Ask When You Wish Upon a Star

[Dash Pavan]

Leon's shout was the last thing Dash heard before the light of the gate washed over him and he felt himself pulled forward forcefully, like someone had grabbed hold of his very atoms. There was the briefest sensation of travelling, of a thousand stars stretched into lines.

Then Dash was falling, stumbling and he found himself on his knees. He stayed knelt there for a long moment, processing the solid ground beneath him and the grass beneath his fingers. It actually worked. Dash found himself tearing up a little and hurriedly wiped his eye with his sleeve. If they had made it through, then Ezra must have too. He was alive. "He'll be here" Dash replied, wanting to believe the hardest part was over "he has to be".

He followed Leon across the plain. The absence of any gate behind them was a problem, but they would have to figure that out later. All that mattered was finding Ez.

Dash scanned the horizon as they walked, sending his mind out across the rippling sea of grass. The place felt empty, so empty for quite a way, but then he felt it. The frigid chill of his boyfriend in the Force, blinking like a buoy on the waves. He was here.

Dash was almost running himself when the figure first came into view. They closed on each other, even as the fear the Rhinnalian had carried for days began to rear up again inside him. Whatever had brought them here, wherever here was, it was his fault. Could he ever put it right?

The Ezra that skidded into view was so different that it stopped them in their tracks. He looked unkempt and unwell, his normally perfect hair a mess and his eyes bloodshot. The hurt both Dash and Leon had sensed was plain to see on his face. It broke Dash's heart.

Dash started forward, Leon's encouragement getting his legs moving again. "We followed your lead, baby" he said, his voice shaky but gentle "like we've always done". It was true. Ez had always charted their course, whether he knew it or not. They all looked up to him in their own way. His bravery of Berchest, his instincts on Eiram. Dash knew in his heart that while he might have been the senior, Ezra was the leader. Only he could have stepped through an experimental gate and had them follow across the stars.

"I'm so sorry baby" he said, welling up as he stepped up close to Ez. "This is all my fault. I'm so sorry I hurt you.". His boyfriend's trauma was palpable up close and Dash prayed it could be overcome. He reached instinctively for Ezra's unshaven face. "I love you. You're all that matters to me and I can't bear you hurting like this". He opened his arms, wanting desperately to hold his boyfriend until all his pain went away, until they were back to how things were before, like on Mon Cala. "Come here baby" he said, looking deep into those strained silver eyes. "Lean on me".

@Sreeya @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was in complete disbelief as he stared at his best friend and his boyfriend both standing there. He hadn’t told anyone where he had gone, and he certainly didn’t intentionally leave any clues. And yet, somehow both of them managed to find their way to him and chase him across the galaxy. It was almost more than he could handle.

Thoughts of the rift between he and Dash, their fight, all of it sounded so insignificant. He saw Dash come closer. The Rhinnalian didn’t even have time to finish speaking before Ezra closed the distance and embraced him fiercely. It was as if Dash would simply float away if he let go. There was a tidal wave of emotions that would be felt in a pulse even if Ezra struggled to externally express it. For a moment he said nothing, simply clutching tightly onto his boyfriend. There was fear laced into those emotions.

“It wasn’t you, baby…” Ezra muttered hoarsely, his face buried at the crook of his neck, “It wasn’t you…” He needed his boyfriend to know he wasn’t to blame for this, "I love you too," This was so much worse than either of them could guess. The worst part was that he wasn’t sure how to say anything without ruining his family. Despite his disgust with the revelation, he couldn’t so easily disgrace the family that raised and supported him his whole life.

Ezra drew back from Dash briefly to look at Leon, offering him a smile. Instead of their usual secret handshake, he pulled his best friend into a hug as well. He knew Leon would probably not let him hear the end of this ever, but Ezra didn’t care. He was surprised Ferrin hadn’t tried to tag along, but he knew better than to bring him up around Dash right now.

He rubbed his eyes and played it off as some sort of irritant to avoid letting them see tears well up, “You guys used the hypergate?!” Ezra asked incredulously, “You know…there’s no way back.. I was hiking around trying to find a way off..”

