Drifting On {Eclipse}

[Rugs]

Tsubasa leaned back in his seat in the Vagabond's cockpit and gazed out at the space beyond the transperisteel viewing glass. Not that there was much to see, really; he'd just made the jump to hyperspace after hastily leaving Ugmul.

Now that they were officially out of harm's way, he could breathe a little easier. And think about what he'd just gone through as the ship quietly hummed along through hyperspace.

For the first time in a long time, he had a guest on board. He hadn't planned on things turning out that way, but then again, he hadn't planned on a lot of the things that happened on Ugmul happening. He was still supposed to be on world after all, for the job he picked up.

"Guess it wasn't meant happen," he quietly muttered to himself. As he looked out at the swirling blue and white beyond the hull of the ship, he pulled his phrik gauntlets off and put a hand over his side. A soft, muted glow rose beneath his palm as he channeled the Force into himself, into the burn left over from a blaster bolt that had grazed his side. It would heal easily enough.

Once he was done, he stood up with a quiet sigh, leaving his gloves in the co-pilot's seat. Ifrit, his robotic familiar was perched comfortably on the dashboard, with his holographic wings folded behind his back as he looked out at the hyperspace tunnel He looked over his shoulder as he heard Tsubasa getting up.

"Keep an eye on things, Ifrit. I have us set to head to Naboo. Shouldn't be any problems, but if something comes up, let me know." Tsubasa paused in the doorway as the door hissed open, and spared a look back for his companion. "I'm going to check on Cassandra."

With that, he vanished through the door in a quiet rustle of fabric and went back into the ship proper. His footfalls were quiet as he walked with his usual floating grace, even on the metal deck. He'd told Cassandra to find herself somewhere to settle down and get comfortable while they lifted off from Ugmul. Now he needed to find her and check on her. It wouldn't be hard; the Vagabond was comfortably sized, but not the largest of ships.

He moved through the galley, past the large empty room he'd turned into his meditation and training space, and into the living area of the ship. "Cassandra," he called out softly, moving in the direction that he felt her presence coming from, "how are you doing?"

[10Tickler]

It's pretty amazing how small one can make themselves, especially when they're emaciated and malnourished. Cassandra was, oddly enough, all that and a Basket of fish as well. Garbed in a rather sweeping, Billowy white robe, made of a thin, shimmery, material, her form was curled around itself as tightly as one could even imagine was possible. As she had joined Tsubasa on his ship, the pain came back, criss-crossing her body like lightning through her very veins. She had hid it, as best as possible tho, excusing herself into the refresher.

It was in the small closet that she had hidden, letting her body curl into the pain, letting the sensations ease from the tensed muscles, her body actually shaking somewhat from the strain of forcing herself to keep from crying out. Then the pain subsided, replaced by a wave of exhaustion. She was tired, despite having woken from a coma just recently, but refused to allow it to overpower her, refused to dream again. Pushing herself to her feet, unsteadily, she let loose a short barking chain of coughs.

Moving out of the Refresher, she had sat herself down, finding a bed in the small living area and seating herself on it, actually cutting into her own palm with her fingernails as she sat and tried her hardest to focus on anything around her, anything to stay awake.

Thinking back, into her own past, sometimes helped Cassandra to forget the present, and the future, but for right now? It was only a painful reminder. Sure, her parents hadn't really understood her "gifts", and her brother had simply used her, but...they had been family, and despite the deep, seething rage that she carried inside her heart for them, there was still that spark of care, that Curiosity about where they were, what they were doing.

It was then that she heard Tsubasa's moving, and with a sigh responded to his call. "Yes?" she croaked, softly as she tilted her head up to point her useless eye sockets in his direction, a futile gesture, but one that seemed to reassure most people. In all truth, as the Force's power had come back in waves to her, she didn't really have to move her head at all to "see" as it was, simply focusing hard enough in one direction would give her all the sight that she needed. "Wha...What's wrong?" she asked as he drew closer, her voice becoming soft, still gravelly with the damage to her throat and lungs.

[Rugs]

"Yes?"

