Ezra's shouts drew the attention of the crew, who, for the second time in a week, found him on the ropes. He was levitated a few feet above the ground, his fingers desperately scratching his throat. The rasps he made were horrid.

The entire repertoire of the crew froze; they'd seen Ezra force choked before, and it was horrifying to them. But at least then they could see who was the perpetrator. Not this time, it seemed. The three members of the crew left were in awestruck horror at the sight; the sick, plentiful gurgles as Ezra clawed at his throat made Sabine's jaw felt strangely loose; Hera's pupils widened and her hands clenched in outrage; Zeb's pupils did as the latter of his comrades, while he muttered:

"Karabast," None of these gestures by his crewmates stopped Maul; not that anything would, really. The anger he felt was the purest in a decade that had graced him. It was only when Ezra was on the brink of death did the zabrak release him. He left the boy with one final message.

"No rash moves, apprentice." Nobody else in the room heard it, but to Ezra it was the most terrifying four words he'd ever heard. Then Darkness blessed him with its embrace.

"Please repeat that again?" the hologram Kanan asked. Hera shook her head, lekku swaying.

"I-i don't know. We heard screaming like when Ezra had him nightmares...then they died out. When we finally found him, he was being...force cloaked? No that's not right…"

"Force choked," the hologram corrected. Even with the unstable connection they had, the inflection and stance of the hologram suggested profound worry.

"Did you see who did it?" hera shook her head again, causing the hologram Kanan to sigh heavily. The sound was distorted and filled with static, Hera could tell the news was weighing heavily on the former jedi.

"Okay...where is he now?"

"His cabin, last I checked," The hologram nodded.

"Who else is there?" hera's response had more than a little surprise in it.

"Sabine." the hologram Kanan raised a brow.

"Sabine? Why her?" Hera shook her head once more.

"I honestly don't know - don't plan on complaining anytime soon, though." she said with a small smile across her features. Kanan should've had a similar reaction, yet it seemed the former jedi hadn't a speck of humor in him.

"I'm coming back." the hologram stated. Before Hera could respond, he cut the connection. A frown replaced Hera's smile. Rising from her seat and ignoring the wave of weariness that assaulted her, the pilot made the trek back to Ezra. The past week had to one of the poorer in memory, what with Ezra waking in the middle of the night and then screaming so loudly it could be heard across the Ghost twice. Hera knew there had been an undeniable shift of his outlook since the events of Malachor - she didn't need the force to see that. Ezra had quieted, seemingly forgetting about his crush on Sabine simultaneously. He meditated more often, and went to some random part of the ship with that holocron doubly so. He'd emerge hours later looking exhausted. Then the past two weeks happened.

It seemed ezra had been digging himself deeper and deeper into a social hole in the past two weeks. His condition had deteriorated, too; the bags under his eyes got larger and he got even thinner; his sleep was fitful for the first time in nearly six months;he had apparently been talking to himself; Now he had just collapsed in his own cabin.

The door slid past the twi'lek, the hiss ignored as Hera focused on the only two figures in the room. Since the two hours after Ezra's collapse, Sabine had kept her vigil without break. Hera realised quickly by the mandalorian's slumped shoulders that she'd fallen asleep. Hera placed a hand on Sabine's shoulder.

"Sabine, wake up." the mandalorian immediately stirred, retracting a hand that was a tad closer than it should've been Ezra's face. Hera fought to keep the smirk from forming on her features and said,

"Come on; it's been two hours - you need something to eat." sabine offered only token resistance as Hera led her away from the teen. With one final glance at Ezra, Sabine gave in to the inevitable, allowing Hera to lead her out of the room.

Ezra stirred, finding himself once more on Malachor. He scowled. This gimmick of these dreams had already grown old. A small, unsettling chuckle from behind him seized Ezra with fear. Maul slipped a wiry arm around Ezra's shoulders and gestured to the landscape.

"It was its own beauty, doesn't it?" Ezra didn't respond, slipping away from Maul's arm.

"Don't touch me." he spat, taking a few steps away. Maul laughed. Ezra noticed that he did that plenty when talking to him.

"Oh, apprentice, you don't understand; I didn't actually touch you - this land your mind was made...it isn't part of the mundane realm." Ezra nearly bit back his retort. Nearly.

"I don't care what realm I'm in. Do. Not. Touch me." Maul cackled cruelly. In a second he was in front of the teen.

"So naive," The zabrak ran a finger across the pair of scars decorating his right cheek. "'Much to learn, you still have.' as Yoda would say," Ezra nearly fainted. How did he know about Yoda?

"Apprentice, I'm disappointed," Maul said in a low, mocking voice. "I know all of your secrets. You should have learnt this by now," Maul smacked him. Ezra spun in a way that would've been comic if it were in a different scene. Maul towered over the teen, crouching down next to him.

"I hold all of the power here," he said, making Ezra shiver. "What you felt? Those were weak compared to what I have at my disposal-" Maul drew a line between them "-From both of us." He finished, offering a hand to the downed teen. Ezra didn't take it, opting for the less graceful route of rising. Maul gave a small nod of approval.

"Good. you're learning." Ezra felt a distinct disgust at the compliment, refusing to respond.

"Maybe not so much," Maul said faux-thoughtfully. He turned to Ezra.

"For now, apprentice, I leave you. You have other...matters to attend at the moment."

Ezra snapped awake, his head and neck snapping upwards. His bleary eyes roamed what he recognised as his cabin with expectable speed. At first he wondered why he was laying on his back in his cot, then his memories of the day came back full force. The holocron...Maul...him collapsing. Shit. Ezra knew was in for it now. Hera certainly wasn't going to let him leave, not before she knows exactly why he'd collapsed. That would mean explaining the whole Maul business and probably something to do with Malachor. Damn it.

AN: Things aren't going well for Ezra, are they? Also, with school starting up again literally tomorrow. Yeah, I'm not kidding. So expect the update rate to slow. Sorry. :(

Any reviews/follows/favs will be duly noted - Raging Celiac