He wasn’t quite ready to discuss what brought him here in the first place. He knew it would come up, but he needed to ease into it. He trusted both of these men with his life, but he hadn’t come to terms with what he discovered himself.

@Alhon @Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon clasped his hands behind his head and turned his face to the twin suns above. He pretended not to hear the sweet words spoken, but they were like five feet away and it was legit silent out here. The weight that had been lifted from his shoulders made him feel weightless. Baudelaire was well aware their adventure was far from over, but he also knew he was with two people he trusted his life with.

Ezra’s gaze met his and Leon could feel the emotion he’d been barely holding back brim to the surface. Eyes misty as he leapt into the air to start what would undoubtedly be the most badass secret handshake ever in the history of handshakes. The sheer thunderclap— Ezra caught him mid air. Leon’s reaction was completely involuntary, but he didn’t care. He hopped down and wrapped the big ding dong in a tiny bear hug.

Leon let him go as they wrapped the waterworks. Ezra asked if they’d gone through the hypergate.

“I wanna say yes, but honestly, I wouldn’t know. Portal made of what looked like a small universe?"

Ezra confirmed Leon’s suspicion, “Hmmm, well, the force wouldn’t bring us to you just to leave us hanging, three way?”

He meant meditate on the force and see if it could offer any guidance, but he knew what it sounded like. His eyes fell. Felt weird that Ferrin wasn’t here. Felt like they were a man down, but he couldn’t think about that right now. They had to find a way out of this sea of grass.

“Anyone have any idea where here is?” he asked, looking around at his surroundings as if for the first time. He pulled out his NalPhone, typical, no service… Leon slipped his personav out of his utility belt. No map found, but at least they had a compass now.

@Alhon @Sreeya

 

[Dash Pavan]

When Ezra came to Dash, wrapping his arms around him, love and relief exploded in Dash's heart. On the grass plain, two men hugged each other tight, but in the plane of the Force two lights blazed as one. Ezra's cool presence and Dash's own fiery spirit, paradoxically warmer than anything he was known for.

They held each other for a long moment, Dash gently stroking the back of Ezra's head. His boyfriend looked and felt more emotional than Dash had ever known and any scent of the trademark cologne was long gone. But it was him.

Ez kept saying it was not his fault. The Rhinnalian thought he was just trying to brush over things at first, but he slowly realised he seemed genuine. It did not make any sense to Dash. What else could possibly have driven Ezra to his wits' end?

His boyfriend gave Leon a massive hug too. Though he was obviously trying to steady himself, they both knew him too well not to notice how much he was out of himself. Dash was glad they had found him when they did.

"Your Dad text us" he explained "said you'd gone and no one knew where. Everyone seemed very worried". Dash had not quite understood why at first, when it was very normal for Ez to go off doing his own thing and his family could not have felt his hurt, like he and Leon did. But then he had stopped answering anyone's calls. "We got a sense of where you'd gone and Leon figured out the details".

He glanced around the vast plain, having a thousand questions for his boyfriend but also conscious they were potentially stranded. "Looks like nowhere I've seen" he said, stumped. "Do you know where this is, Ez, anything about it? Any reason you came here?".

Dash started pacing around their little patch of earth, but he couldn't see anything new in any direction.

@Sreeya @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

He really should have been surprised when Leon leapt on him like a monkey, but he wasn’t. It was a testament to his commitment to the Emryc Thorne routine that he didn’t topple over. There was a grin on his face he couldn’t help from the silliness. Leon always had a way to shine a light in even the darkest places.

Ezra bristled at the mention of his dad, something Dash would feel immediately. This was a complete 180 from when he saw the dynamic between Ezra and his family before, which was always warm and close. The question they both asked left him looking sheepish. He reached into his bag – he always had a bag, even during unexpected escapes – and whipped out a notebook. There were pages upon pages of neat handwriting and complex formulas, “Well, based on my calculations, I believe we’re somewhere in the Unknown Regions,” He said, “There are 40 hours in a day and the suns are just…always there,” He said, “I’ve walked around for a while and haven’t been able to find any civilization. However, I did come across a body of water and the air is breathable, so I’m guessing there is a settlement somewhere.”

