Those who follow, those who lead... [COMPLETE]

[Sin]

He was unable to prevent his focus from falling upon the debris and filth that permeated every molecule of the room he now found himself residing within, the ruby prisons which constrained his vision moving to and fro ever so gently to take in his fellow residents. Smugglers, pirates or worse crowded into every disgusting seat available. Had it truly come to this, to flee so far into the darker places away from the cradle of civilization, or those hives and mocking towers that the wallowing plague-bearers had deceived themselves into believing were civilization?

Nay, in truth, despite the grime and grit - the physical disgust that simply sitting within this den of fear and horror brought upon him - it was far more honest than any ivory construct to be found in the Empire's crown. He detested, despite the truth that shone in this place, that he had been driven here. That odorous youth, Palidax, had failed in the most basic, rudimentary and menial task that Sin could have given him. All that Sin had required from that boastful amoeba was that it DIE. Alas, it seemed even the most elegantly simple function of life, to cease, was beyond that disappointing vermin's capabilities. The method had been tried and true, failure was an improbability bordering on the impossible, as it had succeeded in each prior experience. Palidax simply had to arrive at a designated location at the proper hour, and then the beauty of death and of fire would cleanse away a small portion of the worthless inhabitants that stained the universe. Sin's enjoyment would have come with the final breath upon the cankerous lips of that foul-mouthed beast that had plagued him, and then sweet emptiness where Rev Palidax had once stood.

Instead the boy had arrived early, deposited his delivery and left, no doubt to find some hole to crawl into and rut about in. The news feed had lit up with the act, shrill cries of terrorism and of the proponent of such monstrosity having been brought into the Empire's custody. Sin's place on the principle worlds had evaporated in a mere moment with that reveal. The shattered remains of the Emperor's fever dream, his Empire, would wring every drop of information from that worm they could manage, and as such it was time to press boot to ground and abandon his residence within Imperial space, at least until he no longer need fear the recent memories of those who would crave his eradication.

To the forgotten places, then, Sin had traversed. It was upon these orbiting infestations that he now found himself. Socorro he believed they called this one. The name felt like a dagger upon the tongue, fitting perhaps, that it was here he found the girl. He pulled his attention from the sick that spread throughout the room and to the dais before him. There stood, as if awaiting an organ grinder so he may begin a dance for coin and treat, a beast in tattered formal wear. The master of ceremonies for this accursed event, preparing to auction off the sentient cattle that were restrained in cages and bindings behind him. Past him, however, was her - he didn't know her name, nor did he particularly care to discover it. What mattered was what, not whom, she was. An adept with gifts in the Force, strong enough to draw him like a moth to flame.

The poor little wretch did not even realize that with her siren song she had brought about her own demise. He entertained the notion of simply purchasing her, but that would not do - it would fail to create the loyalty or devotion that he would require from her. No, he must be her rescuer, her hero, her savior. Fall behind me, little dove, I shall protect you from the evils that crash upon your gentle form - so that my own evils may overtake you. He would begin once more, a new 'apprentice' who would serve faithfully until her end. A final, explosive period upon the sentence of her life.

[Lyydea Amarra]

I could feel them, their eyes tracing my skin, their mouths turning up in pleasure at the thoughts that I put into their heads. I didn't mean to put them into their heads, I never meant to. I fidgeted again, my hands playing at the hem of the filthy dress they allowed me to wear, it had been a beautiful blue once upon a time, but now it was a mottled brown and grey. Its luster had worn away from years of disrepair and stains. Maybe the next one would at least allow me to wash it. It had been so pretty once.

Too old. Too old. Too old. Was I too old? Would no one want me? My last owner had said I was boring, that I was worthless because I was too old. He'd sold me as soon as he found something younger. I had never really thought 15 was too old, but he had. When he'd stopped paying attention to me it had been a relief, his hands no longer on my pretty dress, pulling and tearing. I had been so happy. But then the food had stopped and no one even looked at me. Weeks of being completely alone, no matter who was in the room with me, I would have begged for his touch just to feel something.

