Out the Dark

[Zai]

Out the Dark


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/LaLaBoogie/Galaxy_by_xkawaiix07.jpg




Dull silver swarmed about. Dura steel was the material. The hull had no paint. There was a flickering fluorescence peeking from the right corner. Sweet scents damped the air. All the aroma came from a jar. A table to the right made of wood and chipped all up. Time beat the table’s ass, just hadn’t got to the smell yet. About an hour had passed since the top was screwed off and thrown to the side. Inside was berry juice. The juice had exotic, cool origins: Felucia. That’s in the Outer Rim, between Rhen Var and Colunda Sector.


Wild place, filled with adventure. Purple plants, trees, grass, with yellows stark in contrast all over the dust ball. A beautiful steam rolled over the land too. Swept over like a mynock or better yet a frackin drexl. Yeah…a drexl, preying on the unique world below.


The steam coming out the vents wasn’t beautiful…and was more like a flit. Each time it burst there was a hiss. Fumes and a hiss – sizzling through silence – it was annoying. Few other sounds were made. Of course there is the occasional crack, snap and tick, but they don’t count. Nothing like a hiss…Well, besides that twitching buzz. It was coming from the corner. The light was giving out. Slowly, surely it’d be less than dim…


…And it was.


One last trying pop and the light died. Darkness emptied the room of its adversary. Shadows of a table, bunk, desk, chair and mini-fridge grew big…big. Until the room was a shadow and it happened in an instant. Actually, it happened in a blink. The blink was from Zai. Really it wasn’t exactly a blink. It was a flutter. A flutter searching, reaching out for the world Zai knew and often hated; the same world that wasn’t in his dreams. Everytime his eyes closed he went to a place of color, life, soul. He never wanted to come back, but he did. This time was different though.


Just a tad, bit, different…


Gloom sat in the blacken room. Angst jolted through it with the last particles of light. Zai didn’t have the chance to resist. As soon as he realized the darkness his body reacted. Each thought bolting through his body, submitting him to his sudden will. In seconds he became a slave to fear. He also became a warrior. In the dim there were no eyes to see it, but something magical happened. By the table there was something less sweet than what was in the jar. On that table there was a device. Crystals, power cells, stud, lens, conduit made it up. The piece of crap should have been a mess, if it wasn’t for that magic. The magic made it purposeful, elegant…a lightsaber. Despite the fact its kind of hard to put a word on that magic, but they did. They called it the Force. Sort of a lame name, but the magic is still cool anyway.


And Zai used it.


Had the laser sword, lightsaber thing flying through the air like a speed bike – no bumps on the trail either. It zoomed over in a flash. Fell right into his hand, singed to life and burned with a heat Tatoo I and II couldn’t muster. Well, not really – but it was hot. It is recommended no touchy. Anyway, he was standing there. Hand firm, grip, holding tight. The eyes that flickered went alert. Sweat trickled down his face and another burst echoed through the hull. Steam flushed out from beyond the door. He didn’t notice. He was too focused.


The lit blade revealed little. The kid held it close. All that showed was his face and the snarl he chose to sow with it. Slicing his eyes each way, ears pricked, he awaited. The dark was foreboding. There was no telling what was beyond him. Of course, there could be nothing--which it was--but he couldn’t give in. Wet hands of sweat clutched the hilt and his form was exalted. No fight awaited him, yet the challenge was still pending. Across the screen of his mind channeled a battle. The enemy couldn’t be seen.


Why?


Because since Zai was a kid, he was afraid the dark.


“Download Complete – Up Her Loading Ramp: Zeltron.”


That computer had a weird way of killing a tense moment…but that was a nasty little video.

[Zai]

Zai sagged off in the chair. The lightsaber was put down. He gazed at the ceiling, thinking. No words came out his mouth. They often did. Zai had a habit of thinking out loud, even when alone. There was just so much swirling around in that brain of his. Each time an idea popped up, it popped out. That was his nature. He was talkative, sly, and a list of a lot of other things.

One thing he wasn't was unaware. Still he wondered what that sound was. Sliding his eyes across the room, he studied. The place was absolutely dark, and he lazy. That was one thing he was. He was lazy, and he wouldn't be getting up to turn the lights off. Lucky for him, he had this skill - or these skills to maintain some validity - that were like magic.

It was the same skills that had called the hilt to his hand. It was the same skills that kept him out of a few fights, and won him some too. The young spy/soldier/assassin/cool guy, etc...etc...was a talented one with his skills at that. He could stretch, with something that felt like intuition, and grab hold of something with his feelings. For most it was mind-boggling, but to him it was second-nature, under the list with him thinking out-loud and being lazy.

