Wake Up

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael waited for a few moments.

No, not waited. He thought. His mind began to race, trying to think of an answer. Soliael had never had an existential crisis, he had never had the need for one. His mother had taught him reason and logic, right and wrong had never really been on the curriculum, he hadn't needed it. After all, Soliael was a Shamalain, a Talith. They did what they thought was right, and thats all that mattered.

Yet Kira was neither a Shamalain nor a Talith.

She was only human.

Soliael waited a few more seconds, taking in the information that the Jedi and the Protectorate had conducted their own little genocides. It was something he should have known about, and likely had heard about but then forgotten. He dug through his memories as he contemplated his answer to Kira, then finally he spoke.

“The line is drawn before the innocents.” He said quietly. “I don't pretend to be sinless, Kira. Yet there are those that are. Women who have only cared for their husbands, men who have only tried to keep their families alive, children who have never known anything but joy and play. The line is drawn before them.”

Crossing that line, would mean an end.

 

[Kira Talith]

The line is drawn before innocents.

It was an answer that rang true. For Kira, the Jedi Order was all she knew. All she had known since being taken from the orphanage on Kuat. For her, joining the Jedi had not been to simply be a Jedi.

But to protect those that she had taken upon herself to ensure they were safe.

As she'd told Hion long ago; She was here to protect and defend those would could not themselves. Seconds would tick by in silence, then she'd take a slow deep breath. She felt utterly exhausted emotionally again. Not to mention, truth be told, this was her fault.

The Force Meld carried its risks. She knew it, had been aware of it. He had not. It had been an invasion of his privacy and to be frank, feel likely more so after this.

"I'm sorry," she'd start, voice cracking. " The meld... the after effects... I'm sorry."

Fingers would pinch the bridge of her nose. The words of the Jedi Code would resonate within her mind. Yet all the while contradictory. This is why she'd brought up the vote of No Confidence for former Grand Master Joshua Dragonsflame.

Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others.

Jedi respect all life, in any form.





So where did that leave me?

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael looked at her, he longed to hold her again. The golden lock of hair that were soaked clinging to her shoulders, her hands moving, her scars showing beneath the pale crystal waters. He wanted to move over to her, hold her, squeeze her.

But he couldn't.

Oh he surely would I he could, but his body simply would not cooperate with that request. His body screamed, his muscles, bones, ligaments, organs, everything, his everything hurt. The Stress of what happened, of what was happening, it was slowly taking its toll on Soliaels body, but he fought through it, his expression growing soft, his throat relaxing, his voice becoming soothing.

“Please.” Soliael said, not dismissing her apology but preempting a question. “Come here.”

He didn't know if she would want to, whether or not she would, but he hoped. He hoped that she would comply with his request, that she would come to him. A hint of pleading in his voice told of that, though it was masked by a strength, the confidence of a pillar that one needed to lean on.

 

[Kira Talith]

In the silence that followed, he would see her working over the events, the implications, the reality of the situation. There was no denying she still carried that sensation of shell shock. Who wouldn't be in her shoes? That then brought up more questions. If she caught tidbits of Yuuzhan'tar... what transferred over to him in turn?

Her fear swirled in the air, the sharp, smoky smell mixing with her natural scent. But she didn’t turn away this time, and the fight-or-flight cocktail didn’t last long.

Slowly, Kira would tuck a wet lock of hair behind her ear and study his face. Soliael's stare was level, brutal in its honesty. Much in the same manner that he'd looked upon her when he'd washed her. No lies. No hidden intentions.

Just a request edged in a voice she was certain had rarely been spoken by the man.

Ever so slowly, her feet would start to slowly turn her within the water. Tiny waves would lap against her neck and chin as her hair would float in a blonde fan around her shoulders and water.

Closer and closer still, until she was but a foot away.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael let her stand still in front of him for a few moments, then he slowly reach out. His hands were shaking, though whether it was from pain or nerves was difficult to tell. A small patch of his scabs had peels from his ribs, a thin ribbon of pink floating out from his side. The False God did not notice this, instead he reached out towards Kira, touching her.

