. And stars, if it didn't make something in his chest tighten.

"It's alright," he spoke again voice softer now, the edge of teasing completely gone. He held her there, no rush, no pressure, just solid warmth and quiet reassurance. Whatever haunted her, whatever had dragged her under, he wouldn't ask. He'd just be here.

When she finally pulled back, Aiden let her go slowly, reluctant to let the moment slip away too fast. His hands lingered for a second, then moved without thinking — fingers brushing through the strands of her hair that had fallen into her face, tucking them gently behind her ear. He smiled, lopsided and easy, though his eyes held something softer.

"I won't ask," he said, voice low, "If you don't wanna tell me." His thumb barely ghosted against her cheek before he finally let his hand drop. "But I got you, Kins."

A small smirk tugged at his lips, trying to lighten the moment, just a little. "You're kinda stuck with me now."

Kinsey Starchaser ​

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

Color was beginning to return to her pale face. The way his fingers trailed along her cheek. That gentle but intentional tuck of hair beneath a shell of one ear. What was strange was that she felt like she'd known him for a long time. That those little things? His presence? And even that godessforsaken smirk of his, it was familiar. Safe.

Something she was growing dangerously used to.

Slowly, a genuine smile tugged on her lips with a hint of something she wasn't used to showing.

Shyness.

"I'll tell you about it sometime. But maybe when we get outta here?" Before he could pull away completely, she'd reach forward and wrap her hand around his own. Brushing her thumb across his knuckles.

"Thanks for being willing to listen."

Pibs beeped lightly at them. Kins turned her head toward her pebbledrone and nodded. "We should keep going. The sooner we get outta here the better. You okay to push forward?"

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Aiden's eyes stayed on her face, catching that small smile — not the usual smirk she wore like armor, but something softer. Shy, even. It made his own smile deepen, lopsided and warm. When her fingers wrapped around his hand, thumb brushing gently over his knuckles, he didn't pull away. Instead, his grip shifted, just enough to hold her back — steady and reassuring.

"When we get outta here," he echoed with a nod, his voice low but sure. "We've still got a whole lot of mystery to walk through first." He flashed her a quick, charming wink and then rose to his feet.

As he did, he gave her hand a small tug to help her up. Once she was steady, he let go — though maybe just a second later than necessary — and reached down to his belt, unclipping a small flashlight. He flicked it on, the beam slicing through the shadows ahead. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and ancient dust, and the path ahead seemed to slope down into the unknown — deeper into the structure, deeper into whatever had drawn Kinsey here in the first place.

Aiden glanced over his shoulder at her as he started moving, slow and careful.

"So… what do you think we'll find in here, anyway?" he asked, voice just loud enough to carry. "I came for the jungle. All the green, the quiet… maybe a cool lizard or two."

He smirked faintly, sweeping the light across the hallway.

"But you came here for this place. Or a place like this. So… do you know what's waiting for us?" His tone was curious, but light — like he was asking about a story over a drink, not while walking into possible danger. "Or are we just winging it and hoping we don't trigger some kind of ancient death trap?"

Kinsey Starchaser ​

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

"Well, considering we've already sprung several traps, I doubt we'll escape not springing an ancient death trap," she replied rather unhelpfully, that soundrel's grin already on her face as she spoke. That wide cavern they'd found themselves in for the brief respite was narrowing into another set of stone steps that went upward.

"Just kind of winging it," she said more quietly. More seriously. "These kinda places tend to have artifacts in them. Things I'd rather keep out of other darksiders hands." Things that might be too dangerous just to leave lying around. "Could also just be some cool chit," her grin turned crooked again as those sith runes pulsed on the walls in the stairwell. A steady-beating thing. The stairs leveled off and soon they found themselves in a circular room.

Kinsey slid further into the room, pausing at the half-broken equipment around her.

"Looks like an old lab," she whispered.

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Aiden's grin mirrored hers, amusement dancing behind his eyes. It was infectious, really — the way Kinsey smirked like every danger was just a game waiting to be played. He followed her up the narrow stairwell, the flashlight beam bouncing off weathered runes and old stone.

"Oh, good," he muttered with mock seriousness. "Love a good ancient death traps."