And so, he did it. He reached out, without hands or feet, and flicked that room light on. It was in that moment he knew - the light bulb was busted. Nothing had turned on. It was still dark as ever, and he was still irriated. Shaking his head, he let out a groan and picked himself up. Slowly, though - he was still lazy, so no fast movements. One slugging step after another, he knocked at the door, and leaned out. Looking about for something, he belched out a name.

"Anj...get in here!"

[Anj]

Groggy was the word. The refresher door held at bay a flush. A sound of waste in a thrashing whirlpool at such a time could be a bit...disturbing. Anj was trying to wake anybody either. There was no telling what everyone was doing at this hour. Especially since he was a newcommer. Only a couple days had it been since his dispatch. A straight flight from Sullust, accompanied by a small convoy of his own. Then, he was dropped off on the Knightfall, handed his goods and waved off.

All he had here was Zai. That was all he needed...beside his lucky Terentatek claw. A Wookiee had given it to him, back when his Nana was stationed at Jabiim. A nice little comfort gift; it was suppose to give good luck. He couldn't complain, either. Somehow he had lived through a lot, while some...didn't.

After the rush of hot water, he slipped out the door. Each laggard step brought him closer to Zai. He watched as he shook his head at him through his half-closed eyes. Anj's lids were getting heavier every second that passed. His feet didn't even get off the ground. They just slugged their way to him, trickling into Zai's room like some slime.

"Wha?" He murmured, rubbing his eyes. "Wha is it, mayne..."

[Zai]

"This..."

His hand was out, extended, open. A saber sat in his palm. Heavy. The weight of his single word even heavier. Darkness swallowed the room, but no Zai. He was close enough to the open door, and dimly lit hall to be fleshed out. Brown skin bore through the drab. Strong eyes ripped through too.

A few words could have been given, helped out, explained, but they weren't used. Instead, Zai took the prowess he had over silence and used it. The hushed vroom of the room's computer, and lull of the flickering light did wonders against the backing of nothing. The ticking, the humming, it was soothing to the stark contrast of tension.

The air grew stiff.

Zai liked it. This was what he planned. Long ago he had made a truce to deliver the boy, but there was more to it than simply that. The past year had come full force. Trouble had shown itself in new faces, and Zai had prepared for this day. He was not here, in the Convoy, to devote and pledge. He was not to be a Jedi. Anj was, and alone.

[Anj]

Anj was still tired. He didn't understand. The words bounced off him like pricks. His attention was grabbed, but he wasn't clear on what for. Between the lucid dreams he fell into every night, and the tension, he couldn't capture or sink back to the real world. All the seriousness that this moment called for couldn't even be beckon.

He just simply didn't understand.

"Huh?"

[Zai]

"I'm leaving."

He was stern. Zai sat, and leaned. His feet pushed off the table, holding him in an awkward balance. He should have fell. He didn't. Instead, he hung there, placing the lightsaber on the desk. Then, he looked up. Those two brown of his were too dark in this blacken room. Instead of brownies they were black holes of endless-ness, and death.

Those words were a killer.

"Take it..Just take it."

[Anj]

A twang swung up his voice as he grew high-pitch. The boy finally got it. Everything heavy came to mind. His thought bubble was filled with a coil of trouble. Turmoil spilled and his knees weaken. Each seconds pulled in more weight on his shoulders. anj was given into the pressure. All that he imagined died. Zai was his brother. He couldn't leave him. How? Why?

He couldn't muster a word. Nothing came out. Tears struggled to reach his eyes. They never made it. Anj wouldn't allow it. Not again. He didn't cry. Sadness wasn't a trait he dealt well with. the best way he handled it was subsiding it. Covering it up with something better. Sublimation was the course of action, and he would walk it with pride.

But he couldn't help but mutter something.

"Bu--"

That was all he allowed himself. A chance at retort distorted by his own optimism. No good thoughts had come yet, but they would. Something good would come of this. Zai knew what he was doing. He always did. Plus, he had nothing to give him. There was no defense he could arise. It was too late, he was too tired, and he was drained. So much had happened in the short seconds that words wouldn't undo it.

Actions were the course. Actions, and only that.

He walked up, grabbed the lightsaber and stomped it. He was angry. He kept his cool, but he was angry.

[Zai]

Zai watched him walk out.

He smiled.

Looked off to his bag and fell back into a seating position. Time to look at those files.