Wrinkled fingers grazed against her skin.

He gripped her hands, wrapping his fingers around her tiny palm.

“Don't apologize.” Soliael said the words quietly, but forcefully. “You did what you had to do to save me. You could have let me die, you could have ran and saved yourself, you could have taken advantage and taken everything from me, but you didn't.”

His hands squeezed hers, and were they not in a bath he would have kneel before her in a sign of submission. Instead he moved closer to her, his words becoming a whisper “Don't ever apologize for doing the right thing. Especially to me.”

 

[Kira Talith]

Kira seemed awkward as he held her hands, he working off her nervousness. The pressure of his hands relayed his sincerity. It was bewildering, and her emotions were spinning round and round as if in a festival ride.

She couldn't respond. What could she say? That she was only doing what one needed to do? That she couldn't just leave him there to die? That she was concerned and worried sick?

Not to mention, he was starting to coax a whole mess of confusing thoughts and sensations that she wasn't too comfortable with. Then everything with the meld? It just made her head hurt. Her eyes went skipping away, becoming fixed, haunted, and confused. Her attention would settle upon the wounds of his chest, dipping lower to see the ribbon of crimson already drawing from his side. Yet he paid it no mind. No his attention was solely on her. His body was going through a series of flickering seizures, the trembling in his arms, stomach, and pectorals, all the while trying to remain strong.

"We need to get you out of here." she'd finally say quietly, blue eyes rising. It wouldn't be easy. She still had many questions, still held a bit of hesitation. Wariness. Her body felt as if it were struggling to maintain its regular processes, little aches and pains cropping up all over. And the bruises were still there: Black and blue marks that bloomed under her skin. However, his well being would be placed before her own.

"Can't stay here any longer, it isn't doing you any good 'cept turn you into a prune." came her light joke. A bit of the tension eased. The way he was staring down at her... it was hard to look away from the perfect planes and angles of his cheeks and jawline.

"Come on..." her head would dip, hair falling forward to veil her face, her hands tugging from his grasp to help him stand. Every motion done with care so as to not strain him any further.

"I got you."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael watched her for a time, not responding to her poking of him. She wanted what was best for him still, even after learning that he was a murderer, a killer, a destroyer of worlds. She stilled worried about him, still cared about him, still wanted what was best for him.

How was a man supposed to respond to that?

How was a mortal supposed to accept such care? Such love? Such devotion to sacrificial goodness?

He was only mortal in the end, flawed, broken. Entirely unworthy of the magnificent woman that was Kira Liadain. He waited for a moment, his heart skipping a beat until she began to pull at him. He stood within the water, his chest and head rising from the clear liquid until he stood above her one more. She was so tiny, so vulnerable.

“Kira.” He squeezed her hands.

What should he say?

What could he say? She was perfection. He couldn't help but see it. Her smile, her eyes, even the scars that lined her body. She was complete and utter perfection. Soliael saw no fault with her, no wrong, nothing that he would change or shift even in the slighter.

“Why?” He spoke the word, finally. “Why accept me? Why not kill me? Why not end me for what I am? A monster?”

He looked troubled, pained.

Perhaps his epiphany a day ago had not truly set in, perhaps Kira's reminder of what he had done had reset the clock.

 

[Kira Talith]

As Soliael looked at her, his orange eyes were more alert than they had been. The question plagued him, in so much she could see it in the angles of his face, the strain at the corner of his eyes.

He was troubled, pained. As if he truly couldn't comprehend why. Then again, let's try this on for size. Here she was with a guy she met across the battle lines as a Sith. A False God icon. A two meter tall, eighty-three kilograms False God icon with a set of teeth on him like a full grown Kathhound. One who had seen the razing of an entire world, an entire species for the simple reasoning that it had to be done. In order to protect others, it had to be done.

Maybe the reason lay in that.

