Vaylin Tirall

Pretending to sleep, she had actually fallen to sleep. She was oblivious of the world which was around her, completely oblivious of the man who woke up only moments afterward and picked her up in his arms.

His arms were warm, soft and comfortable. Silence had taken on her mind where she had once heard dry winds, sinister voices and felt herself being deprived of what it meant to be human.

Her sense of will was returning to her. She was no longer locked away, she was no longer prisoner. She would no longer be caged again. She smiled in her slumber, her arms lulling with the movement as she was carried like the Princess she was.

Clank, clank, clank.

The soft hum of the Scimitar could be heard as the life support was keeping the ship heated overnight. The sound of the airlift opening and swishing closed, made her squeeze her eyelids slightly in disturbance. Another door opened, much quieter than before. Suddenly she felt something soft beneath her head, her eyes opened partially. She felt something on her chest, a figure loomed over her.

Quickly her heart began to pound. She found herself in a confined sleeping compartment, but the door was open. She was cornered by warm hands and a handsome pair of eyes. Her lashes created an illusion of a bokeh effect.

She was too tired, withdrawn. She could barely move as she felt the front of her dirty vestments being undone. Her torso was soon bare, followed by her feet, legs and nethers. She breathed shallowly, playing the part of a sleeping opossum. She was afraid, despite the kind, slow and gentle movements.

Her sparse chest raised shakily, her eyes blinking slightly only open enough for her to see, using her lashes to make it appear they remained closed.

His finger tips graced and kissed her bare visible ribcage, her flat stomach. Vaylin was innocent in the sense that she had been imprisoned and had never been touched in this fashion. She had seen atrocities committed to steel her, to place fear in her heart. She had been tortured and maimed. She was never granted or allowed death.

Yet as she felt his touches, she took in a sudden sharp inhale. It was clear he already knew she was awake, he had a lack of reaction. His hand instead moved down to her hip and continued down to her knee, and to her small dainty feet.

She couldn't focus, her use of the force before during her fit made her weak in mental constitution. The touching, while it felt interesting, didn't help at all.

She went to bend one of her legs, to prop it up slightly, yet felt a incorporeal weight push it back down flat on the bed. Her eyes fluttered open further, trying to keep herself awake. She took in more of his features. The ocean green eyes, the messy hair. She moistened her lips as they were clearly dry, having not had much to drink in days.

Her throat was dry, it felt like it was about to rip due to how cracked it was. It was as if she had swallowed a desert whole. When she tried to speak, there was barely a squeak comparable to a mouse.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." His voice echoed in her mind and in the real world. Some sort of telepathic connection? She reached up to touch his abdomen as he traced his hand up her side.

Vaylin grasped at his torso and squinted up at him, gripping as hard as she could as if asking what he was doing, why she had been undressed by him. He seemed to simply look down at her for a few moments before his hand traced up her neck and to her cheek where his hand would rest. He caressed her now dry red eyes.

That's when she noticed there was a pile of clothes that resembled her old ones. Except they were a brilliant warm white and black. She stared at them for a few moments after lifting her head off the bed. Though he managed to place two fingers on her forehead after moving his hand from her cheek and pressed her head back down.

"We have less than a month before we go into battle," He leaned down with his face close to hers, a patient smile across his lips. "We are going to assist the Jedi, and I need you in tip-top shape."

Vaylin hadn't been necessarily trained properly other than the sparring with the Knights of Zakuul. So she knew how to use a staff in battle, and she had immense prowess with the use of the force. That in itself, could be useful in turning the tides against Darth Maul. This would also spare Qui Gon Jin, which was Valad's idea from the very beginning.

Her hand fell lax on the bed, her eyes dully watching him, scrutinizing him.

Valad was just looking over her for the time being, his eyes looking at every inch, taking in everything. The ritual tattoos looked amazing, despite how much pain they had once caused. He took out a pair of boxers from the pile, they were skintight and seemed to have 'cooling' technology integrated into them. As he slipped them down her legs, she almost immediately arched her back at the feeling of them being fitted upon her.

Her mouth opened as if she were to moan, but of course nothing came out. Her eyes remained on him the entire time however, one of her lids twitching in the process.

"If we were to one day return to Zakuul, would you take it for yourself?" Valad asked as his eyes flickered to her, as her eyes had been on him the entire time.

She slowly shook her head, she wanted nothing to do with Zakuul or her father's Empire. She was free, that was all that mattered. She almost looked like she was about to start crying again, she didn't stop shaking her head until he placed a finger on her forehead.

Instead of putting her white torso garments on, he would prop her up against the cold metal which made a shiver run throughout her body, involuntarily from the thermal shock. Her mouth gaped open, her jaw shaking lightly.

Moments later she felt the use of the force being used, a sweat smelling steam found its way beneath her nose. She took in a deep breath, the moisture coating her throat and causing her to cough softly. Still, the coldness of the metal wall made her shiver subtly.

Her eyes glanced down at the item which had been brought to her, now held in the hand of Valad's. She stared down at the dark brown liquid, took in several more deep breaths, followed by suppressed coughs.

Gently blowing on it a few times, Valad would bring the mug to her lips and tilt her head back with his freehand.