Tsu's head turned at the sound of the feeble voice drifting to him and followed it to the source. He turned around, looking down one of the short corridors, and there, in a room connected to it, was Cassandra. She was sitting on a bed, looking over in his direction.

By this point, he really should have been used to the way the emaciated girl looked. He wasn't. Just looking at her sickly, fragile form made his heart sigh and drop in his chest. No one should look like that. And he was supposed to find some way to get her to better health. That was what he'd told her. Tsubasa didn't shy away from challenges, but he had his work cut out for him, and he knew it.

He walked toward Cassandra, his steps sounding softly on the metal deck. "Nothing's wrong," he said as he stopped by the side of the bed and looked at her. "I just wanted to check on you now that we've made it to hyperspace."

Sighing softly, he leaned down a bit and touched the back of his hand to her forehead. He knew she didn't like making skin-to-skin contact with others for the visions of death that plagued her, but he couldn't let that stop him if he was really going to start caring for her. Her skin was a tad warm to the touch, but not feverishly so. Nothing to worry about immediately.

Not like there isn't enough to worry about anyway, he thought as he pulled his hand away. His lips pressed thin briefly before he looked around. "Well, looks like you've already found a place to settle in. I'll move some things in here for you. Get you some sheets and a blanket out for your bed."

As he stood up straight again, he folded his arms across his chest and leaned lightly against the edge of the doorway behind him. His amber eyes were touched with concern as they looked at the frail girl. "How do you feel? I can get you something to eat or drink if you need anything."

[10Tickler]

Jerking back a little from the touch, Cassandra had to hold back her impulse to vomit. For so long, anyone who'd actually touched her had been the subject of such jarring visions that the girl had started to actually have a somewhat violent reaction.

Hearing his words, however gave her something else to concentrate on, he'd wanted to check on her. "Hoping that the jump didn't kill me?" she asked, with only a small trace of bitterness in her voice. She knew that he meant well, but she'd either been doted on, ignored or left to her own devices for essentially her entire life. She'd tired of the whole 'Pitiful you' act some time ago.

"No worries, I'm a tough girl" she told Tsu, grinning, her teeth decayed and yellowing as she held up her arm and flexed it, showing off it's complete lack of defined muscle structure. "And as for food...not right now, maybe in a few hours?" she asked, knowing that even if there were a good amount of food offered, she wouldn't eat much more than a few crackers.

"And please, don't stress yourself about me" she added, sighing a little, "I prefer the cold"

[Rugs]

"No, not at all," Tsu answered, with a hint of quiet laughter on the edge of his voice. She wasn't that bad off. Though until he could really get a feel for how poor her condition was, he couldn't be sure of how far away from being there she really was. It was unsettling, at the very least.

Still, for now she wouldn't be dying from any jumps unless some malfunction struck and killed them all. Tsu supposed that was something, at least.

"No worries, I'm a tough girl," she went on, holding up her arm and flexing it, or making the motion of it--there wasn't really much of anything to show. Tsu chuckled in spite of himself. Not at the size of her, though; that was troubling. He knew there was no reason for her to be as strongly built as he was, but seeing how small and weak she really was. His bicep was thicker than the whole of her arm.

"Ah, of course," he said, shifting his weight slightly from one foot to the other. "And you can wait, sure. You need to be sure to eat something today, though." He smiled a little, even if she couldn't see it. "I'm making something I think you'll enjoy later on." It was a soup his teacher had taught him how to make, with a few good herbs in it and a bit of light meat. It was good--a favorite meal of his--and good for a weary body.

"Don't worry, I'm not stressing," Tsu continued. "But I did say I'd do what I can to help you. I'm not in the habit of breaking commitments." He suddenly gave a laugh as he toyed with one of the long strands of hair that hung down either side of his face and in front of his chest. "Well not counting the one I broke to free you back there.

"Anyway, I want you to be comfortable. We've got a ways ahead of us 'til we're out of hypserspace, so you might as well get cozy."

