#thread . trilla

[lcstpadawan]

closed starter for @cravked -

cal’s not a fan of hiding out in one place. as much as he spent more than enough time hiding from the empire, he was always on the move. travelling with the crew, or on his own - either way. he was moving towards something. now.. he’s stuck hiding in the jedi temple. as much as he wishes he could keep working, keep protecting those kids, keep doing what he’s become best at, he can’t. people don’t.. trust the jedi enough to let him near their children. so all he can do is care for those who are at the temple, and wait.

and it really kriffing sucks. but.. cal can be patient. he can.

what he doesn’t expect is visitors, but he’s gotten so used to trilla’s presence he would be stupid not to sense it when she arrives. it’s not like a whole lot of people know where to find the temple, so visitors are hard to miss. and.. he hasn’t seen trilla since the party, and things hadn’t exactly been - normal, that night. not for the two of them. “i thought you’d forgotten how to get here.” he calls as he watches trilla step off her ship. if he’s being honest it’s a relief to see her, but.. he can’t help but wonder why she’s here. it’s rare for her to do things without a reason.

[inspiringgreatness]

closed starter for @cravked -

the reports had taken her by surprise. but ahsoka’s checked the sources multiple times, she’s confirmed the truth of them, the reality she’d hoped would come but couldn’t be sure would ever happen. that trilla would truly, willingly, help the new jedi.

it’s hard to be sure in which capacity, given the reports aren’t sure. there’s only bits and pieces of information, and while she trusts cal’s judgement, she needs to see it for herself. it’s - not often people return from the dark side and make a change to this degree. and she wants to believe it, she’s always had faith that trilla could return. she knows the woman is capable, but.. she needs to be sure.

she’d sent a request first, unsure she would even get a response. but if thatw asthe choice trilla made, ahsoka would accept it - she wouldn’t force trilla into a conversation she didn’t want. so when she’d received a short response, agreement to meet on a neutral mid-rim system, and ahsoka hadn’t wasted any time. waiting at the agreed meeting point, the togruta can only hope trilla doesn’t change her mind.

[lcstpadawan]

closed starter for @cravked -

while there’s still a lot to be done, a lot of time to be spent piecing things - piecing himself back together, it feels good to be able to do things again. to be part of something bigger, to help people. having his lightsaber gives him the chance to make a difference, no matter where it means he has to go. he’s not exactly in the heart of the rebellion, which gives him the freedom to travel a bit more as he needs to. and that works for him.

following reports of something strange, cal finds himself wandering through a city on a mid-rim. all he has is some eye-witness reports and a pretty weak transmitter signal that’s decided not to work for the time being. “come on - come on -” he grumbles as he hits it against the palm of his hand a couple of times, trying to get the device to work.

it blinks to life and starts beeping again, thank force, but when cal looks up to try and figure out where best to search next he sees something he literally never would’ve expected. “what the - trilla?” cal’s eyes widen as he stops in his tracks, taking in the sight before him. the former inquisitor seems to be sitting pretty comfortably with a pair of shades over her eyes, an iced caf in her hands. very much not in hiding, apparently. “so - this is your idea of hiding from the empire?”

[lcstpadawan]

closed starter for @cravked -

returning to nur is worse than cal imagined.

fortress inquisitorius is a difficult place for any non-dark sider to be to begin with. the entire place is heavy with the weight of the dark side, of the pain and torture carried out there. the pressure of countless jedi who were tortured and broken and turned into inquisitors - or killed when it was clear they wouldn’t break. but for cal, it’s even heavier than all of this. much heavier than the first time he’d come here willingly.

they’d been able to find a way in with surprising ease, but that doesn’t really help. cal’s been on high alert anyway, for more reasons than he feels equipped to handle. he can’t touch anything without considering exactly where it might lead, to start with - to come in contact with anything that might have a force imprint here would ruin him, given his current state. the weight of this place is hard enough to deal with, he’s not sure if he could handle watching and feeling another jedi break in this place. somehow, though, that’s not even the worst part of it. the worst is recognising the hallways, knowing precisely which turns will take him to the torture chambers. being able to count the steps to the cell in which he was left over and over to nurse his wounds and do what he could to hold onto what was left of himself. he can hear the crackling electricity of their devices, created purely to bring pain and suffering.

he can hear his own screams echoing through the chambers, hoarse and harsh and utterly shattered as they did their best to break him apart and draw out the worst parts of him. hear himself begging them to stop, pleading to let him go - or to kill him, anything for the pain to stop.