He was still in disbelief that both of them chased him across the galaxy. He almost instinctively grabbed onto Dash’s hand as he began to walk again, clearly having missed it. Ezra of course had no idea Dash outright bailed on a mission of his own to get here. And none of them had any clue about the devastation that was happening on Ithor.

“You guys did remember to pack some snacks, right?” He blurted out suddenly.

@Alhon @Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Baudelaire closed his eyes and took a breath. He stretched outwardly to the planet weaving his consciousness through the grass then stretching up and into the sky before bringing it all back into place. His eyes opened as Dash was explaining how they’d found him.

Leon added, “Felt something bad happen to you, brother,” Leon shifted uncomfortably but continued, “I’m not going to press you on it, but when you’re ready to talk, I’m ready to listen.”

He knew honest and open communication was easier once it had been established. Hopefully, his little gesture helped start that.

Leon listened as Ezra explained what he’d discovered about the world. “It’s strange the suns don’t move right? How do they set?”

“How far are we from the body of water?” asked Leon.

That’d be a pretty good place to start, depending on the type they may secure a clean water source and up their chances of running into anything else out here. The longer he was here the creepier this place was starting to feel. It was like it was frozen in a singular moment. Even the suns above remained unwavering in their blistering gaze.

Ezra mentioned food and pulled his sling pack around, “Actually, yeah!”

Peetwo popped it’s head out of the bag seemingly annoyed to be disturbed, that is until it’s little photoreceptor fell upon Ezra. Like a cat suddenly startled, the little droid went nuts.

“AH—Peetwo, Ow—There!” he said unclipping the bag and setting the little droid down. It scampered over to Ezra and paused, suddenly acting like it’d lost interest while peeking at Ezra as if waiting for something.

Leon looked over at Dash, “Well, I guess we finally know who Peetwo loves more.”

Baudelaire reached into his pack and pulled out three energy bars. He tossed one to Dash and one to Ezra.

@Alhon @Sreeya

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash only mentioned Jaikus in passing but he got a really weird vibe from Ez as soon as he did. What was that about? They were super close. But then, was it any weirder than Jaikus and Emryc having no idea where their son had gone. A lot of this did not make much sense.

Dash opened his mouth to speak, but Ezra was rifling through pages of notes, telling them all he had learned about the place. It had been so long since the Rhinnalian had heard his boyfriend's voice, he just found himself listening, watching as Ez's flushed face got all excited about twin suns and breathable air. Leon spurred him on, testing his hypotheses and unleashing cute little Peetwo into the mix.

Part of Dash just wanted the chance to sit and listen. To just have another hug. But another part of him could not just chill, despite the warmth of everything in front of him. Where they were was a very good question. But why, that kind of needed answering too.

The Rhinnalian caught the energy bar almost unconsciously, blue eyes still watching Ezra. He had been in incredible pain, yet here he was talking about snacks. What was he carrying that weighed so heavy he was desperate to avoid it?

They set off and Dash sidled up to Ez, giving his boyfriend a genuine look of concern and bemusement that he could not miss. He could not help but grab Ezra's hand, taking advantage of his defences being down. "I felt you" he said quietly as they walked "felt something horrible happen to you. It was so real". He swung their joined hands upward, squeezing Ez's fingers "as real as this. I was lightyears away and just a flash of what you're feeling had me on the ground baby".

He paused, his fierce desire to protect Ezra both urging him on and holding him back. "I already know it's terrible" Dash said. "But whatever it is, we're with you".

@Sreeya @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

“Peetwo!” Ezra exclaimed, almost more animated to see the droid than he was to see his boyfriend and best friend. He crouched down by the droid, taking the time to interact with him while he chittered and happily hopped around, “How’ve you been, buddy? You’re nice to Charlie, right?” He asked. The two boys would have to be subjected to waiting around while Ezra had an entire conversation with Peetwo.

He finally rose up, cleared his throat, regained his usual stoic bearing and kept walking. He caught the energy bar and stashed it, “We will need to ration food,” Ezra explained, “I have no idea where a settlement is, if any, and I haven’t seen anything alive this entire time I’ve been here.”