Then I was here, and I was fed, and I was looked at, and I was happy, and I smiled, and it was good. Now all I had to do was smile more, and be happy and maybe someone else would own me, someone who would look at me, and tell me I wasn't too old, and let me clean my pretty blue dress. The auctioneer pulled me up, the hem of my dress falling from my fingers as I was put in front of the potential buyers, and I looked up with my bright, white smile shining at them. I heard the auctioneer speak, even if it didn't matter what he said.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen! A rare treat, this beautiful young Zeltron has only one previous owner, and is only..." he smiled, and grabbed my face, pulling it forward to get me to exaggerate my smile even wider. I relented, smiling as wide and as pretty as I could, it hurt, but it was important. Important things hurt. That's what he told me before. "a little broken in. Do I have an opening bid of 500?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Slavers. Lilaena felt her lip curl with distaste as she walked among the throngs, her hood pulled well over her head. She did not stand out - many gathered were cloaked against the dust of the planet, and a little anonymity went a long way in this sort of company. Beside her, Jeng sauntered, his own hood hanging against his back, revealing a shock of blond hair that was cut close to the skin on the sides. His face was well browned by Onderon's sun, and handsome by any measure. Under his voluminous cloak one could just make out the Mandalorian armor as he walked, though he wore no helmet.

For her own part, Lilaena wore a simple wrap tunic and pants, an obi tied over top and emphasizing her slim waist. She found a spot near the middle of the crowd, facing the 'stage' where the souls were trotted out for sale. The Zeltron up there now was a slip of a girl, her smile as fake as they came. Lilaena had perused the 'merchandise' earlier, finding a few force adepts among the unfortunate. This girl was one of them - she had not even had to try hard to find her ability of knowing kicking in and letting her know yes, the girl was an adept. She raised her hand. "500."

[Sin]

He had woven schemes and intricacies as deep and as wide as an overflowing sea. Every contingency, each possibility, the smallest of minutia had been expected and prepared for, the scene that would occur would be brief, with the girl in tow as they fled after the riotous arrangements that were in motion.

The right credits in the right hands would make his acquisition of the little flower easy, even as it appeared to her, as if he had fought through Hell itself to rescue her. That had been the arrangement. However fate had a far more interesting twist in mind. Sin felt it, like the gentle waves crashing against his psyche as a pair had pushed through the throng of disgusting vermin to find seats, and a moment later it was there. Barely an echo against his senses, but there nonetheless. The Force, raw and pure, and seething with distaste and very, very apparent in its strength. His vision tilted, the muscles of his neck moving slowly to focus on the female and her companion that sat several rows in front of his being.

What are you? the words crashed down upon his mind as he considered them. She was not a player in this act, at least she had not been in the version he had written. That made her something beyond his control, something interesting. His vision shifted once more, turning the other direction as consideration boiled within him. Rewrites to this little story were necessary, and a burning curiosity to discover what was at foot ate at his core. No assault on the flea on stage, then. He must discover the progression that was now to come. His focus snapped to that wretched seller of life and nodded, not a word passing through his broken and shattered lips as he now made absolutely certain of masking his own presence. Years of operating under the watchful sight of the Empire, without alerting them to his actions had taught him to keep his existence silent and his own gifts hidden. It would serve him well here, so close to this new force that had intruded into his realm.

The beast on stage gripped the side of his cranium in distress. $750. No more bids. He pushed himself into the man's mind, his telepathy anything but gentle. He needed to uncover the female's motivations, he required the advancement of whatever her next move would be, if purchasing the little dear was removed as an option.

[Lyydea Amarra]

I smiled, so wide, so hard, and then it came! Yes, yes! A response. Someone wanted me! I could only hope, only pray they would be kind, gentle, he hadn't been kind. He hadn't been gentle, I felt the auctioneer's hands leave my face, gripping at his own head. He looked like he was in pain, and I wondered if whatever was happening to him was important. Important things hurt, afterall.

"We have a private bidder..." He all but choked the words out, and I noticed a drop of blood pool at the tip of his nose, falling to splatter against my dress. My pretty, pretty dress. Even more dirty now, because of him. Something inside me yelled, screamed, bit and clawed. Outside I smiled, wider and brighter. "No more bids, I'm afraid. We will move on to the next item." He was stopping? Had I done something wrong? Panic set into my face, my smile faultering for a moment, I forced it back as quickly as I could, even as he took my arm, and began to move me off stage.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Lilaena frowned as the girl was unceremoniously dumped off stage, but it hadn't really impacted her plans. Their plans. Everything would go forward as before, except she was going to have to go back into the auction house to intercept the girl in case she was picked up and moved off premise by her private buyer. She nodded to Jeng, who spoke quietly into his comm as she moved through the crowd like silk, making her way to the 'backstage' area.

The Mando'ade that were sprinkled throughout the crowd remained as they were, posing as interested buyers and their bodyguards. And Granoi was seeding the support structures of the building with microbombs, set to go off when De'Ville triggered them. Rescue the helpless, and bring down the house on those that perpetrated these crimes against their fellow sentients, and against those who were gifted with the Force, and even worse offense.