"Because hope strengthens, Soliael. Fear kills." Kira finally told him. "That simple adage is a master of every situation -- every choice." Gingerly she would help bear his weight, "Every morning we wake up, we get to choose between hope and fear and apply one of those emotions to everything we do."

She gave a small grimace, hair still shielding her face. Though her own body carried with it a faint tremor, her voice was steady. "To greet the things that come our way with joy? Or suspicion?"

That's when the damp blonde crown of her head would lift, and through the wet tendrils of her hair, blue eyes shone with complete utter honesty.

"My choice is hope, Soliael. Come what may, at the end of the day it is all this galaxy has that can save it. Hope." She would pause, then take a deep breath. "And in that, with everything..."

Actions speak louder than words.

"I know you won’t hurt me,” Kira would murmured, while she would slowly and carefully help him out of the tub. And why did she believe that he wouldn't hurt her? Anyone would think that she must be out of her mind.

“You’ve had enough chances to already.” he had, and he hadn't harmed a single hair on her head. In fact, the wounds he now carried were a testament that he went out of his way to protect her. To ensure her survival. To keep her safe. He could not hide that from his body, could not falsify those tells.

"No one deserves to die in the cold alone, Soliael." she'd tell him, "Not when I could still help you." There was no denying that there was a lingering sense of wariness, things were still confusing for her, more so after the meld. But she wouldn't give into that, and that courage that saw her through the white room under Nemene's tender care would see though helping him when he needed it.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael stood outside of the tub, water dripping down his body in slow steady streams. He didn't respond to her for the longest time, his eyes quietly searching for something in her face. Lies? Anger? Deceibt? Were these the things that he was searching for? Trying to see whether or not Kira was trying to push his buttons. As he realized that she was being serious, that every word she spoke was true, he became enthralled by her.

His mind became focused, and his body relaxed slightly.

“Not even me.” He said it quietly, so quietly it may have been completely ignored.

Its like he was calling his own bluff, breaking out of his own thoughts and trying to uniform his mind towards Kira's. It was easier than one would expect, the meld made it quite simple to think like she did, to remember what Kira had thought. The False God frowned slightly, still dripping water until Kira brought a towel over to him.

With soft hand she dabbed at him, removing water ever so slowly.

As she came close again to dry him off Soliael reached out, her body, her scars calling to him. He touched her, letting his hand fall on her hip. “What about you Kira?”

His voice was quiet, reserved, but still clinging with that slight air of desperation.

“Do you deserve to die alone?” Was it a loaded question?

 

[Kira Talith]

That gave her pause. So much she froze. Startled, her hand would halt over his shoulder. After a moment she'd frown, as if that was a question she hadn't considered before.

The pressure of his fingers would press small indentation over her skin, holding her in place. Why did he have to know that? Her lips would part, only to close. A frown would mar her brow.

Did she deserve to die alone? It wasn't a thought she'd mull over. Granted, even when under the mercy of Nemene, there was still a measure of hope.

Well, ever strained as she held to a tiny lifepod of optimism through it all.

"Deserve? I can't say that for sure," she'd finally say, glancing up with a ghost of a smile, really meant more for him than herself. She'd then start to reach for a towel for herself. "But I hope I live a good life."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael looked at her for a moment, his hand gently holding onto her her hip.

“I don't want you to be alone.” The worlds fell from his mouth.

He couldn't stop himself from saying them, an indeed there was a lock of utter shock on his face as he realized what he had just said to her. His eyes became very confused, his gaze shifting to embarrassment and his cheeks actually coloring for just the briefest second before disappearing again. Soliael had showed his hand, and he wasn't exactly sure what to do about it.

 

[Kira Talith]

Kira saw the medley of emotions drift across his face; shock, confusion, and then the flush of embarrassment that lingered but for a moment. He had said the words without thinking, as a reflex.

Her heart warmed.

