Out of Time [Star Wars Story]

11. Things Fall Apart

There were times when Seia felt like altogether too much, when Lorash was most aware of the sith stalking outside her defenses like a hunting beast. The warrior had become progressively more angry the more Merga stuffed his nose into her business, and even training at midnight was not enough to burn off the tension.

Lorash's back slammed down on the floor hard, enough to knock the breath from her lungs. Fingers clenched around her wrists like iron cuffs, pinning her so effectively that she had no way to generate power. Seia was taller and much more muscular than her. It made the sith very difficult to dislodge, particularly when she was in a mood.

"Your defenses are inadequate." The rasp in Seia's voice was both harsh and amused, the expression of the almost feline darkness inside of her that liked to toy with Lorash. Even so, the focus here was mostly on improving Lorash's combat skills.

"That was not fair," Lorash gasped as life returned to her lungs. She struggled to free herself from Seia's grip, but she had little hope of escape. All the same, she pulled her will together and looked directly up into Seia's face, ready to try her next desperate gambit to escape.

Here in the shadows of the cargo bay, barely lit by the orange emergency lights, the sith's eyes glowed like hungry coals.

Lorash felt her pulse spike as Seia leaned down slightly and adjusted her grip. Unfortunately, the padawan wasn't the only one who noticed.

Your heart is pounding, jedi. The rasping words appearing in her thoughts without need of her ears sent a shudder through Lorash, mostly because she hadn't expected the darkness to brush directly against her mind. Are you frightened?

It was hard to know what the feeling was, if Lorash was being honest with herself. Seia had taken no opportunity to harm her, but there was so much raw power inside the sith that surely being afraid was the only reasonable response. She took a deep breath to calm herself, but her heart kept racing. "I'm not afraid." Lorash made sure her voice was as steady as it could be before she spoke.

A lock of Seia's hair brushed across Lorash's cheek when the sith leaned down more. Then why do you tremble? There were no audible words, but Seia's presence dominated Lorash's perception, drowning out all other things, demanding an answer.

Lorash didn't have a good one, but she knew she'd at least partially distracted Seia. Maybe now was time to try the trick she'd spent all day testing with Eso, admittedly after asking him for both permission and assistance.

"Seia."

The sith loosened her grip at the sound of Eso's voice. The moment she did, Lorash broke free with a grin of triumph. It only took Seia a split second to realize that she hadn't actually heard Eso, but instead Lorash's misdirection. Before the jedi padawan could make good on her escape, however, Seia pinned her to the floor again, this time on her stomach.

Not a bad try. The sith's amusement was like a hunting cat's purr, breath cascading across Lorash's neck in a way that raised goosebumps on the padawan's skin.

"I surrender," Lorash said with a defeated sigh. There was no way she'd be shaking Seia off now.

Seia rose and helped the jedi padawan off the floor. Your sense of timing was solid, even if your execution left something to be desired.

"At least it was something."

The sith caught her wrist and pulled her around so they were facing each other, then stepped in to put Lorash's back against a cargo container. They were close enough to the walkway above that there was some lighting. There is something further I would like to explore.