Life Elsewhere: V
Chapter Warnings: Lightsaber duel/canonical violence. Minor torture (for lack of a better word).
A/N: Sections of text that are italicized indicate a flashback. Text contained in [BRACKETS] indicate the speaker(s) are speaking in a language other than Basic.
"Remember to breathe, Sinda. You won't be able to pass the trial if you faint."
She looked up at his warm smile and blue eyes as they walked deep into the temple. "Yes, Master Kenobi," she answered obediently, taking a deep breath and straightening her posture. "I'm just a little nervous. This has happened so fast, I'm not sure if I'm ready."
"You're ready," he reassured. "In truth, I was surprised Master Krell hadn't yet petitioned for you to face the trials. You are far more ready than I was."
"I don't think anyone could have been ready to face Darth Maul as a padawan," she glanced teasingly in his direction as they stopped at the doors to the trial chamber, bringing a fresh wave of tension to her belly. "But, thank you for your confidence, and making this happen."
"Remember to breathe," he reminded again, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Trust in the Force and you will succeed."
Sinda looked at him with uncertainty, "I know Master Krell objected to the High Council's decision."
"It is rare for a master to object as he did, but that is a matter for the Council to handle, not you."
"Do you know where he went?"
"To meditate, I suspect, try not to worry about that. When you are ready, pass through the doors and you will begin."
She bowed respectfully, "Thank you, Master Kenobi."
"May the Force be with you," he returned the gesture and departed.
After waiting a moment to take several deep breaths and calm her nerves, she pushed one of the heavy, carved stone doors open and entered the dim antechamber. The door swung shut on its own, echoing through the space with a clatter and low rumble. She closed her eyes for a moment, but immediately sensed she wasn't alone in the darkness. Reaching out with the Force, she felt the familiar presence of her Master.
"So, you believe you are ready to become a Jedi."
Despite not being able to see him, she turned toward him, knowing exactly where he was, "The High Council has decided I'm ready, so I am I ready."
A black chuckle set the hairs on her neck on end.
"When will you learn just how blind the High Council is? Did any of them ever stop me? Perhaps you are in need of one last lesson before your trial."
Ice shot down her spine at his words, rooting her in place, the only appropriate response after years of his teaching. She prepared her mind for a lesson in mental resistance, her body to withstand the sheer brute force of his physical abilities, and her senses for him to lurk around the shadows to catch her off guard, trusting her instincts that she knew all that he would throw her way in the name of teaching. But none of those lessons came.
Instead her sabers were snatched from her belt and flew into his hands as the room was bathed in the blue light of his. Ominous shadows were cast on his sneering face. His last free hand extended and she was pulled toward him. Caught off guard in her confusion, she gasped in surprise when she stopped here inches from his drawn weapon. The intense, vibrating hum of the focused energy filled her ears with white noise as the painful, blinding light forced her eyes closed. Worse of all was the heat, inescapable as she held by the collar in his massive fisted hand.
"This is a lesson in silence," his voice penetrated her mind. "Did you think I wouldn't know about the private audience you requested with the Grand Masters? If you actually managed to survive your trial, you will never speak of my teaching to anyone. You will suppress the urge to even think your mind is separate from mine. I will always know your thoughts, padawan, better than you know them yourself. Your reticence is your only safeguard against me."
As he spoke, she clawed at his fingers, instinctively pulling at the meaty digits in an effort to pry them open one by one, but she was no match for his physical strength. Crying through gritted teeth, she felt the searing pain of his blade drawing closer and closer to her face until the smell of burning flesh filled her nose. Fighting the urge to jerk and flail in his grasp, knowing she would only endure greater injury, she squeezed her eyes tight and retreated from her mind. Once he was satisfied, he released her and she fell to the stone floor in a heap. One of her sabers landed at knotted her hands as she watched the other crumple while it floated between two of his hands.
"It's a pity your other saber was so poorly made and malfunctioned as you began your trial," he mocked and let the pieces fall to the floor, tinkling like shards of glass. "Good luck, padawan."
Sinda rested the uninjured side of her face on the cold polished floor. She had been so close to breaking away from him, how could she possibly persevere through her trial in such a state? The pain in her face clogged her mind, not to mention her vision, as she lay on her side and curled into a ball. Never before had she felt so alone, so hopeless. Abandoned in the darkness, as she ached to have someone end her suffering, a gentle voice called to her, speaking in a tongue she knew by instinct rather than practice.
