Mos Espa

*The child grinned at the older girl as he looked over the food. He cutely struggled to climb up on a chair that was a bit too tall for him, grunting with effort. He got halfway up before he got stuck, unable to pull himself up the rest of the way. He kicked small legs and groaned.*

“Oh no! No-no-no-no!!”

*The child was too engrossed in his breakfast to pay any mind to what his father said. Something Crystal mentioned piqued his curiosity. He spoke around a mouthful of pancake before swallowing it down with a sip of blue milk.*

“Who-sish Eim-hen?”

“Remember? Remember what?

*Adonias gave Crystal a strange look, like he had no idea what she was talking about. He looked between the two and set his eating utensil down. He appeared first happy sensing that his reaction was important and then sounded confused with his next question.*

“Yaaaay! Umm.. daddy? What’s a relic?”

Crystal:

She stopped pacing, motionless for a moment before striding over to Strife and giving him a solid shove in the chest. Despite her smaller stature, he was thrown off balance and took two steps back, looking at her in surprise. "NO!" She screamed at him, almost vibrating with anger instantly. "We always do things your way, well guess what? You are weak, muddled with affection, and not thinking straight. We will leave right now!" Her voice was laced with venom and her eyes narrowed threateningly. The girl who made pancakes mere minutes ago was deep down inside of Crystal and she wasn't afraid to hurt anyone who got in her way. "If you and the boy are too weak to keep up, you are welcome to go back to bed. But either shut up and sit tight or else I will make sure you cooperate."

Darth Strife:

He staggered backwards from Crystal's shove, wincing slightly as he fell back. He was weaker than he realized. His head spun for a second but his vision cleared in time to see Adonias leap to his defense. As Crystal was thrown against the wall, Strife stepped forward between the two children. He focused his powers and held out a hand towards the incoming force lightning and absorbed it all, a bead of sweat forming at his temple due to the strain. "ENOUGH!" He bellowed and glared at Adonias and then Crystal. He sighed, feeling his shoulders sink beneath the weight of the responsibility before him. "Adonias, I understand that being trapped in your five year old body is hard but I need you to put up with it for just a little while longer. And stop fighting with Crystal. Right now, we are working towards a mutual goal. Fighting only sabotages that goal." He met Adonias' gaze long enough the boy could see he wasn't angry at him, merely wanted him to understand he needed to listen.

"And you." He turned to look at Crystal, still up against the wall. Looking at her a little coldly, he frowned. "I don't know what your problem is but cut your tantrums out. I am going to make sure you both turn back into adults and if you want to battle -AGAIN- then we definitely can. But for now, work with us instead of against us. You need me to complete the ritual and if I pass out halfway through, you risk injury or death." He explained everything logically, laying out every reason why his former apprentice should work with him now, despite the bad blood between them. He waited quietly for her response, ready if she attempted to attack him again.

Crystal:

Her back ached, the cold metal behind her reminding her of how many times she had been hurt this last week. She was over it. She hadn't felt the five year old gathering his abilities nor had she sensed his intention, she had been so consumed by the burning urge within her to kill. She wouldn't underestimate the child again. She didn't have time to block or even move out of the way of the lightning and for a moment she surrendered fully to the pain she was about to feel. Then Strife stepped in and shielded her and she was filled with nothing but confusion. Again? She had threatened him, assaulted him, defied him; and he had chosen to protect her. She couldn't figure him out. Years had passed for both of them and she wondered if the years had taught Strife to feel something more than he had been capable of feeling before. But it was a little too late, wasn't it? Too late to be her friend or a father figure. She scowled bitterly. It sure wasn't too late for him to be the perfect father to Adonias.

She tuned back in to what Strife was saying as he turned his attention to her. "Fine," She replied sullenly. "But you better not mess it up this time." She pushed off from the wall and stalked towards the ship's main hatch, the credits from the guard heavy in her pocket. "I'm going to the marketplace for supplies." She snarled out a few choice curse words as she left, so furious with both Adonias and Strife that she could barely breath. Pausing right before she exited the ship, she looked back at Adonias. "Oh, and it was your idiotic cousin who discovered the relic. All I did was keep it safe until Strife messed things up. But sure, blame me as always instead of opening your clueless eyes." Then she whirled out of the ship and was gone in a puff of sand.

Darth Strife:

The sith relaxed after Crystal disappeared really not wanting to fight in his condition. Walking over to the sobbing boy, he knelt down and wrapped an arm around him. "It's okay," He said gently. "You aren't in trouble, son. And Crystal isn't really mad at you. She angry about a lot of things and she's not directing her anger in a way that benefits her. It's one of her flaws." Strife sighed, remembering the countless nights he drilled Crystal over and over again and how every time, she would lash out with her anger and fail because it held her back. "A true sith uses their anger to become one with the force. The anger is not directed outwards, it is used to fuel one's inner self." He trailed off, knowing this was all a little complicated for a five year old to follow. "How about we have a little lesson in force healing while waiting for Crystal? This isn't a traditional sith power but I have always been gifted at it and I have a feeling you may be too if you managed to complete that technique from my book and heal me." He gently hugged the boy again and then stood. He offered his hand to Adonias, ready to lead him into his cabin so they could practice on his bed.

