Freedom, on Nar Shadaar? (Lilabelle)

[Kay]

(This is here for Lily, so she can take the time to form her own ideas and perhaps post in the event my bio is approved)

A dark gloved hand clasped the corner of the steel wall, the owner -hidden in a veil of shadow cast by the alley- panting heavily as she leaned against it for support; taking a moment to catch her breath. She’d been running for an hour straight now and the smuggling base had long since disappeared from view but its stench still seemed to fill her senses, a wave of nausea overtaking her as she remembered the place. She buckled under the combined weight of the psychological hit as well as the lack of energy, her knees hitting the ground hard, causing her head to slump. She felt so worn and… defeated.

Erin had always expected her freedom to be like a breath of fresh air, with nothing but the warmth of the sun hitting her face and her fellow Jedi to greet her. Instead, she was rescued by some disgruntled Dark Jedi with a grudge, only to be dumped out into the galaxies local slum. There was no heroic rescue party, no welcome wagon, just the cold, smog filled streets of Nar Shadaar, with nothing to call her own but the stolen and slightly tattered robes of her dark rescuer.

With her body feeling dirty and used, her short black hair disheveled and her robes showing dark patches; the blood stains she’d failed to scrub out. Erin couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss; no winner came out looking like she did. Despite her bitter rescue however, it was still freedom she argued, in an attempt to bolster her own spirit. And so with a surge of new energy, she slowly pushed herself up; still shaking a little as she gradually stepped forward.

Erin wasn’t even sure where she was heading, she just felt compelled to keep moving – an after affect of being cooped up for so long, perhaps. Either way, it wasn’t long before her pallid white eyes caught the faint hints of movement all around her, and she almost felt her ears twitch with frustration as she heard a rather snide tone addressing her from behind, the words spoken in an alien tongue, “Hold there little missy, it looks as if you just volunteered yourself for slave work by trespassing on our territory here.”

"Not now,” she thought angrily, hunching her shoulders slightly as she heard the familiar clicks of cocked weapons. She made no effort to turn around though, instead leaving her hands splayed opened harmlessly at her sides even as she gathered as much force energy as she thought was necessary in her palms. Admittedly, the situation was looking pretty grim as she had already used much of her energy killing the Dark Jedi and getting away from the smuggler base.

[lilabelle]

She shuffled in the gutters, her face shadowed by her dark green cloak. One hand emerged from the cloth, white as stone and dirty, clutching the folds of material to her heart like something precious, which in a way it was. A few lank, dark curls escaped from her hood. It was impossible to tell whether they were naturally black, or if grime had changed their colour. She smiled, and her teeth shone palely in the gloom.

Poor Ah'ma. Only half-sane now, and barely clutching to her last remains of sense. She lives in her memories, and while her present is slipping away, her past stays firm. Ah'ma the lunatic, Ah'ma the witch. Who knew how she'd travelled from Alderaan? Perhaps she'd stolen a ship, or used her witchery to appear here just when she was needed.

She looked up. Her face was odd, vacant. Eyes unnaturally wide and pale, her limp waves of black hair contrasted oddly with her stony white skin. Her smile was still fixed on her face, and she didn't seem to have blinked yet though her eyes were glassy. The glitter of wetness was visible on her fingers, a dark brown liquid dripping from her nails. Could be anything, on Ah'ma. Oil. Mud. Blood. Any was likely.

"Hello..." Her voice was musical and low, a shock coming from that dirty, pale figure. She moved, and suddenly she was in front of them all, with her vacant smile still hitched to her face.

The slavers laughed hesitantly, their weapons still cocked and pointed at Erin. "Scat, girl. Unless you want to join her? Or maybe we should just kill you to save time!"

And then Ah'ma was holding a cylinder of metal, gazing at it as if she'd only just seen it. "What could this be..." she mused, turning it over in her hands. The slavers stared at it incredulously. "What the hell? She's got a lightstick?"

She concentrated for a moment, and seemed surprised when light burst from the tip. It was a silvery white, a Jedi colour, but this was no Jedi. She waved the metal cylinder around vaguely, like a child playing with a magic wand. Apprehensively, they eyed it. The tip came a little too close to a wall, burning a long line of blackened metal. Ah'ma was shocked again, peering at it closely. A few of the weapons turned to point towards her.

