deercountry | Winter's quiet grip (Open)

Entry tags:

Winter's quiet grip (Open)

Who: Savage Opress & You
What: Event catch-all
When: Month of December
Where: In Trench, everyone can hear you bleed

Content Warnings: Abuse, threatening a child, borderline slavery, electrocution, impalement.

A. Winter’s Mourning
i. Life lost – 5 years old

[Savage sniffled and wiped his nose on the back of his arm, his silver eyes fixed on the Nightbrother laid out on the woven matts that always smelled liked blood and death. He chewed on his lower lip and suddenly moved from sitting on his calves to pushing himself up onto his knees so he could peer into the older Nightbrother’s pale sweaty face.]

Bruté… come on, wake up. I don’t wanna sleep here…

[Bruté twitched, breath coming slow and wet. There was a strangely wet sucking sound from the Zabrak’s chest where all the cloth was wadded up and packed. There was something wrong with Brute’s orange skin as well; it wasn’t supposed to be so pale and clammy. Just as unusual, Bruté didn’t respond to his nudges and shaking.

Out of all of the Nightbrothers of his clan, Bruté was the one that made the most effort with him, even when he was crying. Despite it being against clan rules, Bruté would sleep close to the door where the kits were supposed to sleep so that Savage could crawl up the stairs and cuddle in with the older Zabrak. The kits kicked and rolled around and Savage was often kept to the outside of the group, but he found warm solid comfort nestled up to Bruté’s chest or back. Now he didn’t make a night without the journey to sleep next to Bruté.

It was his bedtime, and he was tired and cold from watching the older Zabrak wheeze out terribly slow breaths. He didn’t understand the sucking chest wound or the other injuries that came due to a Nightsister during the Selection Trials earlier in the day. He shook Bruté again, hoping to rouse the Nightbrother to go upstairs.

Instead, he gave up and nestled in right there, resting his chin on Bruté’s chest. He ignored the Nightbrother in the doorway keeping vigil; he didn’t like Furious much. He closed his eyes and dozed, shivering because there was no blanket and Bruté wasn’t putting off much, if any body heat.

He hissed when Furious grabbed him by the back of the neck then went still as he was picked up. Instinctively, his arms and legs curled into his body, but more alarming was the complete silence to the room. He squirmed, hissing again and Furious gave him a shake to quiet him lest he wake the kits in the next room.]

To bed, Savage.

Bruté…

He’s dead. [Furious growled deeply at him, causing him to twist to peer up at the Nightbrother. There was something in Furious tone that welcomed him to protest, to fight.] The Trials are no place for crying kits or weaklings. The Sisters won’t accept anything less.

[He peered through the darkness of the room to Bruté’s still body. The smell of blood and death – like the kills brought in for them to help skin and cut up so they could eat – finally registered.

Savage didn’t fight as Furious took him to the next room with the sleeping kits of the clan and deposited him in their piled ranks. He lifted his head to follow Furious’ movements out of the room, ears picking up the main door opening and several Nightbrothers entering. He picked at his lower lip with fingers as the Brother’s carried and dragged Brute’s body from the house.

He crawled to the door and peered after them, shrinking back when Furious came to stand blocking the way. He watched the older Nightbrother sink to a crouch in front of him, Furious’ glowing golden eyes pining him before a finger jabbed him in the shoulder.]

Bruté did a disservice coddling you. If he’s lucky, he’s with the Fanged God, and you… t’sh, it’s only a matter of time before you become a crybaby again. [Furious leaned in close, bearing sharp teeth where he could see them.] I will bite your throat out if I have to listen to months of crying. I don’t care which Sister you crawled your way out of.

[Furious left him there after that, and he shivered in the doorway. He didn’t understand death well other than that death meant they would eat. He picked at his lower lip again then crawled over to the spot where Bruté had died, curled up in the drying blood pool left there and waited until morning.]

ii. Life changed

[Savage stood in the courtyard and stared warily of his Master. They had been practicing deepening his connection to the Dark Side for the last hour, and his armour was still smoking from the last barrage of Force lightning that had assaulted him. His limbs gave faint shivers from the electricity that had washed over him and still bit at the air around him.

