Shiraya Falls
Nar Shaddaa | Taago the Hutt’s Blood Dome
The last blow had been gruesome. It had given Brandyn just a moment’s pause after being announced as the winner of the bout. He may have gone too far. The man looked like he could have been dead, if not the unconscious for a rather long time. If his face had healed that way, the man’s own mother might struggle to recognise him.
This was not the way of the Jedi.
Brandyn blinked away the sweat, and the words in his mother’s voice that echoed in his mind. He was doing this for her. For them all. And he would not be stopped. Those that committed such heinous deeds would be brought down, and he increasingly felt that any means may be justified.
He sat in a bullpen off to the side of the arena where he had just finished his fourth cage match for the day. He was sore. Very sore. During the breaks, he tried to focus on the light side’s ability to heal. Much to his increasing frustration, he found that he was unable to heal faster than the norm. With each match he had turned more and more into the pain, using it as fuel to complete his victory. But it was taking its toll.
Take me with you.
The words of his beloved,
Cybelle Elyance
, repeated in his head. No. She didn’t need to see this. She was pure. She was the light. His light. He would finish his mission and return to her, his anchor to the light. But she could not see this. She could not see him like this. He was doing this for her. For Briana. For Blaire. For Bastila. For...himself.The cheer of the crowd indicated that another bout had just been completed. The bracket was nearing its completion, and Brandyn had found himself the winner of one side. He would soon face off against the one that had so quickly dispatched their semi-final opponent. Thankfully, there was a grace period, time for the other to recover. This gave Brandyn a little more of the desperately needed time to find the light and heal his wounds. He winced as his bloodied side hurt. A nearby attendant began dabbing at the wound in his side, but Brandyn shrugged them off.
”The Master will wish you change and present well. Please. I wish not to undergo punishment for disappointing him.”
“Very well,” Brandyn muttered as he stood and the attendants began tugging his clothes off and tending to his wounds.
One more opponent stood in his way. Then he would be granted attendance to Taago’s table. A table that currently hosted one Davion Parx, underworld entrepreneur and more importantly benefactor to The New Way. Most importantly, he was the money behind the purchase of a particular droid. Brandyn would have words with this man. Nothing would stop this.
Club and shield in hand, Brandyn was now dressed in what amounted to a loin cloth of loose hanging fabric tied around his waste and pulled up around his legs and then over his left shoulder. It was abhorrent. He felt almost naked. It was probably the idea, putting on a show for the paying crowds. The Hutts had a way of milking their performers for everything they could. His attire was testament to this.
The door rose, revealing the riotous crowds pressed against and shaking the cage around the arena. They lusted for spectacle and death. Brandyn was more than happy to oblige. That was, until the door across the arena finished opening.
”You?” The crowd drowned him out.