[My daughter, do not suffer in vain. You were forged from fire and Druskin. Aauraa placed you in my belly herself. The Gods created you for a purpose. Rise my child, and find it.]
Drawing a deep breath through her nose, she rose to one knee. A trembling hand found her lightsaber. The cool metal fortified her will and steadied her soul. Although the burn continued to radiate pain across her face, she wasn't ready to give up. Tearing away the wide sleeves of her tunic, which she always hated anyway, she quickly bandaged her wound, applying enough pressure to ensure the linen wouldn't slip.
Clipping her saber back to her belt, she pushed onward until she reached the exit at the far end of the antechamber. The stone doors opened wide. On the other side, deep in the inner chamber, waited the Battlemaster. Approaching, he tilted his head curiously at her bandaged face, but she held his masked gaze with confidence, nodding that she was ready.
Rex woke to darkness.
Not just darkness, the absence of light. Darkness in the absence of life. The absence of warmth. The absence of…everything. He sat up from lying supine in a void, or at least that was the sensation he felt in his body. There were no visual landmarks around him, only deep, inky black despite being able to see his hands before his face. Gathering his feet, he instinctively looked around, turning both his head and his body in an effort to glean anything about his surroundings.
To his frustration, there was nothing to be gained from the action. The sound of wind rushed past his ears, filling them with howling white noise, despite the still air around him. On his feet he jogged ahead, calling to Sinda without sound as his voice made it no further than his lips before it scattered into nothing. Speaking but silent. Moving but standing still. Caught in the space between living and death, the space between spaces.
"Where am I?" He asked himself and, to his surprise, he received an answer.
"Reimhel…a voice whispered through the darkness. How much does this soul weigh?"
From the black a figure appeared, pulling aside the veil of darkness as it formed from nothing into a smoky, vaporous shape, floating around him, hovering as it watched him. No, assessed him.
"Collector," he concluded.
"One of my names. So many I've gathered since time began." The ethereal, impalpable god swept around him and hummed darkly. "This one's body still breathes. Warm flesh reeks of Ter'ras. Another who has dared stray into my realm to join the Shroud Walkers."
A haze pulled at Rex's eyes, enveloping him in the irresistible desire to sleep, but he remembered Sinda's warnings and fought against it. "I am here as Ruma. Where is my Frer?"
Again, Collector hummed, but with amusement rather than curiosity. "Oooh, so you are the tether. Proceed and you will find her but take care Ruma, or you will lose your way."
The figure vanished into the inky void. Ahead, he saw a faint glow, the only light source he had seen since dancing around the fire. As he stared at the flicker, he heard Krell's taunting voice and the crack of lightsaber blades crossing. Propelled forward at the sound, he ran into the darkness, unsure of what he would find.
Sounds of battle grew louder, though he felt no closer to his destination. It felt as though he had been running for hours without gaining ground. He recalled Seer's words that time didn't exist beyond Ter'ras, so perhaps distance didn't either. Slowly, but steadily, the place he had been trying to reach on foot drew nearer on its own.
What had been a glowing flicker parted into six distinct saber blades, swinging and swirling in the darkness, illuminating shapes and creating dancing shadows against the thick, vaporous black around them. He hadn't seen Sinda's abilities in full force before but he was quickly mesmerized by her grace and strategy in battle. She kept her center of gravity low, often searching for an opportunity to out maneuver her exponentially larger opponent, or strike at his trunk-like legs. Unfortunately, he presented few openings as his surging double-ended blades stayed in near constant motion.
Seeing Krell again, hearing his vicious, mocking voice stirred the anger in his blood. Memories of Umbara tore at his mind, stealing his focus and churning his gut. The names of the dead whispered in his ears. Betrayal, powerlessness, indifference. He longed to take the action he was unable to before, the action Dogma had taken in his stead. Deep down, Rex wanted to tear the basilisk limb from wicked limb. Anger and hate tingled at his fingertips and toes until it spread through his arms and legs before seeping into his chest and belly, churning through his body like the stormy seas of Kamino.
The voices of his fallen brothers hissed in his ears, demanding vindication. Redemption. Revenge. They wanted blood. HE wanted blood.