Then she was at the leader's throat, the lightsaber cutting a line along his neck. "I was a Jedi once..." she mused dreamily. Her eyes focussed, a memory found. Her and Ghrin fighting a gang of smugglers in Coruscant. She straightened, a fire came to her eyes and even her ragged cloak seemed new.

Ghrin smiled at her. "Ready, Ah'ma? Remember to leave the leader to me, I don't think you should be fighting him yet." She nodded, and began to fight. Ghrin was beside her, helping her. They slew enemy after enemy, together, unstoppable. It was exhilirating.

The slavers were desperately trying to dodge her lightning attacks, though they weren't aimed for them, but an enemy that none of them could see. At times she turned to smile or look questioningly at her right-side wall, and nodded occasionally. It was bizarre, terrifying. They fled, Ah'ma still slashing at the invisible foes.

As the vision faded, so did her eyes and figure, becoming the hunched, vacantly staring lunatic once more. Ghrin was gone. Gone...she sat down in the road, and crooned to herself silently.

[Kay]

((I saw your last post and felt awful, I'm really sorry. I was actually hoping Jenno would post (Lol, slim chance, I know, since it's my turn to post and he's on holiday) so I wouldn't have to type up another one based off your post but decided to try again. Again, I'm really sorry. Anyway, it's a little off but I wasn't sure how to approach your character.))

It was all a haze for Erin, with reality and dream becoming indistinguishable as she began to drift in and out of focus, catching only small glimpses of what was passing. She doubted she’d remember anything of this battle but as the edges of her vision were clouded by darkness, her eyes latched onto a single source of light, a dancing streak of silvery-white and perhaps, a glimmer of hope; the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, if you will. And yet, the unpredictability of the movement as it struck out at its foes, without even the faintest signs of hesitation, left a chilling feeling running up Erin’s spine. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was next on its list of victims and, in a way, she didn’t care.

That moment didn’t come however, or had it already passed? No, the stench of Nar Shadaar still surrounded her. And for that she smiled, before grinning, and then chuckling, until finally she just let it all out and burst into a fit of laughter, her eyes wide and alight with madness as she hunched over, shivering violently and hugging herself as if in an attempt to contain her own laughing. She collapsed onto her knees, maintaining this position and still laughing as she thought of the insanity of it all, having already been rescued by a dark Jedi and now an obvious madwoman who absolutely terrified her. Who was next, the dark lord himself? It was all too much and that’s why, she knew it couldn’t possibly be real.

As she calmed to a chuckle, still trembling slightly, she realized there could only be one explanation, she was still drugged. This was obviously all just one massive hallucination, a result of the latest drug they were testing on her and while this seemed the most logical answer, even that seemed a little too fantastic for her as the world around her felt so… real.

She just wasn’t sure anymore and her rescuer’s aura wasn’t helping her; she didn’t need the force to tell her that the woman was… unstable. She hugged herself even tighter, curling into a small ball as she began to rock herself back and forth, her body tense as she tried to gather her thoughts, tried to make some sense…

“I-it can’t be real… all a dream… dream, yes a dream… no, but smelling, hearing… too real… she’s here, arou- no, not, wait, yessss, around me… I feel it… it’s her, creeping into my mind, it’s her fault!” her mind screamed as she abruptly stopped rocking and shot a glare towards the strange lady sitting and crooning to herself, before suddenly looking back down again and continuing her rocking motion as if it didn’t happen. She began to mutter unconsciously now, her tone quick and agitated as she spoke to herself, “No, no, no, no, no, not real, she’s not real… still in the dark room, yessssss, the dark room… wait, no, must concentrate, remember Jedi traini- NO, they abandoned me, forget them, kill th- no, against Jedi code to ki- kill them all, yessss, wait, can’t… still in the dark room…” she finally finishes, her eyes now glazed as she looks up into the sky and stops her rocking, appearing and sounding a lot calmer now as she finally whispers, “Lost forever in the dark room…”