[10Tickler]

"Comfortable", Cassandra echoed, her voice softer as she sat back, sighing a little as she pondered Tsubasa's words, his actions. There was a part of the Girl, cowed as she was and grateful for her rescue, that didn't want to be there, didn't want to be anywhere around him. Bad luck seemed to follow her, a shade upon her life, and the lives of anyone who associated themselves with her for too long.

Still, though, there was that nagging feeling, burrowed deep in the recesses of her skull. Humming along like something might go wrong, something was just waiting to explode and take this idyllic situation in a disturbing new direction. Shaking her head, Cassandra banished the thought, not wanting to encourage her Gift any more than needed.

Sure, Tsubasa was being a great guy, but for how long? It was clear that it was, at least from her view, mostly out of pity than anything else, that he showed the interest that he had thusfar. Part of Cassie LIKED being frail, enjoyed the thought of being weak.

Being next to Death, standing in it's shadow. It was a risk that made her feel more alive.

Reaching into a small pouch inside of her gown, grabbed ever so quickly, she found the small bottle, it's contents rattling quietly against the plastic. She fumbled with the lid for a moment, then got it open, downing two of the small pills quickly. They'd help her sleep, erasing dreams and banishing stray thoughts, better that than seeing anything, at least for right now.

In a few minutes, she was asleep, the sleep of the dead.

[Rugs]

Tsubasa watched as Cassandra leaned back and quietly fell asleep on her bed. She was an interesting conundrum; different than anything he'd ever really dealt with in the past. But for so long, he'd been alone, or living only with his mentor, back in the days of his youth. Responsibility had consisted of the choices he made for himself, not the need he had to care for another. Not like this.

"But here I am," he muttered to himself, dropping his arms from where they were folded over his chest and standing up from the side of the doorway. With a new responsibility. With someone to care for, until she reached better health or until fate sent them down different roads.

For a few minutes, Tsubasa remained where he was, watching the sleeping girl and thinking about what had happened on Umgul, and what the future might bring. Finally, he turned on his heel and left on quiet feet, adding only the faint pitter-patter of his footsteps to the soft, soothing hum of the hyper drive.

------

A few hours later found him in the Vagabond's galley. A pot was perched on the stove, and the air was full with the scent of cooking herbs. His soup was brewing. Had been for the last hour and a half, and would be done in a few minutes. Though most of it was for himself, he'd made some extra for Cassandra, even if he didn't think she'd eat much of it.

In the hours since she'd gone to sleep, Tsu had guided them into another hyperspace jump. The Vagabond had exited hyperspace a little ways away from Umgul, and from there he'd set them on the way to a proper destination. Without much in the way of previous plans, he'd decided to head to Naboo. It wasn't far, and it was a nice, quiet world. It was as good a place as any.

He'd changed as well, out of his usual attire for being out and about to something more casual. He wore a dark blue shirt, close fitting the one he'd been wearing and without sleeves, and some loose pants with wide legs. His feet were bare for the time being.

While Cassandra slept, he'd taken the opportunity to meditate in his room. The session had been good, and the currents of the Force had brought some sense of comfort and relaxation as always, even if his muscles were a bit weary from maintaining a only one of his meditation positions for so long without moving to something else.

Presently he was sitting on a stool in the galley, elbows propped up on a counter casually as he perused some job prospects he'd been considering on his datapad. Ifrit was still keeping an eye on things in the cockpit, though he'd wandered to the back to talk with Tsu every now and then.

As Tsubasa sat there, marking some potential jobs to be looked at more later and discarding others, he kept himself open to the Force, and a tenuous touch on Cassandra's presence as he waited for her to stir. Perhaps he'd check on her later if she continued sleeping, but he'd leave her be until she woke on her own. Force knew the poor girl needed all the rest she could get.

[10Tickler]

Unfortunately, Cassandra's pills didn't help, for once, they failed and miserably. Deep in the recesses of her fevered and troubled mind, a faint power, the barest hint of a call pulled at her subconscious mind, and within moments, she was dreaming once more.