Darth Strife:

The sith walked to his cabin with Adonias holding his hand. "She fears you, she doesn't hate you. You don't understand that now but perhaps you will when we fix your age." He entered the cabin and led the way to the bed, urging his son to sit cross legged on it with him, a few feet apart. "Now, put thoughts of Crystal out of your mind. For healing, you must be calm. You must let everything slip away, the hate and anger and your worry. Reach out to the force, not to dominate it or use it to destroy, but reach out to it as a friend. You did it once, search for that feeling inside of you again." Strife closed his own eyes and let everything fall away. Healing had always been an anomaly for him. Sith didn't heal. Not typically. Sith destroyed before they were injured. He had a different take on things. But he supposed that was why he was still alive now. Reaching for the force, he wrapped himself in it and allowed it to fill him slowly. The force energized him as he waited for Adonias to make that connection as well.

Crystal:

The young girl stalked down the hard packed sand street, narrowed eyes searching for the stand she had passed a few days ago. She was glad she had taken the time to alter her clothing, she now had on a form fitting pair of black leather pants, and a black tank. On her hands she wore fingerless gloves, she loved those as they protected the palms of her hands during any training. As she strode along, her anger built. Adonias and Strife. What a pair. She was half tempted to go back and destroy them both while her old master was so weak. She shook her head ruefully. She was angry enough but what she really wanted was to just disappear. Her fatigue was almost more than her anger, the soul crushing despair barely kept in check by her determination to not give in.

Crystal was so deep in thought she didn't sense the spike in the force, warning of danger. A hand latched onto her right wrist and pulled, yanking her into the alley right next to the street before she had time to plant her feet. Looking up as she caught her balance she hissed out a breath of annoyance. A rodian and a weequay stood before her. The rodian said something to her but she didn't understand. It didn't matter though, she recognized him from when she first came to this planet. It was the rodian who had tried to kidnap her friend Eimhin. They both must be looking for children to sell to the hutts. Slavers. She glared at them in disgust as the weequay gestured threateningly at her. It looked like they were telling her to come with them and perhaps threatening to kill her if she didn't. Maybe she looked like a target at this age but they'd made a critical mistake. Fury throbbed in her veins. How dare these vile gangsters prey upon children, the truly innocent. The force whispered to her, showing her what was needed and she gave herself up to it. Moving smoothly, unplanned, Crystal darted forward and thrust out her left hand against the weequay before her. He was still clutching her right wrist and she saw his eyes widen with surprise but he didn't have time to react more than to release her. Her knee thrust punishingly into the weequay's solar plexus doubling him over. Then her hand connected with his face and as it connected, she unleashed a force blast that blew him backwards into the wall behind him. The Weequay's face was absolutely ruined and his unmoving body slowly slid to the ground, leaving behind a sticky smear of blood. Crystal grinned, fire in her eyes as she turned towards the rodian who was backing away from her in terror. Her connection to the force unwavering, she stretched out her right hand to the pathetic creature and employed her favorite dark side power. The rodian frantically reached up and clutched at his throat, groaning as his air supply slowly cut off. Crystal snarled at the rodian as he babbled at her in his language, probably pleading for his life. "This is your last day of life, you piece of garbage. Preying on children should earn you a lifetime of torture but lucky for you I don't have time for the punishment you deserve. Goodbye." Exerting her control over the force, the rodian went limp as he raised in the air slowly and his feet lifted off the ground. He clawed at his neck, one last ditch effort to survive but with a cackle, Crystal snapped his neck and let his inanimate form fall to the ground. Crystal straightened her clothes and brushed a bit of dirt from her wrist before giving the two corpses one last look and then walking back onto the street. The entire confrontation had taken only a minute or two. The rage inside of Crystal had quieted a bit after the justice she had met out. She continued on towards the stand ready to gather the supplies.

Darth Strife:

The man walked his son through the process of using the force to heal. He smiled as he did so, the ability to teach such a small skill to Adonias filling him with warmth. Crystal had never had the patience to try healing more than a few times. She had enough rudimentary skills to stay alive in a desperate situation but it would never be her forte. This connection he had with his son, he had never experienced it before. Even when his son had been little and he had spent time with the twins, it had been like living on the outside looking in. Not for the first time, he wondered where Adonias' twin was and how Adonias had even survived. Feeling his connection to the force begin to waver with thoughts pressing in, he cleared his mind once more.

Crystal:

She finished buying the supplies she thought they would need, the proper clothing, food, and mechanical gear. She picked up several changes of five year old sized clothes as well for Adonias. Baggy clothing just wasn't a good look for a kid and he would need to move efficiently to keep up once they traveled to the next planet. Satisfied with her purchases, she started back towards the ship's landing area.

Darth Strife:

Please, he opened his eyes and smiled gently at his son. "Excellent! You did it exactly right. You will find it is difficult right now. You have only just begun to connect to the force and you are trapped in a young body. Keep practicing though and you will gradually build your stamina." Strife stretched and slowly stood, feeling better than he had before their session. His young son really had done a great job healing parts of him. It seemed Adonias was a natural. "Come, let's check to see if Crystal has returned. I can sense that it is starting to get late." He waited for Adonias to join him before he left the cabin.