Do you really think you have the nerve, clone? Krell's unmistakable voice slithered through his mind. You'll let this woman fight your battles, won't you? What use are you to her anyway? An replicated sack of meat, canon fodder, useless and replaceable. That is all you are.
"NO!" He shouted back, but his voice vanished the moment it passed his lips.
Silenced and infuriated, he paced at the periphery, waiting for his moment to strike. He didn't care that he was without armor or weapons. All he needed was the rage that simmered below the surface, that would serve him well. After all, they had been bred for war, bred for violence. Why shouldn't he give into the urge that coiled in his limbs?
Sinda tumbled to the ground, a shriek of pain and frustration striking through his heart. He could see she was struggling, failing. Every instinct in his body demanded he thrust himself into the heat of battle, to stand as a shield and sword for his Jedi, his partner, his ruma'r. Just as he pressed forward, another voice stopped him in his tracks.
Your trial, Gar'Rex is to let her face him alone…Inaction, powerlessness, that is the demon you must face.
Seer's caution sent a blade of ice through his heart. Only then did he truly understand what he was tasked to do. Nothing. He could do nothing to help her, to defend her, no matter what that meant for the outcome of the battle, to help her he had to let her face him alone.
Sinda fell to one knee as she slid backwards. Although she felt no acute pain or breathless exhaustion, the longer their duel drew on, the weaker she became. Despite the strength of her Serrath, her presence in Reimhel was unnatural and her body resisted the separation, leaving her compromised. To her surprise, her former master waited for her to find her feet and rise again as the pair of double-bladed sabers glowed blue and green around his shrouded figure. Gripping the pair of hilts in her hands, she found her stance once more and readied for his attack.
Instead he laughed.
"You will never best me. When will you learn, padawan?" The way he used the learning rank was nothing short of derogatory.
"I am not your padawan!" She spat back. "Not any more."
"You will always be lesser. Failure is all you've known!"
She lunged forward, blades blazing as she crossed his. As it was in every spar a thousand times before, his sheer size and strength threatened to overwhelm her. He towered over her, his blades crossing hers as jagged shadows danced across his snarling face like a nightmare. It was the face that plagued her, haunted her dreams even after she escaped his grasp. The shadow he cast always stretched far enough to find her. One of his massive lower hands swatted her aside like an insect, once again sending her tumbling into the darkness, a hilt falling from her hand and vanishing into smoke.
"You set me up to fail!" She shouted in reply. "My training, my trial, all of it. Why?"
"Because I was the only one who saw the true potential in you. I deserved a better apprentice than you," he mocked.
Gritting her teeth, she rose once more, "And I deserved a better master than you."
"You are a failure."
"No. You failed me. I came here to be your end," she ignited her remaining blade, "You will go no further than this."
Krell leaped forward, crossing his blades as he came down on hers with the strength and fury of his rage. Darkness radiated from within his form, bitter and acrid. Although she was able to repel his attack, he whirled around and threw her back with the Force, charging behind the blow. She maintained her stance as he attacked, blocking his every strike, though she remained unable to shift to the offense.
All at once, as she waited for an opening, she had an epiphany. Strong as she was, she would never be stronger than him. As it had always been, she never stood a chance to defeat him, not as long as she engaged him as a Jedi. She was no Jedi. She was Sinda Perth of the great clan Orr. Forged of flame and Druskin. Created by the gods with purpose.
Sprinting forward, she dropped to her knees, sliding under the deadly swing of his saber. Igniting her blade as she pivoted in the shadows beneath her feet, she rebounded to her feet and struck. Her blade sliced through his lower arm, one of his sabers falling into dust with the limb. Krell instinctively roared in agony, though Sinda knew, in the absence of a body, he felt no true pain. Without pause, she charged into the inky darkness of the Shroud before he could recover.
"I should have known you would resort to such underhanded tactics! This is why I knew you weren't ready for your trial. The only way you could achieve victory was to cheat," much to his ire, she remained elusive, despite his attempts to find her with the Force until finally he bellowed. "Where are you!"
Sinda crept through the darkness, much as she did when hunting. By surrendering to the Shroud, she evaded his acute detection, though with each silent footfall, the strands connecting her to her body were severed, one by one. It was dangerous to dance among the Shroud, taunting its keeper to strike. She felt the prickling chill of Collector's touch slither down her back, siphoning away what little strength that remained. In her gut, she knew the time wasn't right, but time was no longer on her side.