Ezra paused when Dash spoke, chewing the inside of his lip. He should have known that Dash would have felt a lot of what he did. It was a testament to the bond they shared - a bond he was silly to ever doubt. It was exactly what brought Leon and Dash both here. They wouldn’t have found him if there wasn’t a genuine kinship there.

The part Sephi exhaled and stopped walking, turning to face them both. He wasn’t prepared to unravel everything, but it felt as if a bantha was sitting on his chest to not say anything at all. Not when they were yet again endangering themselves for him, “I….I’m connected to a very….very dark Sith,” He said quietly as he looked at them, “Connected by blood…probably among the worst Dark Siders out there…” He trailed off. Ezra Thorne seldom ever looked afraid, but it was there in his eyes now. Clear as day. He was shifting uncomfortably, afraid to speak the name as if it would suddenly summon him. He was almost too afraid to look them in the eye, too ashamed.

@Zay @Alhon

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Ezra and Peetwo’s reunion was sweeter than Leon would have guessed. It always surprised him how childlike and innocent Ezra could get with Droids. Honestly, it was adorable. The little BD unit warbled and twilled apparently filling Ole Jabs in on all the hot droid gossip. Finally there was a little coo. One Ezra would be able to perceive as worry.

Leon’s brow furrowed in thought. Even Peetwo had been worried. The gang, minus one, began to head off. While the two love birds strolled along hand in hand ahead of him, Leon awkwardly followed at a distance that screamed third wheel. He wasn’t really sure what he’d expected when they got here, but there was a lot more action in his imagination. Jayna was there too, but that wasn’t worth sharing. Baudelaire munched on his energy bar. He’d brought a whole box and had a bottle of ration pills. As long as they could find a settlement they would survive.

The Adumarian did his best not to eavesdrop on the couple as they cooed, but again, they were a meter away and this fucking planet didn’t have any ambient sound! Then Ezra faced them and started to fill them in.

Leon’s expression became emotionless as Ezra spoke. His mind began to race as the words fell from Ezra’s lips. Who was this Evil Dark sider? Images of a snarling half mad Sith Master flashed through his mind and he pushed them from his mind. This is no time to hijack my thought process ADD! He thought.

Baudelaire stepped forward and placed a hand on Ezra's shoulder, "I don't care who you're connected to, that doesn't change who you are to me. Nothing you say will change that."

@Alhon @Sreeya

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash stood there frowning, his features contorted so hard they threatened to stay that way. Ez, connected to a Sith? By blood? How was that even possible?

The Rhinnalian was pretty sure he had met Ezra's whole family; Emryc, Jaikus, Jayna. They were silly rich, but none of them were Sith, or even Jedi for that matter. There had been mention of an auntie Tia but she had not sounded anything out of the ordinary. Where was the room for the worst Dark Sider ever?

But Dash could tell Ezra meant it. He looked genuinely on edge as he explained it to them, standing awkwardly and constantly looking down. Again, it was totally out of character and Dash was reminded of an image that only now made any sense.

"The man in the visor" he breathed. He had seen the figure on Ithor and again on Eiram, though always in visions. A shadow that followed his boyfriend, somehow tethered to his soul. "Is it him Ez? Who is he?"

He now felt stupid and self-centred for even thinking he was the cause of Ezra's pain. It seemed it was something even worse, though they still needed so much more to understand. "Leon's right though" he added, meeting eyes with the Adumarian "whoever you're connected to, it's not like it matters. You are still you".

@Sreeya @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra said nothing to their warm sentiments on how it didn’t change anything. How he was still who he was. Nothing felt further from the truth. Instead of arguing, the part Sephi was quiet. It was a tell tale sign that he was withdrawing. Dash’s remark about the visor caused him to jerk up a bit, but he ultimately suppressed it.

“He’s…he’s someone bad,” He said very unconvincingly. That name replayed in his head over and over again. He had never faced the demon, yet even the faintest glimpse he felt were enough to tell him he was a monster. And that monster was his father. Ezra felt sick to his stomach.

“Come on..” He muttered, motioning for the others to start walking. Ezra had no idea how long it might take them to find any civilization and he certainly didn’t find it on his own. He also wasn’t exactly an excellent tracker. All of them met because Ezra was hopelessly lost in a Kashyyyk jungle.