But then her tone shifted — quiet, sincere — and his grin softened, just a bit. He didn't say anything at first, just watched her out of the corner of his eye as they crested the top of the steps. He respected it. Whatever drive pulled her here, whatever weight sat behind the joke and the half-smile — it mattered.

"Alright," he said at last, low and warm. "You handle the creepy dark side relics. I can handle droids and help getting us out in one piece." Then came the grin again. That smuggler flash. "Unless we find something valuable. Then we're splitting it, yeah? Fifty-fifty. Standard adventuring contract."

He didn't actually care for keepign anything.

He stepped lightly into the circular chamber, his boots scuffing softly against the dust-covered floor. The air was stale but tinged with the faint scent of old chemicals, and he crouched near a table lined with shattered glass and long-dead electronics. The flashlight flickered as he passed it across a strange, twisted silhouette in the corner of the lab.

Aiden froze.

"…Is that a body?" he asked, peering a little closer — not quite touching, but close enough to get a look. Whatever it was, it had once been humanoid. Long since mummified, its skin was stretched tight over bone, fingers curled inwards like it had died clutching something.

"Have you seen anything like this before?"

Kinsey Starchaser ​

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

"Unless we find something valuable. Then we're splitting it, yeah? Fifty-fifty. Standard adventuring contract."

A mild huff. Her lips twitching in that scoundrel's twist. "Hmm. We'll see. Maybe if you do all the heavy-lifting." She had the audacity to wink. But her expression sobered as they entered that abandoned science lab. She was no stranger to death. But she hadn't seen anything like this before.

Head shook in response to Aiden's question.

"Have you?"

Stepping around the side of Aiden, she headed toward one of the abandoned desks. Plucking drawers open and rummaging through their long discarded contents. In the back of one were two vials of a vicious black liquid. A third vial seemed to glow a light pink. Carefully, she stashed them in her bag. She would get Pibs to run an analysis on them later.

Finding an old cracked data pad, she offered it to Aiden. "You any good at cracking these open?" Kinsey was good with the mechanical. Ships, fixing things. Tinkering. But she was absolute chit when it came to tech/anything data related. "What do you think happened here?"

 

[Aiden Rennek]

Aiden caught that wink out of the corner of his eye and grinned, all charm and trouble. "Oh, don't worry," he said as he followed her deeper into the lab. "I'll carry everything. Including you, if this place tries to eat us." The words were playful, but quiet — like even his teasing didn't want to echo too loudly in a place that felt this wrong.

When Kinsey stepped past him toward the desks, Aiden knelt beside the mummified corpse again, just long enough to catch a glint of something between its curled fingers. But he didn't pry it loose. Not yet. The Force felt… off. Like a breath held too long. Like something waiting.

He stood just as she turned back and handed him the cracked datapad.

"Now you're speaking my language," he said with a smirk, dusting off the screen with the edge of his sleeve. He popped open a pouch on his belt and pulled out a slender tool — more slicer's pick than anything formal — and gently pried open the back to get a better connection point. A few quick taps, a surge of static, and—

Text flickered to life.

Aiden's smirk faded.

He scrolled slowly, his brow creasing more with each word. Line after line of experiment logs filled the screen — coded entries and half-scrubbed files, but the meaning was still clear. Subject trials. Forced augmentation. Human test subjects. Failures. "Reclamation protocols." A log noting the "reanimation response" on a subject who'd screamed for seventeen minutes before expiration.

He stared a second longer than he meant to. Then blinked and looked up at Kinsey.

"…Yeah, okay," he said, voice lower now. Not joking. "So… this place wasn't just some backwater lab. They were experimenting on people." His thumb hovered over the screen for a second, then he switched it off and slipped the datapad into one of his belt compartments.

He met her eyes — not panicked, but serious. "We sure this is a good idea? Poking around a place like this?" He gestured back toward the dead body with a tilt of his head. "Because I think that guy back there died trying to leave, not protect anything."

Kinsey Starchaser ​

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

Kinsey frowned. "Kriff no, I don't think it's a good idea. Poking around in any abandoned sith temple is a chit idea." This wasn't the first time she'd face some scary chit. And while it was okay to push herself on these kinds of explorations past the limit that was probably wise, she wasn't going to do it when someone else was with her.

"Your choice Aiden. Do you think we should turn back?"

Kinsey's expression mirrored his own in seriousness. And it was clear she would trust his call either way, with no judgement either way.