The moment Krell turned his back, she launched herself out of the darkness, saber held overhead, poised to light and strike at the right moment. Unlike all the times before, when she was desperate to beat him in a spar, she felt a startling calm as she flew through the air. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she hurled toward his back. Before she could land the killing blow, he whirled around, seizing her neck and saber bearing wrist with two of his meaty hands.
"You never stood a chance," he sneered, clenching his fist on her throat, "And now you too will remain here forever."
"No, just you," Sinda gritted with a smile, savoring the confused pull of his brows.
Opening her weapon hand, she let the saber fall, pulling it to the other. Krell gasped as the blade ignited into his chest, immediately dropping her. Despite the injury, he gathered himself to lunge, but fell onto his knees instead. Extending a hand, she plucked the lightsaber from his weak grip, letting it hover between her hands. Focusing her energy, she opened the massive hilt with the Force, letting the pieces fall into shadow.
His figure began to fracture and slough away, like ash falling from a charred log. Her master, the one she both feared and revered in a toxic cycle of abuse and self loathing reached for her. Garbled pleas for help fell from his disintegrating face. As his body collapsed, he was reduced to crawling, clambering to her bare feet, desperate to drag her down too. It was a sight that should have shocked, even horrified her, nightmarish that it was. Instead she felt nothing as he struggled against the inevitable, save for perhaps a grain of pity. With a final exhale, his form wafted away into the Shroud and she felt the cold chill of Collector once more.
"This Serrath is heavy with debt. I will enjoy this recompense. Follow Ruma, lest you wish to remain, Frer."
Though a cryptic warning, Sinda took heed. Turning in the inky abyss, she focused on the light, far off in the distance. Rex. Her tether was waiting. Exhausted as she was, she had to make the journey back by following the beacon of his love if they were to reunite. Thinking of him bolstered her resolve as she placed one foot before the other, knowing he would guide her home.
His eyes flew open and he gasped with a shudder. He tried to sit up, but his body felt heavy…inexplicably heavy. Limbs were tree trunks rooted deep underground. Lifting his head from the rolled pad beneath his neck sapped what little energy he had. With a groan he laid back down, feeling like he'd been run over by a tank. A middle aged woman appeared at his side, her amber eyes glowing in the gentle candle light of the room.
"Drink," she urged, pressing a wooden cup to his lips.
Only when the slightly sweet, tepid mixture washed across his tongue did he realize how thirsty he was. When she pulled the empty cup back, his mouth tried to follow, seeking more. What he received instead was a mouthful of meat, warm, tender and juicy. He groaned happily at the salty, herby flavor as he effortlessly chewed. Upon swallowing, his stomach audibly roared for more. The woman smiled and patiently fed him spoonful after spoonful of the hearty stew until the bowl was empty, wiping the corners of his mouth. Cool water followed, though not much more than just enough to wet his palate.
"You will take more after sleep," she answered his silent question. "Too much too fast can turn your stomach sour. Sleep, Ruma."
All at once, Rex felt overwhelming exhaustion seep into his bones and he was forced to lay back in the sleeping roll. He felt the soft furs against his skin, only then realizing that the woven garment he wore earlier was gone. Looking at his hands and arms, his bronze skin was clean, all traces of pigment and blood washed away. Indeed, the bed he lay in was immensely comfortable and sleep began to eke into his eyes.
"Sinda…" he whispered.
"Fear not, Ruma. Frer is here," the woman gestured across him.
Rolling his head in the other direction, he saw Sinda's peaceful, sleeping profile in the dim lanterns that hung around them. She had been attended to as he had, paint washed away, clothes removed, and her hair had even been unbound from the complex network of plaits and brushed out. If it hadn't been for the deep rise and fall of the blankets over her chest, he would have worried she was dead. Despite the obvious signs of life, he reached out and caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers.
"Has she woken?"
"Not yet, but she is strong. She will follow you home," the woman reassured, placing a firm hand on his shoulder, coaxing him to lay back as she lit a bundle of herbs in a lantern overhead. "Sleep. I will remain until she returns."
