#sensedechoes

“He’s still alive, you know,” she said, when she felt Kestis hovering nearby. Even now, she hesitated to say his name ------- as if breathing life into the words would conjure those ghostly breaths, the harbinger of his presence. “I’m sure by now you realize you can’t fight someone like him.” Trilla turned to face the Jedi, to offer for perhaps the first time a bit of honest advice. “Your only hope is running. As long as it takes. As far as it takes.”

I don’t mind being alone. I’ll be okay, I promise. Blake had assured her and she could feel Leia’s eyes burning into her back as she climbed into her ship. A gaze she didn’t have to see to know that Leia didn’t believe her, but she didn’t press the subject further. Her parting words to Blake were May the Force be with you. 

Truth be told, Blake didn’t like being alone. She’d never been alone in her life. She’d always had someone in her life looking out for her, someone she had a connection with, and now she didn’t have that anymore. Ben was too far gone into the dark side, Luke was gone. 

Sure, Rey was her friend and those in the Resistance cared about her but even when she was around them, she still felt alone. Alone and in pain. 

That’s why she insisted on going alone, despite hating it. It gave her a chance to let out the emotions that she kept bottled up. Emotions she didn’t want to worry the others with. They had far more important to do than worry over her, she needs to be strong around them. 

Blake had been so lost in her own mind that she didn’t realize that Artoo had been talking to her, till she felt a sharp pain in her leg. “ Ow ! Artoo, what the hell !? “ She frowns at the droid, who just beeped back at her, before directing the light he had towards the wreckage they’d been investigating. Normally, she would overlook a wreckage when scouting a foreign planet but there was something in the wreckage that was pulling her. 

Something in the Force. 

“ What did you find ? “ She ventures forward and ignites her saber, using it as a light to illuminate the area around her. The pull was getting stronger, pulling at her soul like a rubber band, tugging tighter and tighter as she moves closer. Blake follows the pull through the wreckage, using a slight push to clear the way until she finally stumbles across what she was being pulled too. A poor soul stuck in carbonite. 

“ Holy hell ... Artoo, shine the light over here ! “ She instructs the droid before moving around the block of carbonite to try and free the poor boy. “ Hold on ... I’ll free you. “ She whispers, even though he couldn’t hear her. She presses down the release switch and the carbonite slowly heats up. The red light illuminates Blake’s worried face, hands outstretched, ready to catch the man once he’s freed from the frozen confines. 

      ☆                  coruscant is beautiful. with the endless lights of a planet that is entirely urban, buildings a mile high rise from the streets, and there is constant activity. it is a planet that never sleeps and eternally bustling. and at this time the sun is setting, and the glow of city lights blink into existence in front of a dazzling golden-orange sky.

                                                              ------ and rey is running late.

            supposed to be filled with wisdom and a powerful sense of grace, the young jedi knight instead is rushing down the hall, cloak flowing behind her as she dashes around others in the temple corridor, ushering in quick and countless apologies and excusing herself past masters and padawans alike. hazel eyes bright and wisps of soft brown hair falling loose of their ties, she shakes her head and lets it fall around her shoulders --- she doesn’t mind, she can fix it later.

                                                  “ young lady -- ! ” an exasperated voice calls out to her but she’s already rounded the corner, waving her hand dismissively. she knows her behavior is unruly, she doesn’t care.

              her heart beats quickly in her chest --- half because of adrenaline and the thrilling dash across an entire building full of people, and half because she’s just returned from a mission and is more than excited to reconvene with a close friend. as she rounds a corner she slides across the floor, coming to a stop in front of a door that leads out onto a landing. stopping for a moment, chest and shoulders heaving, she smiles in delight. she allows her heart to settle a bit, calming herself, and opens the door to step into the cooling evening air.

              with a dazzling gleam in her hazel eyes she approaches him, taking a few short steps before bounding into him throwing her arms around him in a warm embrace.

            “ cal! ” she’s breathless, pulling back from him and blinking a couple times rapidly. “ i’m so sorry i’m late, those diplomacy meetings were disastrously boring and i’d hardly count what we did as a ‘mission’. the whole time i couldn’t help but think about coming back to coruscant and seeing --- ” her voice falters, falling short of the sentence she was about to complete. shrugging, she simply smiles, emending her thought before allowing herself to finish. “ --- seeing and being home. ”