“it’s definitely here. i can feel the crystals - somewhere.” he hisses in trilla’s direction softly, pausing to try and pinpoint where they might be - but with the weight of the fortress, the darkness here, and cal’s already precarious balance with the force hanging by less than a thread, he can’t do much more than sense that they’re in the right system.

cal feels sick to his stomach as he makes his way through the fortress, following trilla’s cues to at least head them in the right direction. “are you sure you’re leading us to the right place?” he asks quietly, eyes darting around, on the lookout for any kind of attack from a guard or troopers that are still stationed here. the sooner they get out of here the better - truth be told, cal’s not sure he can handle much more of this. being here is already affecting him, his skin is ashen and pale, his hands would be trembling if he weren’t clutching a blaster. “it’s - not going to be in some kind of vault. did you have quarters or - personal belongings in the fortress somewhere?”

[lcstpadawan]

closed starter for @cravked​ -

he’s working on bd1 when he senses her presence. edging back into the force hasn’t been easy, but for now he’s.. grateful for it. for the warning that trilla’s coming. he slips the spare bits of scrap into his pocket, lets the droid take his usual perch on cal’s shoulder, and pushes himself up, prepared to face her. certainly more prepared to do so now he’s got his friend at his side again, at least.

the last thing cal expects is for trilla to seek him out like this. not without a reason, and certainly not in the small, abandoned apartment he’s calling a temporary home for the time being. they’re not - allies, not really. they may not be enemies anymore - not for the time being, at least - but they’re certainly not friends. for her to approach him like this is unprecedented, not without wanting something from him. and usually cal would go onto the defensive immediately, prepare for the worst or at the very least assume it.

but the moment he sees her, he knows something’s wrong. for a woman who is always cool, calm, and collected when she sees cal, who always has her expression schooled in a way that will best serve whatever it is she hopes to gain from their interaction - to see her like this, so unsettled, makes him nervous, and he has to clasp his hands together behind his back to keep still. “what’s happened?” he asks instinctively, feeling bd1 shift on his shoulder. the droid can probably hear the anxiety in his voice. there are so few things in the galaxy that get under trilla’s skin. whatever it is, it can’t be good. and if she’s coming to him about it? even worse, as far as cal’s concerned. “what’s going on, trilla? why - why are you here?”

[lcstpadawan]

closed event starter for @cravked​ !

it’s seems strange to enjoy himself at an event like this, but when he’s not working, when he’s surrounded by so much celebration and hope in the air it’s hard not to enjoy himself. and.. okay, maybe it’s just nice not to feel so weighed down for once. things are going well with the rebellion, the new republic is lined up to bring the empire to a close. and cal - while he’s not entirely himself yet.. he finally feels like he’s ready to move past what happened. 

things are going so surprisingly well, he doesn’t even mind seeing trilla show up here of all places. if anything, after their last encounter, cal actually smiles. strange as it is, he’s glad to see her. he can’t imagine she’s here to work after all, this probably isn’t the ideal situation to try and smuggle someone away from what’s left of the empire. “here to join the party?” he asks with a smile, waving around at the festivities. he’s not exactly sure if she would want to hang around in any kind of social situation. it’s not like they have that kind of connection after all. but cal’s reasonably certain they’re not enemies anymore. and she’s done plenty to help him out where she certainly didn’t have to. maybe that classifies them as something closer to friends. “i was just about to find something to eat. company wouldn’t be the worst thing on the planet.”