He wanted to protest, but as he lay his head back on the rolled pad, a rush of calming aromas filled his nose. A mix of pine, spice and delicate florals, he immediately recognized that it was the same scent embedded in Sinda's hair when they made love below the srika tree. The combination permeated his senses, lulling him into a relaxed state, where he could no more resist the drooping of his eyelids as he could pluck a Separatist frigate out of hyperspace with his bare hands. With no choice but to surrender to sleep, her name escaped his lips in a loving plea for her to wake.
The crescendo of voices faded in an echo as the churning mental sea finally calmed. Anakin stood on the balcony of their lodge and stared into the dark forest. Through the trees, he saw the glow of the bonfire. Although much smaller than the pyre it had once been, the blaze would likely continue to burn well into the next day before extinguishing itself. After speaking with Brunak, and receiving a less than veiled warning, he excused himself, stating needed to meditate. In truth, he wanted to search the Force to find Rex.
Despite hours of patience and focus, his search yielded nothing. It was as though Rex had been plucked from the living Force. Worry brewed in his gut that something nefarious was at hand. Only when he relaxed his mind, unfocusing from his target, did he feel them within the great disturbance in the Force.
Rex was in distress, conflicted and helpless. Krell's harsh, biting words, unlike any he had heard directed toward a padawan. And Sinda's anger, laced with fear as she stood in opposition. Through the overwhelming swell of energy and emotion. He felt a sense of calm sweep over both Rex and Sinda, followed by the gradual return of their presence to the living Force, like the dawning sun brightening the sky.
He took a deep breath, relieved that, whatever they had gone through, was over. Ever since setting foot on Sertha, he had sensed an energy about the planet, as though a great entity lived beneath the ground, vibrating through his boots. Voices spoke all around him, a constant murmur in an unknown language.
"Master," Ahsoka quietly said from behind, "you felt it too?"
"Oh yeah, I felt it, Snips," he nearly chuckled but looked at her.
"I could hear voices in the crystals. Sinda and Master Krell…Rex too. The planet…it has a strong connection to The Force. Like the Cosmic Force is very close. Sigga said they find kyber crystals where they mine ore, that's why they're all over the village. But this place feels different from Ilum."
"Obi-wan felt it too," he explained. "I think it's the mountain. I sense there is something massive in there."
"How big can kyber crystals get?"
"Theoretically? As big as they want, but I doubt we'll be allowed to find out."
They fell into silence for a time.
"Skyguy?"
"Yes, Ahsoka?"
"I'm grateful you're my master," she looked at him with uncertainty. "I know I can be stubborn sometimes, but you're always patient and kind."
Knowing the source of the comments he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "It's hard to learn what Sinda went through, even though we don't know everything."
"I never thought the Council would let something like that happen."
"Sometimes the Council makes mistakes, especially when they're being deceived."
"You disagree with the Council a lot. Would you ever leave the Order or…"
She didn't need to finish the question to know what had her worried. He would be a fool not to recognize her intelligence and ability to puzzle out what was happening around her. It was no surprise their journey to Sertha caused her a measure of trepidation. Certainly the events on Umbara shook him to his core. Still, no matter the conflict within himself at the division of his heart with his duty, comforting his padawan mattered most.
"Ahsoka," he took her shoulders and looked sincerely into her worried eyes, "I will never abandon the order, or leave you. And nothing could lead me down that path to the darkside."
"Thank you, master," she smiled, feeling at least some relief. "I'm going to try to get some sleep."
Bowing in respect, she retreated to her bed. Pulling off her boots and settling under the cozy furs, she couldn't escape the nag of worry at her master's reassurance as she drifted back to sleep. She could always see in his eyes when he wasn't being honest, at least not completely. It wasn't that he was necessarily lying to her, but to himself. Part of her worried what would happen when he finally told himself the truth.
Gentle humming stirred him from the depths. He knew that voice, that beautiful, lilting tune. His eyes opened to see the room was darker than before, save for the gentle golden flashing of insects dancing around the ceiling in courtship, yellowed luminescence blinking off and on. Looking to his right, panic set in when he saw the bed was empty. Sitting up quickly and twisting at the waist, a breath caught in his chest at the sight of her.