“There’s that river,” He pointed to the spiraling body of water. The water was still and there were no rapids in the river. It was perfectly placid. The lack of wind in the air was still eerie. He started to walk along the river which he started to do just a few hours before the two arrived.

@Zay @Alhon

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon could tell Ezra was starting to detach, so he eased up. He wanted to know who the connection was too, but it wasn’t as important as getting Ezra, and themselves for that matter, off this weird ass planet.

A wave of negative emotions washed over Leon as Dash mentioned the visor. The image of the helmet wasn’t the only thing he saw. The looming shadow. The reflection of a crimson gaze shrouded by dense coalescing shadow. A shiver went down his spine. He couldn’t get that image out of his mind. Even after they’d left Berchest. That figure stayed with him. Hours before Ezra’s disappearance he’d been ripped out of meditation by a flurry of catastrophic images. Fire, ruined buildings, smoke, splintered duracrete, dead bodies clad in simple robes, Jedi. Followed by a keening wail he couldn’t put into words. Then a final image. One figure shrouded in black at the center of it all.

At the time he’d written off as a vision caused by too much spicy food, but now, well, that wasn’t important. He needed to stay focused. The sound of a slowly babbling stream caught his attention just as Ezra pointed it out.

Baudelaire was back and fully with it as they reached the river bank. He could feel Peetwo nuzzling him, the little droid as a damn good service droid, he hoped the other’s hadn’t felt his little trip down memory lane, luckily Ezra was the focus here not him. To Leon’s immense joy, the river had fish. To his chagrin it also had some big ass crabs. Crabs that were pissed to see them step to the water's edge.

One burst from the water shooting at least two meter’s into the air and fired a jet of water at them. The perplexity Leon felt was offset by the plain that blossomed across his arm as the high pressure jet ripped through his tunic and sliced across his arm.

“Ow, fuck! Don’t let it hit you!” he cried, as instinct and training kicked in.

Daybreak was in his hand. The pale yellow blade snapped to life and caught another two jets on the blade. The water hissed as it evaporated instantly on the super heated plasma. Much like the nest of spiders Leon and Ezra came across on Kashyyyk, the crabs burst from the water in mass and began to assault the Jedi.

@Alhon @Sreeya

 

[Dash Pavan]

Ezra was still struggling to talk about it, Dash saw. He was a man of few words on a good day and trying to pull the detail out of him looked like it was causing him physical pain. Leon and him were both trying to give Ez reassurance, but it was obvious it was going to take a while to build him back up from the revelation that had brought him down.

Desperate as he was to understand, to put things right, Dash could not put his boyfriend through more hurt. Not right now. "Ok" he said, swallowing his questions for the moment. He would try to settle for what they did know, and focus on helping them get out of here.

The Rhinnalian followed the two of them along the riverbank, picking up flashes of discomfort not just from Ezra but also from Leon. The Adumarian had looked surprisingly startled at Dash's mention of the man in the visor. Surely the shadowy vision could not be common to them all?

He was about to ask Leon if he was ok when the huge crabs burst out of the river, charging them. Dash had never seen anything like them and they pissed him off in a second. They had gone so much to get here, could they not just have some damn time!

He struck out at the nearest couple before they could clear the shadows, a viscious trail of ice lancing across the water and stopping them in their tracks. The river roiled, its flow momentarily stopped. Dash was already moving, dodging the jets of water and leaping towards Ez. "Let's get up river, leave these fuckers behind!".

@Sreeya @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

He was so perplexed by the crab shooting Leon with a stream of water that he didn’t know whether to be horrified or laugh.

Ezra barely gathered his thoughts before the ridiculous crabs started chasing them, “You know.. I didn’t have to fight a single thing until you guys showed up. Just like Kashyyyk,” He added suddenly. The group could seldom gather together without some catastrophe befalling them.

He looked back at a small group of craps that made it through. Within seconds, he could see the weaknesses in their shells and appendages. The two boys would see several of the crabs abruptly get crushed at once, breaking right along their weak points. It was a gruesome ability, but it had gotten honed as Ezra grew more powerful. How shatterpoint wasn't a dark side power was a mystery.