He had regained his feet and Darth Tyranus waited with a cool indifference as he gathered himself and eased his weight so that he was standing at ease.]

Again. [The lesson continued.

He concentrated on his connection to the Dark Side which felt seething with his anger and frustration, hampered by his discomfort of failure. He set a fist to his forehead, focusing on the feel of it as he gathered up the Force in as tight of a strangle hold as he could, wrangling it to do his will. He released a breath as he extended the hand from his forehead outwards so that he could feel the air around the massive stones but also beyond them, one of the transport ships. He’d show his Master. He’d would fail.

The rocks swayed, rumbling against each other and then all of them lifted from their pedestals and rose into the air. Beyond their direct training area, the transport carrier creaked on its landing gear and began to rise, wobbling in the air but also rising. He dug deep into his hatred, using it to harness the force.

Suddenly his Master was on the move, launching forward and drawing what he knew to be Tyranus’ lightsaber. The red blade lit into existence, coming straight for his face, and instinctively, he howled and lost part of his concentration. The stones slammed to their perches and the transport lurched and landed heavily, but more than that, his other hand swung up as if to deflect the red blade.

Like a bubble bursting, the Dark Side blew out from him, overwhelming his Master’s defenses and sending the old man flying backwards into the bushes. He blew out a breath between his teeth, belatedly taking a step forward as if to check on his Master.

Lightning arched out from the bushes to send him staggering, a yell of pain and surprise ripping from his lips as he collapsed and gripped his head. It was only a short burst this time. His teeth chattered from the electricity, and he slowly lifted his head to watch his Master approach.]

Why did I electrocute you, Savage?

Master…? [It was hard to get the word out.]

The first time was because you let your guard down. If you focus too much of the Force in one area, you are not keeping up your defenses and will be cut down. And the second time…

[Savage stared at his Master’s red eyes, and he set a hand to the ground to push himself to his feet to withdraw. The second burst was coming right… now. He went down gritting his teeth, shuddering and shaking as lightning rolled over him.]

The second was because you have no reason to show me any concern, but you have shown explosive uses of the Force more than once now. Good. [Tyranus stepped in front of him as he gathered himself to sit back into a crouch.] Gather your things, my Apprentice. I have an assignment for you.

iii. Life Gained - Future Never Seen

[Savage approached the Nightsister conclave with a seeming flagrant disregard for tradition, skirting old piles of destroyed droids that were long covered in red dirt. He moved with an tension that was more instinctual than accurate of the situation, and he dragged a dead young rancor behind him. Older and far more rugged looking, he walked without hurry to the gaping entrance of the seemingly empty conclave of the Nightsisters.

Suddenly there was a squeal of delight, then a second following suit. A six-year old pale Zabrak ran full tilt from the shadowy depths of the stone, her silver hair flying as she covered the distance. Her four-year-old sister followed suit, hopping up and down with skinny arms raised in a much slower approach. He didn’t break stride, but a snort of pride sounded from him.

The elder girl wrapped her arms around his left leg and hopped up to stand on his foot so he would take her back the way that she had come.] Sire! What did you bring back?

Sire! Sire! Sire! [The four-year-old chanted, still hopping until he was in range then followed her sister’s antics and latched onto his right leg. He came to a stop to allow her to find his foot before he slogged his way forward with his kill and his two kits.]

It’s just a rancor. We’ve eaten one before.

Was it a hard fought battle, sire? [The six-year-old was at the age of wanting to know combat details.]

Sire, Mother is in a bad mood.

Mother is always in a bad mood. [Savage rolled his eyes as he entered their home and he tossed the rancor to the side to deal with once he had managed to keep the kits from clinging to his legs. It was unconventional for any female Sisters to have anything to do with their sire, but these were unconventional times. The only other Nightsister clans were on the other side of the planet and the only Nightsister here hadn’t even been raised with tradition.

