#jedispe

“Fine, fine!” Ruby shuffled over to the place in question, opening it and side-stepping the mountain of supplies that spilled from its depths. “Sorry, he muttered. He plucked the needed drive from the top, inspecting it as he came back over to Gold, who reached out a hand to take it.

Ruby sat back. “How much longer?”

“Not much-”

Gold’s words were cut off by the sudden flickering of the lights, the exhaust pipe shutting off along with all the other machines in the room. He sat up. “What was-”

“The windows.” Ruby was near them as soon as the words came out, peering into the blackness of the hangar they were cut off from by the plexiglass wall. 

Gold came to stand beside him. It didn’t take long to see a flash of red by what he assumed was the power grid, which explained the sudden lack in the function of all things mechanical. They were, after all, momentarily attached to the bigger ship’s source of power. Or, they were. 

What made him worry, though, was the flash of purple that accompanied it. He took a few more seconds to watch the color beams slam into each other before turning back to the ship. “Two minutes,” he told Ruby. “Cut the connectors.”

He highly doubted she could handle more than that.

--

Sapphire let out an anguished shout of frustration as she was pushed back slightly. 

Her enemy’s lightsaber came for her again, causing her to throw her own weapon up in a vertical position to block, although with much effort. “ ‘m not here to kill people!” she stammered out.

“Good, that makes my job easier.”

“Don’t suppose you’d share the details?” Sapphire grimaced and stepped back a couple steps before running forward and spinning left. He met her almost too easily. 

No response came for her question.

--

Gold climbed into the cockpit, Ruby right behind him, and sunk into a seat. No problem. he just had to ram into a three-foot thick wall of plexiglass. No problem.

At least Ruby was being supportive.

--

Sapphire was thrown back as a deafening blast sounded through the room, echoing over and over again. Not wasting a moment, she got back to her feet and took cover, slinking over to the newly-made entrance the best she could. She locked down her lightsaber, not wanting the light to give her away.

The room was smoke. There was a lockpad next to middle hangar door, and it took but a moment for it to burst apart in a flurry of sparks with a well-placed strike. Soon it didn’t matter that the hole was on the other side of the room -the entire wall lifted up with ease.

Footsteps came from behind her, and Sapph turned  around and shot down her weapon with full force, slamming it into the red saber that seemed to appear from thin air.

The boy grinned up at her. “Running away, hm?”

Before she could reply, a ship -her ship, she realized- flew overhead and out, then promptly turned as the pilot spotted them.

She thrust off, backing up as the boy recovered his footing. Gold was gesturing to her. Oh. They were gonna open the hatch, not the landing hold. Fun.

The ship flew off as she continued her duel.

--

“Ruby, climb up and open the hatch. Help her inside,” Gold ordered the droid. They were arcing, trying to gauge a good point to swoop in. 

“Roger.” The loud metal steps carried off as Ruby went towards the access point. 

Gold turned to watch the two fight for a minute, still deciding.

That is, until a wrong more cost Sapph’s opponent his protection, and his hood was blown back away from his face. Gold felt himself pause.

He was human. Male still, probably, but with longer red hair, like, really red, and wow okay that face-

A lurch made him snap out of it, the nose of the ship dipping. Gold straightened out and began moving forward.

--

She didn’t have time to react.

All she saw was pale skin before he came back at her with full force, stronger than before. They came close and Sapph but her lip from the effort to maintain balance, suddenly finding the lightsaber closer to her face than she would’ve liked. Silver eyes glowered at her, which was the usual, typical response she was used to getting. 

“Get . . . OFF,” she yelled, pushing until she could step back. She was becoming aware of the noises of the ship.

He thrust his hood halfway on, covering up some hair and woah okay that was a vibrant color.

Before he could move again, she stepped to the edge, prayed to whatever god was out there that her timing was right, and threw herself off the edge. Luckily, the ship was right there, and she didn’t lose all her breath on the rough landing.

A tug on her arm made her look up to see Ruby. Slowly, he helped her up and into the ship.

Realizing he was finished, Gold lets himself take in a breath, deeply, through an open mouth. He feels like a soul has been bared, lied out in front of him. But what to do with it, he has no idea. 