Cardio was always the bane of his existence. Ezra’s lungs were on fire and he thought he was going to collapse. After a while of running, he finally spotted what looked like huts in the distance. He abruptly stopped running, which would likely cause either Dash or Leon to run right into him full speed. It was a bad habit of his.

“Wait!” He called out, “Barging in never does us any good,” He said, “Leon, can you try and talk to one of them and see what they’re like? We’ll be right behind you.”

He internally thought of Ferrin again. The Pantoran was almost always perfect for bullshitting and smoothtalking on the job. He still didn’t ask why he wasn’t here.

@Zay @Alhon

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

”Hey, you guys think we can eat these?” he asked, brandishing Daybreak and covering the other two while they came up to speed. At this point random bullshit was so prevalent on their adventures that after the shock of pain had settled Baudelaire was cool as could be. Dash’s counter was effective, snarring several crabs in place, they tried to spit their hydro missiles, but it appeared without being able to submerge they only had three shots.

Leon slid in next to Ezra as he chastised them for bringing trouble, Baudelaire laughed, hand extending toward a group of pincer clacking crabs, “And just like Kashyyyk—” the force exploded from his open palm sending the crabs skittering, “—You’d be lost without us!”

Before Ezra could make a comeback, Leon cackled wildly and lept toward a group of crabs trying to reload. As he landed they exploded. Viscera and carapace went flying. He whipped back to look at Ezra, coated in crab guts and said, “You could do that this whole time?!”

Dash called for the retreat and Leon kissed his teeth, “Alright…” he grumped.

A crab jumped at him and Leon punted that little bitch like a bolo-ball, before sprinting off after Dash and Ezra.

He kept Daybreak in hand and covered their backs as they got out of range. After a solid ten minutes of running they slowed, then finally came to a stop. Correction, Ezra came to a stop. Like a dead stop. Like he was running and running hard, then just done. He stopped on a credit. It was so unexpected that a normal being would have slammed directly into his back. Something that Leon had done countless times before. Which would mean that this exact situation was something that he was uniquely prepared for.

Did Leon Baudelaire, rising star of the Jedi Order, unparalleled pilot, and future war hero run right into Ezra with a slimey smack loud enough to make a crab say, “Dayum!!”

You bet your goddamn ass he did.

The two dudes slammed together like two super power magnets. Leon couldn't be sure but he could have sworn they did a flip before hitting the ground. Disoriented and chest heaving, he started to laugh. How were any of them still alive? They got to their feet, Leon spotted the hutt’s and then Ezra asked him to be the front man of their little band.

Leon’s face contorted into an expression that immediately brought into question Ezra’s sanity. Maintaining the same expression he swung his gaze over to Dash who seemed to agree?! A few minutes later Leon was being shoved up to the door while the other two cowered behind him.

“Babies,” he muttered with more pout in his voice than he wanted to admit. What the fuck was he supposed to say, Hai, do you know my lord and savior the force?

For the second time on this mission he internally berated himself for forgetting to call Ferrin. With a final huff he stepped up to the door and knocked… He looked over his shoulder at Dash and Ezra, then shrugged before turning back around and nearly shitting himself. Leon hadn’t realized it, but as he knocked on the door, it had swung inward.

There standing in the doorway was a translucent robed figure.

“Is it time for me to guide you already?” they asked.

“Sorry, wrong hut,” said Leon turning on his heels just about to take off, but the ghost was there now.

“Search me for the answer, know me and know truth,” they said.

Leon was shook, “U-uh, How, I mean I can see through you, how do we search you?”

They laughed, “We are the same you and I, use what we both know.”

Just below the cowl of the figure's hood Leon noticed a smile.

@Alhon @Sreeya

 

[Dash Pavan]

It was a mad sprint to get clear of the crabs. Dash kicked out at a few that got close, opting to run rather than stand and fight. The stupid things were not worth the energy, but his companions had them covered anyway, Leon swinging the glowing saber from Christophsis and Ez loosing another of those shattering attacks. His boyfriend's own Force thing was less flashy than his own, but even more deadly. There was a joke in there somewhere.