His beloved Sinda sat in the open doorway, knees tucked to her chest, chin resting on her folded arms, skin bare as the day she was born. Her long, loose hair tumbled down her shoulders and back in a dark, silky curtain. She was bathed in the light of the full moon, silvery beams licking at her skin, highlighting every strong yet delicate feature. Extending a hand, she smiled as a pair of firebugs landed in her palm for a brief moment, before they flew away together. After they were gone, she resumed humming quietly as she stared at the full moon.
Rex watched her for a long moment, in part entranced by her, but he also didn't want to disrupt her calm. As he tried to shift back to his prior position, she turned her head to him, resting her cheek on her arms. Without speaking, she unfolded herself and stood. Even naked, she walked with liquid grace. Instinctively, he straightened his spine, ready to stand as well, but her cool fingertips on the side of his face stayed his movements. He held her gaze, desperate to read her calm expression.
"Are you okay?" He asked, unsure of what else to say.
"Riduur," a warm smile stretched across her face, "Never have I been better."
He placed his hand over hers, pressing her palm to his lips, "Sinda, you're freezing. How long have you been sitting there?"
"A while," she admitted casually. "I didn't notice the cold. Will you warm me?"
To answer her, he threw open the furs. She eagerly slid between the layers and against his body. At first, the biting cold of her skin made him hiss sharply, particularly her feet against his, but as they settled into one another, the exchange of warmth coaxed the cold away. They melded together, skin to skin at every possible junction, clinging to one another as though it was their last day to exist in a physical form. Rex closed his eyes and found contentment with her wrapped in his arms, assuming she had as well. That was until her hand slid from the small of his back to the front of his thigh and her lips pressing against the pulse point on his neck.
"I thought you would be tired," he mused through a low rumbling moan.
"How could I be tired when I've never felt so alive?" Her mouth continued to roam across the thin skin under his bristled chin and down the column of his throat to his Adam's apple. "We won't have privacy like this again for a long time. We're deep in the forest, even further than Seer's perch. There are no ears listening, except the owls and bats."
"And my general and commander," he reminded pragmatically.
"They should be sleeping," she hummed in amusement, "and minding their own business."
"A fair point," he conceded, caressing her cheek and rolling so she lay on her back beside him as the moonlight splashed across her face. "You're so beautiful. I don't know what I'd have done if you never woken up."
Sinda interlaced her fingers over his, bringing his hand to rest against her heart, "Beyond these bodies there is no time or space, there is only eternity."
"Spending my life without you is an eternity I couldn't face."
Cradling his face in her hands, she guided his lips to hers, melting into a passionate kiss. His hand drifted from her heart to her breast, gripping the soft globe and thumbing the stiffened peak until she sighed. As his tongue swept against her full lips and dipped into her mouth, his hand slid down her strong abdomen. Her legs shifted to his touch, spreading further as his fingers raked through the gentle curls of her mound. The warmth of her core made his belly stir all the more.
She felt the way his body finally, truly, relaxed into hers, which always made her smile to herself. It reminded her so much of their first kiss, hidden and secret in a corridor of the temple, somehow away from watchful eyes and minds. Though far from her first kiss, it was certainly the most meaningful, and ultimately the most life changing. In hindsight, that moment hadn't been nearly as private as she assumed, but in the end, she couldn't resent her friend for revealing the affair.
At the time, both she and Rex were adrift in the sea of the unknown, grappling with powerful feelings against the backdrop of a war unlike any they had ever experienced first hand. After their mission in the cave, after Druka himself sent her a delirious vision while she lay near death, her fidelity to the Order faltered. Ignored doubt and questions that had long cluttered the recesses of her mind became harder and harder to shove aside. No amount of meditation, commitment of duty, or vow of loyalty could undo the spark that had been struck inside her on the dry tinder of her heart. It was though a veil had been lifted and she realized she was not where she belonged.
"Hey," Rex gently whispered, gazing deeply into her eyes. "Where'd you go?"
Sinda blinked several times, returning to the present, "Sorry, I was just thinking about the past."
His mouth unconsciously flattened into a line, "Don't go back there, stay with me."
As much as she wanted to remain in the moment, there was a nagging question that couldn't go unasked any longer.
"Did you come here to take me back to Coruscant?"
The faint slump of his shoulders answered the question without words.
"Do you know what they want?"