Ventress approached, sneering at him before basically tossing the squirming toddler into his arms brusquely. He took the kit without complaint before reaching out to catch the Nightsister’s arm. Then he dared to lean in and nip at her temple, adding a nudge of his nose. Only then did she soften very slightly, but she gave him a shove on the shoulder anyway.]

The girls are yours. I have a bounty to follow up on. It will take me a week, maybe more.

The ship is supplied, but you should take it for a tune up. The landing gear has been sticky. [He was distracted by the toddler grasping at his face, bubbling merrily and drooling. She was teething and usually cranky. At least the toddler had an excuse where Ventress was just… Ventress.]

Fine. Don’t kill the children.

[The kits at his legs were shoving each other and giggling.] You always have a higher chance of offing them than me.

[She smirked, basically agreeing. After all, she often left him to the rearing and went off world for bounty hunting, which was a system that worked.] Girls, be terrible for your sire.

Yes, Mother. [That was chanted and that was as close to an affectionate as any parting would get. Ventress walked off with not even a single look backwards.

Savage tipped his head to grasping fingers at his chin. Life after a near death experience was good.]

B. Run, Rabbit, Run
i. Hunted
[Hunting beasts was made far more difficult when one had to compete with a wide assortment of traps laid out. Even then, the forest itself seemed to try to grasp at him as he pushed through, and he ripped his way through more than a few bushes. Foliage and displaced snow dusted his armour, and he had used enough traps on Dathomir to avoid many of the man-made ones.

He was in the process of hunting down a beast that had been roaming the outskirts of town and headed into the forest. He was closing in on what looked like some kind of canine – didn’t people call them wolves here? – and even if he was keeping an eye out for traps, he still found his situation rapidly changing when the ground beneath his feet suddenly lurched and woven sticks buckled under his weight.

He dropped into the pit trap, snarling in pain as his leg became impaled on a spear of sharpened wood that had been placed inside. Green blood flowed and began aerosolizing immediately, not that it stopped him from hobbling on his good leg and recklessly ripping his leg off of the wood spear with a renewed snarl.

He had no medical supplies, but he was so tall that he could hobble over and grasp the edge of the pit trap and start to haul himself out of it, smearing his vileblood as he went.]

ii. Trapped

[Having began to sweep to kill any and all of the undead animals that seemed to find their way to him, Savage was working his way through the fringes of the woods as he headed back to town. He heard a crack of wood and something that sounded like rope on bark. A trap had been set off, and while he normally wouldn’t bother to concern himself with the matter, it was on his way.

He stopped as he found himself looking up at what looked like a net with something – or someone – inside of it.]

You can cut yourself down, right?

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You're doing great.

[She wants to be encouraging.

But he's right. They should get moving.

After a moment of careful consideration, she selects the next tree, nodding her head toward it. They'll have to jump together, to stay within the diameter of his sphere.]

Ready?

[He grunted, unable to spare too much attention to speaking. They could and should move, and that's what he was focused on. The encouragement was also strange, since he hadn't had it much since he had gained a larger body.

He still held an hand above his head, as if holding up the dome of energy where birds scratched and shrilly cried in an attempt to get at them.

He noted the tree that Ariadne had selected and shifted his weight to be positioned for it.]

On the count of three, we jump. [He would let her count and once the number three came up, he jumped to the next tree and the dome of energy shrunk for a few moments before he put it back to rights before they could sustain any damage from their pursuers.]

[Fortunately, that's one of the rare figures of speech she knows.]

One! Two! Three!

[She jumps positioning her body to land as close to him as possible. It's not the prettiest maneuver, but if it works, it works. They're not in a tumbling competition.]

Okay. Okay. That worked. We can do this. We can make it work.

[They made the successful jump the both of them, and it seemed they could keep their balance. So it was possible they could make it if his strength and concentration held.]