It was true that he only knew of one side, really. He’d taken the harshness of the other side and assigned it as bad, as wrong. But he’d also seen the conflict in Sapphire, when she came back with Green. He’d never thought that both sides could be troubling. That the struggle for peace could be paved with such inhumane methods. To shut out your feelings entirely . . that didn’t sound right. To give into them completely, though, didn’t either. 

“It’s not a balance,” Silver says, across from him. “It’s just a warped ideology. It’s just the in-between.”

“I can see it.”

He waits until those grey orbs are fixed on his once again. “Not without struggle, without conflict. But I can-”

Suddenly, those eyes narrow and seem to pierce into his mind. He pauses, thrown off guard. 

“You wouldn’t know,” Silver says, suddenly sounding as old as can be, as weary as possible. Gold has to wonder, briefly, how long he’s held on to this ‘grey-side’ notion. How long he’s questioned everything he knew, and yet still couldn’t find himself turning to the only other side there was.

Then, the redhead’s next words blindsided him.

“As someone so force-sensitive yet still not able to put any of it to good use, you are undoubtedly useless as well.”

The presence leaves his mind, and he feels his head thud back against the wall. Realizing what had happened, and taking into account the rather blunt insult, Gold snaps back up. “What-”

“It’s time I get out of here,” Silver mutters, reaching for the handle of his lightsaber. He holds it straight up and lets it illuminate, sending Gold reeling back only to realize he was in no immediate danger. The saber lit and struck through the box’s upper doors, punching a hole in the metal. Before Gold could voice a complaint, Silver fixes both hands on the hilt and grinds them to the side, attempting to slash an opening.

Gold breathes out, once. Then he fumbles for the hilt at his side. 

Silver works until there’s a decent, sized hole, the reaches up to pry the rest of the side hatch off, the other across still intact. No matter, he only needed out to be able to get out-

He pauses, firmly aware of the glowing presence riding near his neck. The vibrant hum let’s him know, as the air stills. 

Across, Gold lets his eyes narrow to slits. “Put it away.”

Ah. He’d be talking about his- Right. Silver lets his red saber close, reattaching it slowly to his hip. Only then does he notice the hum was gone with it. He looks back up and evaluates. The pilot, holding the girl’s saber, he could only assume. The color was one-of-a-kind. But that was all it was. A colored plasma sword. There wasn’t any other power behind it.

He hisses and screws his face up. “This is what I mean. You have the potential, yet you can’t use it,” he barks, lashing out with his words. “You’re just. Like. Blue!”

Following his words, Silver struck a hand out. Gold had no idea what happened, but suddenly, Sapph’s saber was off, clouding him in darkness again. The light from the ship’s interior above illuminates Silver’s form, his snarl, his wide and darkened eyes. 

He’d had enough. Gold lurches forward and manages to climb over Silver and up through the hull. He throws Sapph’s saber to the far side of the room, then reaches for a button pressed against the wall in front of him. “I think it’s about time you get off my ship,” he spits, fingers punching the button.

Before Silver could react, the hatch beneath them opened. While Gold could grasp the other side of the upper hatch and the floor of the ship in front, Silver wasn’t so lucky. He attempted to attach to the inner walls, but his ground disappeared so quickly he couldn’t regain footing, his lower half dipping beneath him. With a breathy cry, he’s dropped from the box entirely.

Gold gets an arm up over the upper hatch and hauls himself up, shouting for the ship to speed ahead to whoever was piloting. The low-altitude cruising low he’d been experiencing suddenly jolted, and as he tumbles fully into the ship’s interior, they begin to gain speed, sending him to the opposite wall. Then he has a thought. Finding himself unable to pry away from the wall, he screams out his next words, eyes on the open hatch. “Where are we?!”

“Over the capital building, leaving it’s airspace now!” Comes the reply, from Ruby he realizes, thank God. 

So he’d be okay, Gold thinks. At least there was something to break his fall. Then he wishes he could punch himself, still unable to pry his limbs away from his torso. It’d be better if he’d just die already and leave them alone!

But you don’t really think that.

He quits his struggling. No. He didn’t. The haunted look in those silver eyes resurfaces. It had made sense, what he’d said. Plus, he was right about his own sensitivities. They were there. Red had said so himself. But he just couldn’t put them to fruition. Then, he remembers the name that’d been spoken. Blue. He thinks that Crystal had mentioned that name once before.

“Set a course to base,” he calls out, hoping Ruby would hear him. A sudden jolt confirms, and he finds his mind reeling.