[Sin]

His vision remained fixated on her as she stood, her companion alongside, and made her traversal from this main hall of inequality into the deeper reaches of the building, to where they were now holding his purchase. There was little doubt in his mind that she travelled to the back to intercept the girl's removal. He waited for her to disappear from sight before rising, mobility carrying him along the same path she had walked, his curious hunger unsated as he continued to try and ponder what role she served, what purpose she held. He had intended on this girl, this slave, to be as the period in final paragraph of her life. Final and eternal. Instead he had discovered a question mark. Yes, that was the only way one could describe this force user he followed. She was an enigma to him, and Sin so rarely encountered those.

The girl sat in the cramped and rusted confines of an imprisoning cage, and Sin made no motion to her side yet. She was but an afterthought, he meandered amongst the back, keeping a sensible distance from the one who held his interest so tightly drawn. He must not seem too keen on her presence, but rather appear that he was merely another loathsome purveyor of flesh and pain.

[Lyydea Amarra]

I rocked a bit, knees tight to my chest as my fingers played in my red locks of hair, dirty and matted, so much like my dress. Back to the cage I'd gone, the auctioneer telling me to "wait here", "be a good girl", and that I would be away soon. Someone had bought me though! My smile brightened at the thought, of no longer being in this cage, even if I were just to find a collar or leash around my neck.

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Footsteps on the cracked ground beneath us. I heard it? Or felt it. Or knew it. I could never tell, sometimes I was so sure that there were things I heard that no one else did. Was it the one who had been interested in me, would I be leaving soon? If it were, I'd be sure I announced myself properly, a smile and a curtsy. "Lyydea Amarra" I'd say sweetly, and I'd brighten my smile for them. Then they'd let me clean my dress, and brush my hair, and I could be happy. I'd make myself be happy. I had to be happy.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Lilaena approached the cage, the cage, that they were keeping the red haired girl in. She looked her over as if she was merely surveying the merchandise, and placed her hand on the lock. It clicked quietly, releasing. "Come, child, it is time to leave." She swung the door open and waited for the girl to stand and step out.

[Sin]

She meant to abscond with the purchase that had transpired, by appearance. This female, cloaked in enigma and guile had freed his little bird, and for what purpose? To tame it herself, mayhaps release it wild and unprepared for the horrors of the universe? His curiosity was not yet sated, however this transgression could not be permitted, he directed his thought, his words to her and only her. Dripping speech like honey into the cavities of her mind.

Most fortunate, I am, to find that I am not alone in my concerns for the child's safety. Your actions, my interesting friend, would closely mirror my own. Your name?

He waited for her acknowledgement, either through motion or mind.

[Lyydea Amarra]

My eyes went wide as she approached, my new owner? Who else would pay attention to me, must be my owner! Must! Then my cage was opened. Had she even touched it? What had she done? The question didn't matter though as soon as the words fell onto my ears like a chorus from heaven, "Come, child, it is time to leave." My owner! Someone to pay attention to me, someone to treat me kindly, I hoped. To let me smile, and wash my dress, and tell me I was important. I stepped out, smiling wide, bright, happy and lowered my eyes. I shouldn't look, I shouldn't stare. When I'd done that before I'd been hit, told to keep my eyes low.

"Yes'm." I said demurely, going to her side and taking her hand. You should let your owner lead you, you were their property after all.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She had found, in the months since destroying the remnant of A'na Eldhil, that she had absorbed at least some of her former master's abilities. Telepathy, formerly impossible for her, was a new experience, and though she left her solid mind blocks in place to keep others from invading her head, she could now tell when someone was trying to. A buzzing sensation began in the front of her head, and she cautiously let the words trickle in. ... that I am not alone in my concerns for the child's safety. Your actions, my interesting friend, would closely mirror my own. Your name?

Lilaena did not look around, but took the girl's hand and started walking briskly toward the exit. "Try to keep up." Best to play the part of an impatient new owner, at least for now. To the unknown voice she thought, I don't give my name to strangers.

[Sin]

He felt the push back from her towering defenses, knew he was like an ant yelling towards a city - and yet she opened the door, let the insect scream at her. Would he come to the picnic, or bite at her toes?

Then, it would be best for us not to remain strangers. I am Sin, and I am he whom purchased our mutual interest. The one you are leading, at current, towards an exit.