[inspiringgreatness]

closed starter for @cravked !

there’s only one thing worse than the jedi who were killed during order sixty-six, as far as ahsoka’s concerned.

those who were torn apart and pulled into the dark side.

she’s crossed blades with enough inquisitors to know their history. to know how they were turned into what they are now. too many lost jedi, lost padawans, were forced into the dark side. into a life they never could’ve imagined. but this one seems... familiar somehow. something about her presence in the force that’s not quite as foreign as the others.

“i’ve crossed paths with your counterparts more than a few times.” ahsoka begins, her hands hanging by her sides. not on her lightsabers - though, instinct tells her there’s a good chance she’ll need them soon. inquisitors are unpredictable - not always the most skilled, but certainly unpredictable. ahsoka has no intention of being caught unprepared. “they didn’t fare very well. i.. really hope you don’t intend to take the same path.”

[lcstpadawan]

closed starter for @cravked​ !

cal can’t see. he can hardly breathe. he’s not even sure he can feel the cold table he’s been strapped to for hours anymore. all the young jedi can feel is the pain radiating through his body, through his heart, through his mind. twisted images of horrifying things. of his friends, his masters - both old and new - carrying out betrayals he could never imagine of them. the life he’d known, all he’d believed as he grew into the jedi he is now, twisting and thrashing against a pull he can’t let himself give into.

"he’s close.”

the voice makes him shudder - and the movement sparks fresh waves of pain cal can hardly stand. darth vader’s voice is unmistakeable, one that has haunted too much of his time in the fortress. he wonders if this is the sith lord’s way of getting back at him, for escaping all those years ago.

“my lord, his body has been pushed to the brink. any further and he may not survive -”

“if he does not survive, he should not be an inquisitor. continue.”

“no - no, please -”

the pain begins anew, the device’s frame lowering over his body, waves of high voltage currents racing through his body. he’s long since stopped questioning who could be making that horrific, ungodly screaming - he knows it’s him, his voice already hoarse and damaged from hours of screaming on this table.

give in, and the pain will end. give yourself to the dark side, to your grief and anger, let the pain guide you to what you were meant to be. let yourself feel the true power of the force.

vader’s influence is even more terrifying through the force itself, but after so long... cal is weak. too weak to continue fighting the possibility that maybe he’s right. it would be so much easier to give himself over. to let the pain stop, just stop, please, i giv-

and then it’s gone. everything’s gone. the crackling electricity, the sound of vader’s voice in his mind, his own screaming - it’s all gone.

the surface he’s curled up on is cold, but different - stone, less harsh than the inhumane tables at the fortress. but he doesn’t even care about that anymore. for the first time in a year, cal can hear life. there’s no life on nur, beyond the imperials and their machines. nothing to lend to hope, to offer a connection to the force that could help the captured jedi survive. but here... here, there’s life. speeders moving about outside, the hum of gentle electricity - not to cause pain, but to lend to the ability to live comfortably, and... people. no harsh officers barking orders. no vader, not here at least. just... people. beings of all kind.

but the pain is still there, and for a few minutes all cal can do is lay on the floor in pain, curled up as swirls of smoke from the electrical torture rise from his body. all he can do is to focus on his breathing, in, out, in, out, the pain will pass, you’re alright, something got you out -

cal knows things aren’t right, though. his connection to the force has been damaged before, a result of order 66, but this is... different. the force feels different, and the people connected to it strange. like nothing he’s ever felt before, and he doesn’t know what it could be.

the young jedi can sense enough to feel someone approaching, though. someone he knew, a long time ago. someone for who he had.. hope, that she could become better, she could have better, but - oh - even that connection feels strange, harsher, and despite the pain still radiating through his body cal can’t help but poorly attempt to scramble away. “no - you -” he gasps, shaking his head as his vision begins to clear and his eyes land on her, “you can’t be here - this is another trick, you’re dead!” cal snaps harshly, holding a shaking hand in a useless attempt to stop her coming any closer. he can’t use the force like this - he’s too close to the abyss of the dark side - and without cere or his lightsaber, that leaves him completely powerless against trilla. “get out of my head -”