The room that Cassandra stood in was dark, she could see, as she was able to in most of her dreams, but in darkness, there is still form. Swirling mist that roared with power, with disgust and contempt for her surrounded her form, bringing a chill down the Frail girl's spine. Suddenly, however, the mist took form. Swirling and consolidating behind her, Cassandra could feel it, could feel Him and his grasp on her skin once more. Xavier leaned close to her ear, his normally silent lips moving, barely brushing against her skin. "I Will find you, Dearest sister...There is nowhere to run, no place you can hide...I am on Kashyyyk now...but I.am.coming

Screeching, as though her skin were aflame, Cassandra awoke, conscious thought gripping her head once more, the Xavier of her Vision's voice still ringing in her ears. The Seer's Shoulder hurt still, and forcing herself to stand, she moved to the door, pausing only to grip her staff, before flying to Tsubasa, to where she could feel his power through the Force.

Reaching the Galley, she was assaulted by the Scents of Rich food, savory and sweet combining. Flooding with the taste of bile, her mouth dropped open, croaking his name before turning away, retching sounds coming from her throat as her body tried to expunge her stomach's contents...nothing came though, she hadn't eaten, and so instead she simply drooled a little, retching over and over again. "Xav...." she managed to sputter between two fits. "Coming..."

"Poodoo"

[Rugs]

The Force stirred. Suddenly, Tsubasa heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming his way, slapping loudly on the Vagabond's metal deck.

"Cassandra?" He turned around as she burst into the galley, her dress fluttering around her.

Then she stopped. Tsu stood, concern coming into his amber eyes.

"Cassandra?"

He was quickly beside her as she started to dry heave. Her stomach was empty, and nothing came up, but that didn't stop her body from going through the convulsions. Swearing softly, he stood and grabbed a clean towel, using it to wipe the spittle from her lips and the floor when the heaving passed.

Then he gently helped her to her feet, using his strength more than her own to carefully guide her to a chair with back that she could use for support to stay up. "What's wrong?" he asked her, crouch slightly to looking into her eyes as he spoke. He felt her forehead for temperature with the back of his hand, then the sides of her face and cheeks.

Frowning, turned to the cabinet and pulled out a small pouch. It had a white tea from Cerea in it. It was light and gentle, and was good for calming the stomach. He set a small pot of water onto the stove and began to warm some for her, then pulled another chair over to sit next to her.

"What were you trying to say?" he asked gently. "I heard you running in here. What happened?"

[10Tickler]

Shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, Cassandra was barely able to make the small, squeak-like noises that emanated from her mouth, much less actually speak right now. She had been dreaming since she was a child, always vivid, usually a prediction, but this...this was an invasion, a penetration into her mind itself, and that had scared her more than anything else she'd ever felt. It made her want to take the entire tube of sleeping pills, lest it come to pass.

Watching Tsubasa's movements through the Force's gift, she shivered. This one, he was too nice, too innocent to be allowed to fall under Xavier's merciless hand, the thought of it made suicide a viable option in her mind. For Cassandra, she'd rather see death himself, than allow Xavier to lay a hand on Tsubasa. Yet, the thought of it racked her body once more with sobs.

Then, he was beside her, touching her again as he probed into the problem, wanting to solve it, wanting to fix whatever was wrong with her again. There was no fixing this. The only way she'd ever be free of her brother would be if he, or she were dead. Yet, there was no way to explain it to him. Anything that she tried to say right now would send him into a panic, and if there was anything she could predict about the man hidden from her foresight, it was that his reaction would be dangerous.

So, she shook her head, refused to explain further than simply saying "Nightmare, bad one." Better to let Tsubasa live in blissful ignorance and abandon him at the next possible chance. Wherever they stopped next, she would vanish, slipping into the crowds, she promised herself, never to see the man, the only one to show her true kindness in her life, again. It was the only gift she could give him in return.

[Rugs]

Tsu's dark brow knitted slightly at Cassandra's answer. It didn't tell much. Not immediately. But he wasn't going to badger her too severely over it either.