"Thank you for the thought." she'd say, smiling at him gently as she would wrap the fluffy towel around herself. "Perhaps I won't." came next, her hands reaching up to bring the thick mass of her blonde hair together with her hands. She'd twist it into a thick rope, bringing it over her right shoulder, baring the curve of her throat as she did so.

She'd nod to a nearby chair, where she would intend for him to sit. "C'mon.. I'll see if i can find some bacta patches for you."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

For the briefest moment, instinct took over.

His eyes flashed, pupils contracted to size of pin needles, iris' grew, incisors jutted out, and a spike of primal urge ran through Soliael at the exposed crook of her neck. It was only a micro second, a flash that perhaps Kira would have missed had it not been for the low, almost animalistic growl that escaped his throat.

Before anything else could occur, Soliaels eyes snapped shut. His head cleared, his pupils dilated, and the primal urge to bite Kira throat and relieve her of blood went away. His incisors however, stayed.

They were unconscious to him, though he could choose to retract them if he felt like it, at this point he simply forgot. He was too shocked about how quickly it had happened, how little had set him off. Just her neck, the crook of her neck. Soliael really had been wounded, else such a thing would never have caused him to loose control.

His gaze cast towards the chair, eyes weary.

Though only of himself.

 

[Kira Talith]

The low growl is what drew Kira's attention. She heard it before, in the caves. From him. Quickly, her head went swiveling towards his direction, and the sight was enough to cause her to catch her breath.

Yup, they were back again. The chompers.

Not to mention, he was thrumming with a sort of energy he was trying to contain. Tension lined muscle, sinew, and bone. Ohhh boy. Well that was one way to push all previous thoughts out the window.

Her hand would come to rest upon his shoulder, soft voice asking, "Hey, are you okay?" Kira would take a step forward, tilting her head up to look at him questioningly.

Yeah, definitely teeth.

Question is, what triggered it?

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael flinched away from the hand for a second, as if its touch burned him. His eyes cast towards it, then to Kira, though he allowed it to fall to its rest on his shoulder were a large cut from his journey across the ice caves was located. The way she craned her neck once again gave him that slight view, and he had to fight his own eyes from twisting once again.

Was he really this hurt?

This damaged?

He wanted to assess himself for the first time really. He noticed the hole in his leg obviously, the broken ribs and the cuts and scratches. None were enough to cause this. For a brief moment Soliael remained absolutely stilled tension crawling through him. It had to be his internal organs. The accelerated Healing that Kira had helped him learn had been enough to stem the tide, but not seal the dam.

A frown crept across his face, an expression that denoted the disappointment he felt in himself, though one that quickly changed to shock as her eyes lingered on his mouth for a moment too long.

“I-” He was about to say he was fine, then he caught the glint of her eyes. No. No lies. “It's instinct.”

Soliael explained to her, carefully opening his mouth to show her the enlarged incisors and his even larger canines. That was a common trait for a certain type of Garhoon, four enlarged teeth instead of two. These teeth usually belonged to royals or nobles, and since Soliael hailed from the Shamalains, it was a trait that he held.

 

[Kira Talith]

Ohhhkay. Not two, but four.

Two large canine teeth and matching incisors lodged among his upper teeth. Yeah. He had fangs. Big ones. This is about the time where anyone would likely cut tail and run, maybe even back away some. Not Kira. Maybe it was because of what happened in the caverns. Maybe it was due to the expression of disappointment and the way he actually told her the truth and didn't lie.

All of the above likely.

Either way, she took a step closer, the curiosity and concern in her face an open book. "Instinct?" in her mind, fuzzy images would reference that. However, it was not to a level of clarity she'd understand. "Genetic perks again, I take it?"

"They came out too... back at the cavern," she'd say, taking another step closer. "When you were fighting the big bad." her blue eyes rose up to meet orange.

"May I?.." she'd ask, a rather deadly curiosity to touch one incisor blooming in her head.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

His Garhoon heritage the greatest of his genetic “Perks”. It gave him strength, speed, endurance, long life, better healing, and an almost infinite way of sustaining himself. Oh it had its downside, one that involved him nearly murdering Kira back in the caves, but without the benefits he never would have lived long enough to have met her anyway.