He briskly followed, no longer masking his presence. She'd feel him in a moment, his strength within the Force, even if it were of less measure than her own. His place in the Darkside would also be known to her. A potentially thorny gestation, providing that information to her, but he believed it would bear the sweetest fruit.

For what purpose do you now steal away this poor child? I had intended her freedom, away from this nightmare of a world. Such a travesty to see those of our kind locked away without cause, would you not concur?

[Lyydea Amarra]

The tug on my arm was like bliss, being pulled away and out, along with my owner! Where would I go? Did she have a ship, the last one had a ship. It was awful, foul and dirty. Did she have more slaves? I had been all alone before, until he'd replaced me. The next words I heard, "Try to keep up." made me shiver, had I already displeased her? Was I already a failure? The confusion made me falter, my toe stubbing, and I felt myself stumble, and fall forwards. I had screwed up! She would surely beat me, or hit me, or yell at me. Why was I so worthless?

I fell from her hand, and my face hit the floor, a taste like iron filled my mouth. I knew that taste. I'd spent nights with only that flavor to sustain me. I wiped away the staining blood on my hand, careful to avoid my dress. I didn't want it getting dirtier. "I'm sorry!' I pleaded. "I'm sorry! Forgive me!"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Those with our abilities should rule, not be slaves. Do not get in my way or you will regret it. He said he wanted to free the girl, but lies came easier than truth to those who used the Dark side, as he most certainly did. He was present on her senses now, a dark blot of ink coming along behind her.

The Force sensitive girl was clumsy, probably from being cramped in a cage for far too long, and her hand wrenched from Lilaena's as she fell. Lilaena resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the girl's pathetic display, and stood imperious as she picked herself up. "Just be quiet and follow me." She put out her hand once more and took the girl's, tugging her along until she caught up. She smelled bad, Lilaena noted, but it was nothing a shower and a change of clothes wouldn't cure. The rags she was wearing would need to be burned, the risk of infested insects was too high.

[Sin]

Without question, the puzzle that walked away with the prize he had sought was an intriguing one. Far more intelligent than most he encountered, she did not cease her movements, her deliberate path toward egress. Had she the desire, she could silence him from her mind entirely, and make off with the young adept without even a backward glance at his persona. Yet... she had not done so. The line of communication still flowed like a twisting river, he would navigate its shores until he understood it.

Ahead, the worthless purveyor of this carnival of flesh stood at the back exit, guards flanking either side, and a look of unease growing across his visage. "Now, now, m...miss." He all but stumbled over his pitiful words. "Th...that is not y...your property." If a man could be even less worthwhile than most examples of putrid flesh that he encountered, this plague-ridden vermin was a perfect example of such.

Sin 'spoke' again. His telepathy not restrained to any sole mind this time, wider so that both his new interest, her accompaniment and the trained ape who ran this circus could understand him equally.

No. She is mine, and if I took issue with the actions of this woman, would I not vocalize them? Remove your self from that doorway before you demonstrate that you are a larger fool than I had originally thought.

The auctioneer all but tripped at the sound that echoed between his ears, finally catching sight of the man some feet behind the woman and her party. "Sir, sir! I am merely trying to see t..to it that your..." Sin had no desire to waste more of his fleeting existence with this man's trivial banality. He spoke telepathically again, this one very much directed towards him, and only him. A shotgun went off inside his head.

"NOW."

The man, if one could call him that, hit the wall. Sliding slightly, and keeping himself upright with trembling digits as a thin crimson river drained from his quivering nostril. He slowly slid away from the door, motioning for his fellows to do the same. "Y...y...yes. Sorry. Of course." Sin, having taken to a faster pace managed to find himself now just a step or two behind De'Ville. Once more initiating conversation meant for her alone.

Get in your way? How could I possibly do so, when we travel the same direction? I do not wish to hinder your goals, nay, I agree with them. These... things. He motioned towards the all but whimpering auctioneer, too terrified to keep his gaze up towards them any longer. Aren't fit to manage themselves. I had come to rescue this dear girl, much as you had. I see before me now, however, a much greater opportunity. Permit me to walk a path alongside yours, at least while we traverse the same road?

His curiosity was burning bright in his chest now. What was she? Jedi? Sith? Something else, entirely? For the first time in a great while, Sin was excited.