Ezra's mention of Kashyyyk did make Dash smile, though he was full square with Leon. "Exactly!" he cried, leaping over a crumpled carapace. "I think we all know who usually ends up saving who!".

The ran for a long time, the long grass streaming past them as they wound their way up river. Dash felt something up ahead before he saw it, slowing on instinct. Ez saw it too, stopping a little too abruptly so that Leon went cannonballing into him. "Watch it guys" he warned, giving them both an appraising look. "You can still just get plain old concussion, Jedi or not". There's no Ferrin here to be dishing out his healing, he thought silently, though he said nothing of the kind.

Ezra selected Leon as chief ambassador and the Rhinnalian was quite happy to stand and watch. It was certainly true that no one could turn the smiling Adumarian away on the doorstep and it would at least give Dash a minute to gather his thoughts.

In the end it was only seconds. Dash didn't even have time to try another quiet word with Ezra before the hut door swung inward and a glowing figure met Leon on the threshold. Dash was briefly reminded of the creature on Mon Cala "looks a bit like old Mr Tentacle" he said to Ez, before drifting closer to the shack.

"Hi there" he tried, waving awkwardly over Leon's shoulder. "Can you tell us like where, this is" he pointed wildly at the plains all around.

The hooded being turned slowly, but did not answer, merely opening its arms. Dash frowned, wondering if it wanted a hug, but he could feel its presence at the edge of his senses. Perhaps by what we both know, it meant the Force.

His eyes fluttered shut for a moment as he stretched out toward the figure with his mind. He felt its own presence reach out in return, gently embracing them all.

_____
​

When Dash opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the grass field. He seemed to be standing in a world of white mist, with nothing immediately visible in any direction. He caught sight of his own hand, then his body, and realised with horror that something terrible had happened.

He couldn't feel it, but he could damn well see it. Somehow, he was naked and on fire.

"GUYS?!!"

@Sreeya @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra was only 50/50 on Leon doing the talking. Unlike Ferrin, Leon could either be delightfully friendly to where a stranger liked it or where they found it instantly infuriating. His sensitive hearing allowed him to listen to the bizarre conversation, “Fuck this, let’s get out -” And then he watched as his boyfriend also waltzed up to do some talking, "Babe!" His hissed to no avail.

Why was he always, habitually, the only one that erred on the side of caution?!

Ezra grumbled to himself, walking over to join the others. He had no desire to be separated now. Unfortunately, he walked in without much context and was shoved right into the plane of the Force. His eyes went white and his head tilted back like the others, all of them thrown into the other realm.

Ezra felt nothing but panic at first, frantically looking around. He heard Dash call out and his heart stopped. Was he on fire?

“DASH!” He called out, running over and realizing he wasn’t actually in pain. It took him a while to realize they weren’t their physical forms anymore. Ezra looked down at himself, realizing that he was ice in humanoid form. However, there were deep cracks in his chest with inky, black marks streaking across them.

“What the hell?” He asked as he looked at his icy hands and fingers. He looked around for Leon, expecting to see an Ewok or Porg.

The guide calmly stood before them, appearing just as they had when they opened the door.

“Only those guided by the Force are led here,” The figure said in an otherworldly voice, “You are in the realms of Mortis,” He slowly turned to look at Ezra, pointing a finger towards his chest, “You carry upon you traces of the Son.”

@Zay @Alhon

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon’s hand was extended defensively as the figure spread his arms. The Adumarian felt himself go limp as his eyes rolled back into his head. Suddenly, his consciousness was hurtling through a plane of existence Leon’s feeble mind could bring itself to contemplate.

His consciousness crashed into what he could only define as water and in his mind's eye he could feel his transformation happening. His form was revealed as the light faded. He looked down and was confused to see that… well he couldn’t really see his body. Where his legs would normally be was a churning cloud system. His hands, chest, and head appeared to be a cloud come to life. He appeared more shadow than human, but as he settled his form would be easier to pick out.

“Hey, for once I’m the flashy one,” he said while throwing Jazz fingers adorned with pops of lightning. His form settled and his outline could be perceived as the shifting clouds clung to his frame. He looked like a Leon shaped cut out of the sky during a thunderstorm. It was pretty dope.