Next tree then. I can hold it for now.

[There was plenty of emotion to tap into, but he wasn't going to risk a lapse in concentration if he could help it.]

You can do anything you set your mind to.

[And she really means it. For better or for worse, Ariadne practices what she preaches and preaches what she practices. Which includes optimism.

Sorry, Savage.

She scans the trees quickly, before picking out the next one. It's...a bit longer a jump. But they can do it.]

That way! One! Two! Three!

[It was very strange to have someone who was not Feral believe in his ability so easily. For him, it was almost unnerving, but now was not the time to try to unpack her confidence in what he was doing.

Too many years of again and more room for improvement to build him up. Unachievable goals for physical growth.

He growled in agreement at her choice of tree, and he waited for her countdown as he prepared himself and made the jump. He couldn't spare the Force energy to enhance his leap, so it was all his physicality. He landed heavily, wavering in his balance but this time he maintained the shield better.]

[Ariadne lands with ease. And without even thinking about it, she reaches out to grab Savage's arms, to steady him.

He's protecting her. She owes him the same. And probably more.

It's just her way.]

All right?

[Her grip provided him with a means to steady himself and keep the energy sphere in place as a few more birds and two squirrels launched at them. They scrambled for purchase on the energy but were repelled enough to not be able to do more than leap, fall or fly away.

He nodded his head at her question.]

Yeah. Getting fatigued. [Which made him angry and that helped him support his grip on the Force that kept them safe.]

Just a few more trees.

[She has no idea if that's true or not, but she's hoping it'll help him hold on.

And if he can't, they'll deal with it.

She gives the birds the dirtiest look she can manage, before turning back to the landscape, picking out another tree.]

That one. One! Two! Three!

[He was staring ahead, trying to judge the distance, but the trees and the snow that bogged down the branches made it difficult to ascertain how far they had yet to go. It was better to concentrate on what they had going for them now jumping tree-to-tree.

He focused on the tree in question, waiting for her countdown before gathered the strength of his legs to jump the distance. He made it and the energy continued to hold. He was starting to breathe harder, bowing a little where he stood.]

[Ariadne jumps with him, reaching out to grab his shoulders the second she has purchase, regardless of whether or not he's struggling.

Well, he is struggling. But it's with the unseen magic she'll never fully understand. The Force.

Really feels like a fancy word for telekinesis, as far as she's concerned.]

If you don't think you can hold on, it's okay. We're going to be okay.

[While he didn't waver, her being closer to him meant that he could let the energy collapse a bit in size and both of them would still be contained in it. He still twitched a little under her touch even as he kept his focus.]

We're... almost there, right?

[He still couldn't see the town, but he sense the stronger pull of life. Which was very, very absent around them aside from trees and plants. All the animals following below and around carried no sense of life to them.]

We're so much closer than before.

[Her tone is soothing and even. She's not going to lie to him. They still have a journey. But she doesn't want to sound discouraging.

Anyway, she's an optimist, what can she do?]

And look, the next tree is lower. It's not so much jumping as falling. Gravity will do all the work.

So let's go. One! Two! Three!

[He understood that closer than before didn't mean that they were going to make their destination quickly. But it meant that they were still making progress. That was enough motivation.]

After we make this jump, I'm going to need to come close. I want to try something to get us further along.

[He concentrated on what they were doing, eying the jump and following their usual pattern as he waited for the countdown before making the leap. He landed heavily, keeping the energy in place for now.]

[She tries to save him the trouble, landing on one side of the tree and immediately swinging herself around to his side.

It implies a sense of trust. Because he's never given her reason not to trust him.

Even if Maul...kind of has. A person is not the sum of his siblings. She should know. She had nineteen.]

[His mechanical prosthetic dropped as she pivoted within his reach, and he dragged her against her as he dropped the shield of energy so he could push them off the current tree. He used the Force to enhance his jump height and distance, and his flesh arm rose to protect his face from whipping tree branches as they passed through them.