Instead of answering her, Soliael simply nodded.

Her curiosity surprised him.

She did that often.

There was something about this woman that made her infinitely appealing to him. Her mannerisms, her actions, her insatiable curiosity for certain things. He liked it, her liked her. So he allowed her to do as she pleased, keeping his mouth slightly agape so that Kira could inspect his teeth.

She was apparently a dentist now.

 

[Kira Talith]

Oh curiosity was a fickle thing.

None the less, Kira would delve into things with both feet first. Or in this case, with the graze of a finger against a near translucent incisor. Her touch would be light, the warmth of her fingers lingering just over his lower lip as he humored her curiosity.

"...I'm guessing these are not all for show?" she'd ask quietly, feeling the smoothness of enamel. Down her forefinger would go, until the pad would reach the tip.

She gave a slight flinch, finger starting to draw away.

It was apparently a very sharp tip, enough for it to pierce her skin. A bead of blood would well up, staining the incisor and spilling onto his lower lip.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

The moment the drop of blood struck his lip his eyes changed.

It was so instantaneous that it would be hard to register even for someone using the force. Pupils returned to the state of pin needles, iris' grew, muscles tensed, and that animal predator sense returned to the room almost instantly. Soliael very nearly chomped down on Kira's finger, the temptation to bite, to tear the flesh from her index and reap the bloody rewards were incredibly strong.

His head swam with primal demands, his mind focused sharp, and his vision became bloody. The only thing that prevented him from stripping Kira's flesh straight from her bones was a voice in the back of his head that screamed. The voice was not his own, it was a womans.

Soliael didn't recognize it at first, not through the call of blood.

Yet as it kept shouting, holding him, pressing him to stop, it became more and more clear.

It was Kira.

She shouted something, though he didn't hear it. She yelled in her usual bubbly tone, though strained and made haggard by something unseen. A shimmering bubble appeared around him, through the red he saw a haze of blue separating Soliael and Kira.

He screamed.

It was a cry of frustration, a roar of anger, a howl of hunger.

The memory of Kira's protection burned brightly in his mind, stopping him from killing his savior. Through his yell Soliael collapsed onto the floor, holding his head cradled in his arms, a droplet of blood falling from his lip.

 

[Kira Talith]

Her blood went cold. Everything happened so fast.

Her heart would leap to her throat, and she couldn't help but jerk, taking a step back. Blue eye would grow wide, bulging in shock and edged with fear. The lines of his face would turn taunt, primal. The look in his eyes would once again turn feral, primal.

By the Force, when he screamed.

It was like a savage guttural cry of frustration and need. It was a hunger, one that had been denied. Every line of his body was taunt, poised to attack until he fell.

Kira simply reacted. He was severely wounded as it was, and with his sudden collapse she was worried he'd tear open the fresh scabs. Her arms went around him, the kiss of her blonde hair falling over his shoulder, a fluttering of her neck right at her jugular.

That's when it hit her. Where it all began to make sense. Chains of memories would pull from the depths of her mind, not hers, but his. The first hundred or so years of his life were spent without the Force. In its stead he'd ---

It all made sense.

Her hand would slide up to cup his rough cheeks, thumbs grazing over the high cheekbones. "Soliael." Oh there was no hiding the tremble in her hands, or that of her body. She knew now what he was. It was there, a gift of the meld. She just had to sieve through the memories to recognize him for what he partly was.

A Garhoon.

Those chompers weren't for show. They were meant to use to feed. And if the images made her connect the nav points -- the after effects held more to it than just that. Why bacta tanks didn't work. Why this did.

Her shoulders set. Decision made. Perhaps, one may call her reckless -- but it was what she could do.

"It's okay..." she'd whisper, and that curve of her neck presented itself to him fully aware, and fully willing. "It's fine.."

"Feed."