Ezra was cold as ice and to his surprise, Dash was burning hot, “If you guys start singing, I bet we could make a lot of money.”

Leon flinched as the spirit appeared. As they spoke the name of this place the mist around them exploded. Leon was blinded with white mist and blowing wind. By the time he could see again the world around him had come to life. Floating mountains could be seen to their right, verdant luscious forests lay straight ahead, and then to the left they would see a golden molten glow across a smoke filled sky. The ground was uneven or craggy. Just beneath bubbled bright glowing magma.

By the time Leon managed to reign his attention back to the present, their guide was pointing a finger at Ezra. Leon heard the guy say something about a brother being in Ezra? Weird that the force was being a little sus, rn.

Then the finger slid to Leon, “You are bathed in the light, yet you fail to accept it.”

Leon started to deny it, but he knew it to be true. He could FEEL the truth in it. The guide wasn’t judging, he was illuminating them.

Once the guide had addressed all of them he pulled his cowl back revealing ashen skin, piercing unnaturally blue eyes, and a long white beard. His tattered robes transformed into the humble refinery of a priest. His brow was adorned by a simple headdress.

“I am the Father,” he said with a regal incline of his head, “Fate has seen fit to test you, and I shall oblige as proprietor and judge.”


@Alhon @Sreeya

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash calmed down as he realised the fire did not seem to be real. In fact, he was not sure how real any of this was. The coat of flames was flickering merrily, licking his entire body, but he could not feel a thing.

A man carved of ice came running over and Dash knew instinctively that it was Ezra. It was like in a dream, when people had the wrong faces or things were in the wrong place, but you knew their true nature anyway. Even though it was his boyfriend, Dash tried to cover his modesty, before he realised none of them had anything to cover. Finger nails and other fine details were absent from these strange bodies and Ezra's frozen features were only half-recognisable.

"What is this?" Dash wondered, comparing their fortunes "and why am I the one on fire?!".

Leon floated down next to them, taking it a lot better than both of them. Again, Dash just somehow knew the hilarious cloud figure was the cheery Adumarian, even before he spoke. "I guess we'd make one hell of a band" Dash replied, accepting the crazy reality to join in the banter.

The reappearance of the glowing figure put his guard straight back up. Mortis too. Dash had seen the portrait of this place on Lothal and read enough niche texts in recent months to tell him it was not good.

The Father took verbal swipes at Ezra and Leon and Dash now noticed the black scars on his boyfriend's icy chest . "And you" the Father said, now pointing at Dash and holding him fast "both Son and Daughter call to your power. Eventually, you must choose". The Rhinnalian did not know immediately what he meant, but it sure sounded heavy.

There was little time to protest as the scenery all around them seemed to rush inward, forcing its way into focus and reality. Dash thought he felt wind in his hair and the craggy ground beneath his feet. Had they been transported elsewhere, or was this still happening inside their heads?

Up ahead, the elements of this strange world were combining before their eyes, the rock of the mountains and the trees of the forest drawn in, moulded with the gold smoke of the sky and magma from below. Dash was not sure if he saw one figure in that mass, or three, or something else entirely.

But whatever it was, their test was coming.

@Sreeya @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra stared at Dash as he asked why he was on fire, “Probably because you’re the most dramatic..” He intended to say under his breath, but it echoed in an otherworldly way like all their speech. Thankfully, Leon’s absurd appearance provided a nice distraction. They turned their attention back to the guide and he felt his heart sink.

He didn’t know what any of this meant, but this ‘Son’ sounded like bad news. None of this meant anything to him, “Why don’t the Jedi teach us these things?” He asked Leon and Dash, annoyed at his own lack of information.

“How do I get rid of this?” He asked the figure.

There was no response, but the path began to form before them. Trees, mountains, a world long forgotten. Ezra touched the black tar on his chest, tugging at some of it, but it snapped right back onto him.

There were no secrets in this realm. Ahead of them, he could spot a figure that represented Jadis. He saw figures that represented his fathers, both shadows in the way they manifested. For Leon, he would see his family.

Jadis spoke within Dash’s mind, reminding him how much weaker he was to tie himself to the fates of others.

@Alhon @Zay