He managed to line up a jump by virtue of spending almost all of his younger years jumping, climbing and rolling around. He landed on a branch that creaked and bowed under his weight in particular, but they had covered a significant distance.

He moved to throw up the energy sphere again, breathing hard and looking towards where the edge of town was peaking through several trees further ahead.]

[Ariadne tucks her face against his shoulder, doing the unthinkable and shutting her eyes, letting him have full control. It isn't easy for her. The trees are her domain and she's used to navigating them at will. But it's also a signal of trust. She trusts Savage and her trust clearly isn't misplaced, since they cover a considerable amount of ground, when she dares to open one eye.]

Amazing!

[Considering he's never done this before, she can't help but be impressed.]

You're incredible, Savage!

[It was good that she held some manner of trust in him for something like that. He hadn't bothered to explain what he was doing, so used to just doing things to compliment his brother that he didn't think explaining was necessary.

Force jumping through trees was easier, something he had done many times, but the sphere of energy was still taxing.

He released her once he was certain they were both balanced, nodding his head at her enthusiasm. That was not a normal reaction to things he did. She always miffed him.]

We should take advantage of the distance before all the creatures catch up....

[She nods.]

You can let down the barrier. We'll take it easy as long as we can. And I can cover your back while we're moving.

[It's only fair. He's been doing all of the hard work. She needs to take over, let him recover. And given the distance they just covered, she's quite satisfied that they're going to make it back to the village.

Of course, there's the possibility that the animals won't be shy about following them. But at least there will be other people.]

[He considered for a moment before he released the energy sphere. It was easier to move around with not having to constantly concentrate on it.]

We shouldn't linger long at all. We know we will be hunted.

[Now he didn't need to wait for Ariadne's instructions for picking and jumping to trees. They could theoretically move far more swiftly.]

I'll bring up the rear. Let's get back to town.

[If a branch snapped under his weight, he wouldn't have to worry too much about her as she was nimble and quick in the trees.]

[Is it chivalry or machismo that makes him want to bring up the rear? She's not entirely sure, but she isn't going to argue. There's a time and place for that.

That time and that place is not stuck in a tree, being hunted down by dead birds.

So she nods, and coils up the energy in her muscles, before leaping to the next tree. There she'll wait, unwilling to get too far ahead of him.]

[Savage let her get a tree ahead of him before he followed. He picked and chose his branches as much as he could. Nearing town, he even snapped one with his weight and dropped several feet to a far more sturdy branch. He was undeterred and continued to cross the distance as the underbrush stirred with creatures that had become aware of them.]

We need to pick up the pace again.

[When he drops, Ariadne immediately reaches out for him. Pure instinct. But he manages to catch himself and she hopes that she hasn't bruised his ego too much, offering the help.

Snarly males can be funny that way.

But the noise in the underbrush is enough to keep her from dwelling on it too much. She gives him a nod.

And immediately jumps to the next tree. Although she waits for him before moving on. Just in case.]

[He looked at Ariadne, noting how she had reached for him. He issued a low chuff in response, a sound some might associate with appreciation. She was far too good of a person to be involving herself with him and trying to protect him.

He again waited until she had jumped before following suit, picking thicker branches that were close to the main body of the trees. No breakage this time.

They fell into a rhythm it seemed. Jumping, checking on each other then jumping again. Over and over until the walls of town came into sight. The underbrush grew far more sparse in the process and their pursuers also seemed to wane in interest the closer to town their drew.]

[Even if she doesn't have the best grasp of the possibilities for the situation, Ariadne eventually deems them at least somewhat out of danger. So with a little nod to Savage, she jumps down from their current tree, landing in a neat squat on the ground. There are houses not too far away. And the smell of dead animals has lifted.

Probability seems to indicate that they're safe.

Or, well, whatever passes for safe in Trench.]

That was...

[She pauses, standing up.]

I don't know what that was. Are you all right? Do you need a healer?

Winter's quiet grip (Open)

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