"No, General Skywalker didn't say," he admitted before pausing to collect his thoughts. "You don't have to come back, Sinda. He can't make you, or the Council, for that matter. General Skywalker didn't know about us before we landed, so they didn't send me to-"
The pads of her fingers against his lips ended his rambling, "I know, riduur. I know you aren't here to convince me to do what they want."
His anguished eyes danced across her serene face, "Don't go if it's only going to cause you pain."
Her gaze softened, "And miss the opportunity to watch Skywalker teach that rebellious padawan of his? Never!"
Rex sputtered and laughed aloud, "I forget that you knew him when you were so young."
"The Council wouldn't have sent Skywalker with a battalion just to tell me Master Krell was dead. Whatever it is, it is a serious matter, one I am compelled to understand, even if only to feel at peace with leaving," her right hand stroked his half-hard length as she refocused his attention. "But tell me, do you really want to talk about Skywalker and the Council right now?"
He answered with a brief, slack-jawed shuddering moan before returning an intense, lascivious gaze, "I hope you weren't planning to sleep tonight?"
Her eyes narrowed as her full lips pulled into a smile, tongue curling over her teeth, "I'll sleep on the ship tomorrow."
Daybreak was met with tension, inescapable and profuse. Sinda's departure had been an unspoken reality the members of Perth had recognized the moment the off-worlders set foot on Serthan soil, but no one had wanted to acknowledge it, lest it be called into existence. Nevertheless, as the pyre of the prior night, which felt like a separate lifetime to Sinda, continued to smolder in the lightening shades of dawn, she stood before her family as an outsider once again. Dressed in woven, layered garments of her home, as well as the linens she still retained from her prior identity, they were forced to accept their paths were fated to diverge.
Agna and Sigga accepted it as the gods will, knowing hers was a calling unlike their own. Brunak lamented her choice, though he had long ago accepted it was beyond his control and prayed to the gods to keep her safe. As much as he hated to see her go, it was not his place to demand she stay. Ollo stood in loathing, having stewed on his worry throughout the night, fearful of what was to come.
[Please don't go, ösar] he whispered in Sinda's ear as he clung to her. [Don't trust them.]
Through the Force, she felt the cold agony of his repeated trauma as she hugged him back, [I know who to trust, öber. I will return home soon.]
Ollo sniffed sharply and blinked hard, releasing her. Before she could turn away, he took her wrist and thrust a sheathed blade into her hand. She immediately recognized the well oiled, engraved leather, bearing the face of an oráx, their family sigil. Her eyes flicked to his belt, verifying the item was, perhaps for the first time since returning home, not in its place on his hip. Meeting his penetrating gaze sharply, she tried to return the gift, but he only shook his head once to decline.
[Öber, your blade…I can't-]
[I would have joined you, had the gods called me.] his eyes watered, threatening to betray the strength he projected with his size. [Bring it back, okay?]
Sinda looked up at her eldest brother and caressed his face fondly, [I promise.]
As she departed to join Anakin, Ahsoka and Fives, Rex said his goodbyes to his newly acquired family. Upon reaching Ollo, he squared his shoulders, expecting nothing short of a threat in departure. Instead, the man extended his hand and arm with a nod. Rex accepted it, gripping his thick forearm and returning the gesture, exchanging a silent understanding that he had gained the man's approval. After a final departing wave, Sinda led the group out of the village and into the forest, departing the sheltered safety of her home and returning to the unknown.
Seer sat in the entry of her lodge as the warm light soothed the nighttime ache in her bones. The tip of her long pipe rested in the groove between her upper and lower premolars on the right side of her mouth, a perfect notch worn down by time and repetition. Exhaustion etched into the wrinkled skin under eyes, darkening the loose flesh more than normal. Indeed she hadn't slept the prior night, having been kept awake by the constant chattering of the gods. It had been a long time since there had been such a significant disruption, not since the day Sinda had been born.
She felt their pain and their fear as they faced their greatest foes but, as well she knew, both Gar'Rex and Orr'Sinda emerged victorious over their demons. Despite the turbulence of their journey to Reimhel, the overwhelming peace that followed punctuated their success as well as their bond. As Sinda departed her home, Seer knew she did so with a clear mind and heart, having purged away the clouded waters of her former master. A smile pulled at her aged face as she rolled a murky crystal between her gnarled thumb and forefinger. At least there was one dark spirit that couldn't haunt her any more.