        ROBBERY WAS nothing exceptionally new to him. contrary to the teachings of a forgotten master - eradicated, consigned to oblivion - oz had made a living by cheating others out from their own possessions. sneaking aboard ships to loot them while no one was looking, then scurrying away and taking off in his own once a few valuables found a new home in his pockets; running from one location to the next, always searching for the next opportunity to make it big... ah, he was a pisspoor example of a jedi, wasn’t he?          well, at least he was alive. surely the old masters would have been proud of him for accomplishing that herculean feat, seeing as how everyone in the known galaxy seemingly wanted him dead.          a haul opened up before him, and an opportunistic one at that. it had been fifteen minutes, if that, since his own ship had run out of fuel: without warning (or so he would claim, having neglected the flashing lights for the past few days due to his primary occupation of falling asleep in the midst of jumps), his vessel had begun to plummet. he considered himself lucky to have found a decently hidden spot to force it down at, masked beyond a wall of overgrown vegetation and near destroyed ruins, and luckier still that the general area was vastly unpopulated. beyond a few creatures lurking around in their own homes and a few small structures that had been left by whatever civilization died off on the mossy terrain, it was empty - which became both a blessing and a curse during his wait. he could have sent a signal, but the wrong receiver would doom him to the same fate as his teacher.           that, of course, led to one of two options: either he found a way to get off the planet, or he died in its maw.           once the new arrival settled in his vision, the latter option became thankfully obsolete.           he had watched, careful and cautious, just as observational as his master had taught... and approached when it appeared to be empty. slipping through the hatch had been the easy part, his saber clicking back and forth, a miniature and square droid no larger than a thumb-tack unsteady on his shoulder.           ❝ relax, ❞ oz murmured, keeping his posture low. his steps were feather-light, the would-be protector taking notice of the large layout of the ship. residential? likely. ❝ just have to get to the controls and get this thing started, a’ight? won’t be an issue, si. just gotta get off this shitty planet... i’ll pour one out for the guys left behind. that make you feel better? ❞ given the droid’s silence, it likely didn’t. granted, oz had never flown something of the ship’s caliber before, and he would have been cosigning several others to the fate that he had managed to avoid, but a jedi had to look out for himself.           especially when masked fucks already want me dead. 

“I’M TOLD CARBONITE SICKNESS can take its toll on the mind, as much as it does the body.” Han had been encased less than a year, and the symptoms lingered ------- she couldn’t imagine the shock, the loss, of stolen DECADES. “This must seem overwhelming.” Folding herself into the empty seat beside him, Amilyn offered a cup of tea. Not Gatalentan tea, but warm and aromatic nonetheless. 

         bogano had been the only place it had known for so long. walking the endless landscape, the droid never really imagined a life off the planet. and then came cal and cere and greez. AND THE GALAXY! the little droid spent all the time it could looking out the viewports of the mantis, soaking in the sights of the stars. to a less analytical eye, the stars might all start to look the same, but to db-1 each one was a wonder. which was why, it guessed, cere made mention when it hopped away from the viewport, going instead to bother cal, sitting on the human’s chest while he was trying to sleep. ( db-1 hadn’t quite gotten a grasp on the concept that humans had to power down to recharge )

            ‘ beep beep twiiiirl. ‘ hey, cal, can i see your light stick? 

           ❛ do you know how many jedi I killed back in the clone wars? ❜   it was a question maybe he shouldn’t have asked right off the bat, but since his helm was off? since he couldn’t hide behind the mask? he supposed revealing a small portion of who he truly was would suffice... if only because he knew it would come up either way.  ❛   and how many were sent after me so that maybe one day i could have a trial for my crimes?  ❜

                       the one thing a person does not expect, under any circumstance, is to find another being encased in carbonite.

            the universe only knows how long the poor soul had been there -- frozen, completely and utterly incapacitated beyond release. it had been a shock to rey, her hands trembling as they reached out to touch the hardened surface, dust settled atop it and in the corner of an overrun basement. she’d been searching for   𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔   , not people.

      her heart lept in her chest as she touched the cool metallic. the force seemed to burn at her fingertips, a   𝑙𝑖𝑔𝘩𝑡𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔    energy surrounding her in waves she was unfamiliar with. but she knew, she knew that the force wanted her to reach out, to press the sensors on the side, and to rescue this soul lost to time. and so she did, and in minutes the form of a man soon became the body of one, with soft tresses of fiery hair and and a cold pallor to his skin. she was unsure of what to do -- would he awaken? his features were so soft, like sleeping, he’d made no verbalization upon the fall to the floor that she had jumped forward to stall, hoisting up seemingly dead weight. flesh warm from the reheating, but was it enough?

                        presently, she sits in a crisp room on the   𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒏   . the ship being piloted, she stares at the body, worry in the small lines of her brow, hazel eyes deeply blazing and searching for all signs of life. there’s something about him, the force flows strongly, like ebbing waves between them. what is it that the force wants her to know? why was she brought to his location, how was he trapped, and for how long?

           she pushes stray strands of hair behind her ears, shoulders hunched, slowly turning downward and glancing off. though, as her mind drifts  .  .  . .  𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡   . a twitch, she sees, and color having returned to his face. her fingers drift ahead of her, leaning in, and touching his neck. stronger pulse. a heavier, rhythmic breathing. rey’s heartbeat jumps, chest pounding. her hand slowly, slowly begins to recede as her eyes widen      --      he awakens.