The warm-hot liquid made her mouth explode into a saliva wonderland. There was plenty of water in whatever had been given to her. The sugar revitalized her senses merely with its presence. Yet she was too unfocused to even raise her arms with strength.

The liquid trickled down her throat, warming and softening the once dry desert with a moist sensation. She felt the warm feeling travel all the way down to her stomach. Every few seconds she would focus on this feeling, memorize it, savory it.

What he had given her was hot chocolate, mixed with peanut butter and nutrient paste rations that had been reduced to powder.

The cold metal wall no longer bothered her, within thirty minutes her mental constitution began to return. Valad then straddled over her lap and placed both sets of fingers on her forehead, while keeping her thumbs right below her eyes.

Revitalizing energies would be forced into her, yet again something she had never felt before. The energies were coursing through her, what was weak was now fortified. She gripped and ungripped her fingers around the fabric of her pants.

She turned her lips in and out, moistening them softly as if having applied lipstick. She took in a cool breath, "Wh-why, did you not not put my shirt on?" She hadn't directly conversed with anyone in years. If she had, she usually watched those she had grown attached be ripped apart in front of her.

She felt afraid to speak, afraid of a response, but she still tried to conquer it.

"I wanted to see them for a little bit longer," Valad responded with a nonchalant tone.

Her eyes wandered over to her arms, then down to her chest and stomach. There wasn't much to look at in her opinion, so what did he mean by that? Looking back up at him as she felt the power to revilization cease, she blinked a few times.

Their lips had been suddenly smashed together. He had stolen her first, just like that. His hands moved down from her forehead and grasped her cheeks.

Her face was turning red, her eyes were confused. She felt like her body was about to overheat and explode. 'What's going on!?' were her only thoughts as her hands slowly reached up and grabbed at collar of his muscle shirt. Nervously trying to nudge him off, he wasn't budging.

"Mmmm..." Vaylin failed to speak against his lips, his hands making it hard to move her jaw. Suddenly she let out a shockwave, which rippled through the air from her body.

Valad was quick, but not quick enough. As soon as he broke the kiss he found himself pinned against the wall adjacent to the one she had been propped up against. Since she had not let go of his shirt, it had literally been torn right off of him, at least the front of his shirt was.

Vaylin was now on all fours, her legs beant beneath her and her hands on the mattress. Her blue eyes were narrowed in on him, her shoulders were rapidly raising and falling with her panting breath. Her face was almost darker than that of a crimson Zeltron.

However just as she went to reach for the shirt, Valad had used his resistance against the force to break her hold and land on his knees in front of her.

"Couldn't resi–" Valad felt a heavy blow from the back of her hand, his neck made a cracking sound as his head twisted to the side. Rolling his jaw slightly, he caressed his cheek and the back of his neck with his hand. "I deserved that."

Once he believed they had calmed down, he held out a hand to her to shake. "My name is Valad, it's nice to finally meet you Vay–" He was cut off as he felt her teeth sink into his palm and the back of his hand. She had taken his index finger's knuckle into her mouth as she hugged the shirt he neglected to put on her to her chest.

"Only one cup of hot chocolate, and you're already hyper." Valad let out a light sigh, moving his finger to caress her cheek with its tip. Ignoring the pain, he pulled himself and her out of the sleeping compartment and into the ready room of the Scimitar.

"Would you rather me put you back?"

Immediately her brows furrowed and her jaw unlocked from around his hand. She took a few steps away from him and hugged the shirt closer to herself. There was a visible frown on her lips.

"This is extortion," She muttered as she felt him tug the clothes out from her hold and hold them open for her to put them on.

Valad initially ignored her comment as she put her arms through the sleeves and he fixed up her attire. His hands then rested around her neck, casually. "You're the one who bit me," He closed one eye and looked at her.

She felt immediate regret, almost shrank away from her savior, but his hands held her in place.

"Fear, Isolation and Pain are no longer part of your conditioning. You need not fear me. I will never isolate you. I will never directly bring you pain," Valad said with a compassionate voice of understanding and care.

She found herself lead into the lift and brought to the upper deck of the transport, the doors opened and revealed the cockpit that had several passenger seats. He lead her over to the forward viewport.

What she saw was thousands of people coming together as they had constructed a makeshift home from tents and natural resources. Off in the distance she could see a city standing in the ocean, with the night sky, its lit up lights gave additional stars for them to gaze upon.

Vaylin was smiling as she saw the ocean, the people, feeling freedom and an embrace.

"Training begins in the morning, drink more fluids. We'll be going up to the Freighter."

Vaylin froze for a moment, her pupils dilated as she thought of being trapped in the compartment alone. He had promised her the lack of isolation, she looked at him with a petrified expression.

She didn't trust him not to touch her, but she trusted him not to go too far. He seemed somewhat honorable, but he definitely wasn't the pinnacle of justice that she had originally been raised to believe in.

Valad smiled at her despite the expression she wore. "If you wish to share a compartment, I have no qualms."

She immediately relaxed, as her eyes lowered and fixated on his chest that was pure and without blemishes. She wanted to sleep in his arms like she had done before, but this time not in the sand and not sitting up on her knees. A smile graced her lips as she felt his hands leave her neck and grasp her hand, placing a bottle of water within.

While she wasn't paying attention before, she was pretty sure there was no bottle nearby prior to coming into the cockpit of the vessel.