"Alright..." he said after a few moments of looking at her. Surely there was something more, right? She'd reacted pretty severely. But it wasn't like he hadn't heard of people having strong reactions to particularly troublesome nightmares.

Wonder what kind of nightmares a person that can see the future would have anyway... The thought of it sent a chill rolling down his spine.

"Well, it's over now. You really had me worried there, with the way you came running in here." He still was worried. It showed in his voice.

He turned from her and went to check the things on the stove. The soup was done, so he turned the eye off and moved it to a cool one so that it could cool a bit before being served. The water he'd set out for her was getting warm too. Figuring that it would be best to let her have it before it got well and truly hot--no telling how she'd handle it--he pulled the pot from the stove and put some of the water in a small cup for her. As he added the tea and let it steep, he turned around to her again.

"I've made some soup. There's enough to share if you want some. It's not heavy. You really should try to get something in your stomach..." Tsu cut himself off then, not wanting to sound like a nanny. He was concerned for her, though.

He checked on the tea, and added a touch of honey to sweeten it slightly before he picked the cup back up and walked over to her with it. Pausing, he offered it to her. "Here. I made this for you. It should help calm your stomach down some."

[10Tickler]

"I..." Cassandra began, her face turned downward, as though she were speaking to her feet, or the floor beneath them. "I'm sorry" she said, surprised at the actual remorse that she felt for making Tsubasa worry. Then he offered her soup and tea, one to calm her stomach, the other to fill it. The idea of soup made her queasy, but the tea... Water, leaves....shouldn't hurt anything she thought to herself, smiling a little as she tilted her head up to give the appearance that she was looking at him as she nodded a little, accepting the small cup of warmed liquid.

It was good, fresh in taste and quenching to the burning dryness of her throat, chasing the taste of bile from her mouth in little more than a few tiny sips. She appreciated it, and as she waited for the soup, seeing as she wasn't likely to be able to get up and serve herself at this point, she thought, brow furrowing with the ideas and images running through her head.

If Xavier were back, this was a bad thing. The man was strong enough, he would probably be recognized as a Lord of the Sith. Maybe not titled like Lady Renata, but Inquisitous would see his power and acknowledge it with rank and privilege. From there, the future began to blur as the pathways split, more and more appearing as chance and probability took hold of the Future's paths.

Xavier, if he accepted, had several choices of where he could go, but it always amazed Cassandra how one or two simple pathways could blur so quickly, turning into a million or a billion possibilities.

Most, if not all, seemed to end in death for her. Not an entirely unwelcome thought. If the Sith found her failure a sign of weakness, if someone stronger than her had appeared, she would be disposed of. Yesterday's trash, used and thrown away like refresher tissue at the end of a long and tumultuous movement.

Finally, she spoke, her lips wet with the Tea still as she cast her head around the room slightly. "Tsubasa...Can" she started, then faltered. She knew that she needed to go to her brother, but at the same time, she didn't want to leave. The two paths before her depended on her choice here. To stay with Tsubasa and enter into a blindingly confusing future from the first step, or to Go back to her brother, to have some Comfort from knowing what would happen.

Cassandra made her decision. She was tired of being complacent.

"My dream" she said, restarting, "Was a Message, from my brother, a powerful Dark Jedi who exiled himself to train before joining the Sith's Ranks. He wants me back, wants my powers and will do anything to get them, kill anyone who stands in his way." She finally explained, getting to the meat of the whole issue at hand. "I have two choices, One would mean your safety at the cost of my entire future...the other is less certain... I leave the decision to you... To either go to Nar Shadaa, or as far away from that Cursed planet as you can possibly go."

Pausing, she took a breath, not wanting to say the next thing in her heart and mind.

"We all die eventually, and I'm ready to face my own, if need be, to protect you"

[Rugs]

Tsubasa watched as Cassandra took her tea, and listened as she spoke. Her words were... odd. She spoke of a dream she'd had, but she wasn't vague or cryptic in the way the seers from old tales and legends often were. Cassandra spoke precisely, telling Tsu of her brother, who would apparently be seeking her out.