[Lyydea Amarra]

Forgiveness! I had not been beaten for my mistake, such a joyous event. Truly my new mistress is a wonderful and kind person, yes! The awful man, the man who had sold me to my new owner stood by the door, mumbling into his chest and trying to prevent my exit. Was... was I being taken back? Then, another voice. This one was strange, like a buzzing in the back of my head. It tickled. This voice said he owned me. But what of mistress? My confusion grew, frowning momentarily before I forced it back into a smile. Have to smile, keep smiling. I have to be happy. The seller moved away, and we were walking closer still to the door, but I kept moving, as I had been told. We came upon the door, and that's when I was pulled away. The auctioneer had lurched forward as we were passing, arms wrapping around my shoulders pulling me, a forearm into my throat, choking me!

"N...no one moves, un...until I figure out...w..what is going on. And I g...get... PAID." He spat, and I watched a long thin metal blade flick out from between his fingers, pulled from his pocket. No, no, no! The edge of the blade pressed against my neck, and I wanted to cry, to whimper, but didn't. I was good, like I'd been told to be, so I smiled. I smiled, and tried to pretend everything was alright, until I saw it. A splash of red from the tip of his nose, which fell and landed on my dress. My pretty, pretty dress. I couldn't smile, I couldn't be happy.

I spun, the edge of the blade tracing my neck just deep enough to mark it, but not slice through. He was surprised, I could tell, he looked down and lowered the knife in confusion. So I held his hand, and before he could pull away, or think, or stop, or breath. I twisted it, and shoved, the metal disappearing into his shirt, a blossom of red growing and dampening his clothes. And I didn't smile, I just looked at him, my head turning slightly as I watched the light start to dim in his eyes.

"You ruined my dress."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

If she had not allowed herself to be distracted by the other, the voice in her head (and hadn't she had enough of those for a lifetime?), Lilaena would never had let the girl be taken. She took a moment to block the insect from her mind and focused on the slaver, only to have the girl twirl about and drive the man's knife into his own chest. A gallon of crazy in a pint glass, it seemed, but then, she'd fit right in.

Lilaena snatched up the girl's hand once more as the guards that ringed the slave market began to take notice of their employer/owner's demise, and dragged her out the door to relative freedom. She spoke into her commlink, "We are clear, commence at once."

[Sin]

Surprise, it would appear, was the order of the day for Sin. First, the astonishment of one so unique and attention drawing as the female force user who had taken to acquiring the same prize he himself had sought. Now a surprising display of spine from the worm who had meant to sell the girl. Even if a cowardly display, it was more than he had believed someone of his facilities was capable. Then there was the girl herself. An easily disposable blip of Force sensitivity, utterly devoid of any unique traits. At least he had believed that.

What he witnessed before his oculars was enough to send a warm shiver up his spine. She had turned, instrument of death pressed against her throat, tracing into it to cast a crimson sheen to her flesh, and seen her captor's own weapon pressed deep into his gullet. Such an action would be expected in anger, or fear, or hatred - inspired by the burning passion that so many claimed to possess. Instead it was the coolness of her words, the anger, while present all but frozen in her soul. Such a stark contrast from the smiling, bubbly personage she put on to everyone who had but thought to glance in her direction. Then she spoke, and Sin again found himself utterly intrigued. "You ruined my dress."

Memories returned of his dearest relation, his sister Deidara, lost to him now by means of that accursed Empire - but before her removal from Sin's life she had been such a wonder to be about. The way she would express complete disdain for those beneath her. Removing their lives for what they would have certainly exclaimed to be triviality. She was so much greater than they, however, that each trivial failure on their part was deserving of execution - and here, this adept, this slave had taken the life of one who for merely daring to bleed upon her.

Marvelous. Absolutely marvelous. In a flash the enigmatic woman had taken the adept by the hand once more and began to drag her along, presumably away from this house of disease. He followed, no longer attempting to push his words into the woman's mind - he could feel blocks put in place to keep him out, regardless. He would find another manner of communication, actions perhaps. As such, he continued to follow, he did not hide this fact, but was mindful to maintain distance from those she directed.

[Lyydea Amarra]

I could have watched his light fade for hours. Days. Minutes. It was so very different than the last time. Was everyone's light different? My hand was grabbed again, my owner, was she my owner? The woman who may have been my owner pulled me along, and the man, the one who had said he was, now followed behind us. It was all very confusing.

Why couldn't someone just tell me who I belonged to? It was so very simple when it was explained. "You belong to me." they would say, "Okay, yes." I would reply - and then we could be happy. That was what was supposed to happen. Instead I was being dragged about, no one telling me who I belonged to. Maybe the auctioneer would know, I could always ask him. Wait. Oh right, I took his light. Well now I was sad. He couldn't answer my question.