Ask We Walk a Fine Line

[Darth Invictus]

Ender's first strike was deflected and Talak stepped out of reach from his second strike before slamming his blade into his as they went the same direction. He may have been tired but he wasn't weak enough where it would completely remove his weapon from his hand. However, he was tired enough that disrupted his footing heavily and he spun with his weapon and a few feet away. It only took him a couple of seconds to steady himself but during that time, the blades had cut through the turbine again until he finally stopped himself.

Talak wouldn't just shut up. Ender turned back around to face him and took a step forward to attack again. But when that step happened, he halted instantly as the entire turbine strained and groaned loudly. Flicking his gaze toward it and completely forgetting about his old master, the metal spine of the turbine had been severely burned and melted because of the wild lightsaber swings from him. The top of the turbine suddenly just tipped over without warning and fell straight towards the platform.

Ender instantly turned around and tried to leap from the platform they were currently on but the top of the turbine struck their platform and took it out from under them. There was barely enough time to conduct a leap but he managed to at least get off the platform. He had jumped towards the nearest turbine to him and fell through the air, his arms outstretched as he waved them. They caught the rotating blade of the next turbine barely and one of his hands slipped off as he stared down at the dark ocean below.

The blade continued to lift himself in the air and when it was about to pass the platform, he simply let go and dropped to his feet. Ender groaned slightly as his body was bruised from his earlier landing but he got up and turned around. His eyes searched for Talak, wondering if he was lucky enough for his old master to plunge to the icy depths below.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak stepped back, breath coming more heavily, and watched Ender. He, too, had failed to notice the blows to the turbine. It creaked and strained under the groan of its own weight, and Talak leapt up.

It still didn't go perfectly. His left hand just barely managed to clutch onto a hanging piece of debris and cabling from the ruined turbine. He glanced down to the churning, almost black water below. Rain made his grip weaker, and he quickly slipped the saber onto his belt and pulled out his grappling hook, sending it launching up to the window he'd fallen out of above.

He glanced back down and saw Ender below. He knew that if he dropped down, it would end in one of their deaths. He didn't want that. He had some hope that Ender would still come around, and that the seeds planted would grow and take root.

I hope you can see the truth, Ender. I'm sorry for leading you into this life, he said, his voice carried over the winds by the Force. Ender would be able to hear it without much difficulty, but the span between them would make reaching Talak before he left all but impossible. It was this that he would capitalize on to escape.

 

[Darth Invictus]

His eyes flicked back and forth until he finally found him. The sight of a grappling hook being shot up to the window confirmed who it was and saw the figure climb up it. Anger splashed inside Ender as he saw Talak still breathing and about to escape but he couldn't do anything about it. Even if he leaped from his turbine and made it all the way to the station, by the time he got there, his old master would be gone.

Even though the storm he could hear Talak's words and it set his mouth into a hardline. It wasn't his right to apologize to him after all this and after all, he had done. He didn't get to feel remorse and Ender's fingers tightened around the hilt of his weapon. As Talak turned around, he would hear Ender's voice in his head, The first time I put her in the hospital. Trust that I won't make that mistake again. He knew his old master would know exactly who he was talking about.

If Talak went back to the window to see Ender, he would already be gone.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak continued out to the exit when he heard the voice in his head. Every muscle stiffened and he went back to the window to look down, but Ender was gone. And somehow he knew. Talak's eyes were intense and filled with a nearly-crazed look.

Trys... was all he could think. She was always in danger since she'd become the face of the hunt for the Sith, but it was much worse now. There was a personal aspect of people who wanted her dead because of him. He was putting her in danger. There was only one person who even knew that he knew Trys, and the anger inside of him began to burn. He took deep breaths to steady himself, but the betrayal he felt was profound. He wanted to kill her. So badly, but that wasn't the Jedi way, was it?

Kriff, Talak, you're not even a Jedi yet, he thought with a shake of his head and another deep breath. He headed for the ship with a new urgency. He needed to warn Trys. He needed to make sure she was safe. He needed to get her out of the line of fire. He couldn't let her out of his sight or he needed to stop those who threatened her.

Kriff, you, Ender, he hissed under his breath. How could this end? With someone's death? Was there still a chance to pull him out of this? What was the risk to trying? So many questions and so few answers.

//Thread