So now he was presented with a choice. He could choose to take her to Nar Shadaa, where her brother would find her again, or so she said. Or he could keep on with her. Continue to try to help her and give her the freedom and life she'd never had.

"I..." he started. He stopped and sighed, trying to gather his thoughts enough to figure out what it was he wanted to say.

Take her to Nar Shadaa. Throw her away and save myself? He frowned slightly. Let her go back to the kind of life I just saved her from, or worse?

That just didn't sit well with him. There was something about abandoning her, helpless as she was, that he couldn't do. Why even save her, if all he'd do was throw her back to a bigger, badder wolf?

But on the other side, would he really be putting his own life in danger if he didn't take her there? Could he die, just for trying to give this girl a better life?

"I need some time to think about this," he finally said with a reserved sigh after a few long moments. He leaned against the counter, tapping his fingers along the top thoughtfully. "But for right now, I already have us on course for Naboo. We'll continue there.

"But... I will say this." He looked at her, weighing his options silently. "I'm not really keen on letting you go back to someone who could be even worse than what I just saved you from."

[10Tickler]

She heard his reply forming, not through the Force, or any other mystical abilities, just in how he reacted, how his body shifted ever so minutely in his seat. He was distressed by how the future looked from her perspective, by the choices presented before him.

I need some time to think about this his reply came, at first. That much was obvious to Cassandra, she could have predicted that even without being able to see his future. She'd essentially dropped into his life and he'd begun to care...now he was the one holding that life he'd saved in the palm of his hand. His choices were simple, really, safety and comfort, or danger and her continued wonderful presence. Chuckling a little, the sound led to a cough, deep and throaty, from the bottoms of her lungs.

The fit ended quickly however, and she heard the rest of what Tsubasa was saying. There was a course plotted and for now, they'd be following it...to Naboo. Brief flashes of the planet raced through her mind, a Swampy, watery planet, the locals divided into two sects, a Tribal peoples and more Civilized City-dwelling folk. It felt...interesting.

Then Tsubasa floored the girl. Saying that he wouldn't let her go to someone who'd be worse than the Pimp on Umgul. She wanted to do so much, laugh, cry...hug him a little. Tsubasa didn't understand, not really. Xavier wouldn't hurt her, not while she was still useful to him, but the sentiment remained.

Pushing herself out of the Chair, she teetered over to the Man, smiling softly. "Trust me, between your courage and my skills...we'll be fine" she said, placing a hand on his gently, at once reassuring him and testing herself. It wasn't a momentary thing, no, her powers didn't work on Tsubasa, which was probably the most curious thing about the man, something that she needed to know more about.

[Rugs]

Tsubasa smiled warmly at Cassandra as she spoke and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. With his sleeveless top, the tips of her fingers touched the edge of the strap that held that side of his shirt up on his shoulder, but her palm--the meat of her hand--was on his skin. Bare skin, the same that she'd been so reticent to touch earlier. Tsu couldn't help but feel a little bit of hope at that. She'd been so afraid earlier, so worried about seeing his death, but for whatever reason, the visions didn't come when she touched him. Why, he couldn't say, but maybe the Force had a will and a way for him to help her.

Ultimately, time would tell.

"You're right," he said, nodding at her. "We'll be fine. Besides," he added with a wry grin, "I've got some skills of my own, y'know."

Tsu gave her hand a friendly, thankful tap, and moved away from it, walking to the pot of soup. It was done, and it'd had some time to cool off now. He reached up into the cabinet and pulled out a bowl for himself and another, smaller bowl for Cassandra. She'd have to taste the soup first, but if he did eat, he doubted she'd be having as much as him.

"We'll deal with that when we come to it, though. If we come to it." He closed the cabinet and gently stirred the soup with a large wooden spoon before he began to fill his bowl, and scooped a single spoonful into hers.

"But for now, we can take it a little easy, don't you think? You're free and everything's going to be alright." That smile, hopefully optimistic, touched his face again for a moment as he got a spoon for Cassandra and carefully handed her the bowl.

"Try a bit of that and see how you handle it. It's still pretty warm, so be careful."