OOM: AU Child! Ibani

[last_kallig]

The last few months have been even harder than usual, after the death of her mother figure. Perhaps grief made her weaker, more vulnerable to sickness, because she knows she's dangerously ill. She hadn't meant to wind up here, wherever here is, but it has shown up in the nick of time.

Ibani shivers against one of the walls of Milliways, her body wracked with fever and hunger both. She's somewhere between seven and ten, clothed in fabric with far too many holes in it, and wearing a slave shock collar around her neck. Her bones stand out too sharply against her skin, and her eyes are fever bright and darting around the room.

She's not sure if this is some dying hallucination, if she's gone mad, or if she truly HAS wound up somewhere utterly strange. Whatever this is, instinct and her body DEMAND food, fuel to fight the sickness that is killing her. Untrained in the Force, she's grasping on instinct for any energy it can give her.

Maybe, maybe if she gets close enough to one of the tables she can steal some food without anyone noticing. Yes, yes that's a good plan

Comments

[last_kallig]

"Thank you," Ibani adds, speaking to Bar.

"Rest might just make me fall asleep," Ibani says, sighing.

[27_53]

It occurs to Skellig that the idea and concept of taking a nap is likely completely foreign and forbidden to her.

"There is nothing wrong with that."

Pausing to unlock the door to their room, he steps aside to let her enter first. (Though he does "listen" quickly to ensure it is as they left it.)

"And if you need to sleep, it will give you time for your body to work on healing itself... so you will still be working. Just on yourself."

[last_kallig]

Framing it as her body working on healing itself makes it seem more acceptable!

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," she tells him. "Was never an option before. We didn't eat if we weren't able to work all day." Which, of course, only made whatever problems they were having WORSE.

[27_53]

Skellig moves through the 'apartment' and goes to set his bag down on the coffee table, fetches his pear from it and then looks at her.

"I was going to wash mine and then cut it up for a snack, do you want me to do the same for yours? Then I might actually stretch out and rest myself, might nap."

[last_kallig]

"Yes, please," she tells him, removing the pear from her pocket. "Could I nap with you?" She feels safer around Skellig, and safe is good for resting.

[27_53]

"Of course. I don't mind."

The pear is fetched and they are both washed and cut, he shows her how to pick the seeds out (he saves them in a little cup off to the side, they can plant those later when they do the flowers) and then grabs a little plate for them both.

"So they are...kind of sweet? They're one of my favorite fruits," he says. "They come in different types, but I've never had them like this. Sparkly, I mean."

Typically his come out of a can, they're cheap enough for people to buy and donate to food pantries...so fresh is a luxury.

[last_kallig]

"I don't think I've had fruit before," she tells him. Unless there was some in the dishes she ate last night.

She tries part of her pear, makes a surprised but happy noise. She swallows. "They taste good, but not like anything I've had before." Since most of what she's eaten tasted like library paste, that's not surprising.

[27_53]

"The strawberries you had this morning were a type of fruit," he tells her. "They're kind of weird though, since their seeds are on the outside, and typically fruit...the seeds are on the inside."

Skellig cocks his head and studies her as she tastes it, smiling gently.

"I bet you will have to learn what flavors you like, what things you don't. And if there is anything that you ever try, that just...isn't good? Then you don't have to eat it," he says. "I promise. You can spit it out, and it is okay. Not everything tastes good to everyone, and that is normal. You won't get in trouble if you don't like something."

[last_kallig]

"Okay," Ibani tells him, although clearly she is skeptical of finding a food she doesn't like enough to spit it out.

She finishes her pear, then yawns. Clearly, her body wants a nap however the rest of her might feel about it.

[27_53]

Skellig finishes up the last of his also, watching as she yawns and her eyes struggle - already she is tired.

"Why don't you go on and wash up your hands a little bit, just so they're not sticky? Then we can get a nap," he suggests lightly, taking her plate. "I'll clean this up and then meet you."

[last_kallig]

She nods and goes to wash her hands and feet and change into pajamas so she doesn't get any possible mess from exploring today wherever they are going to sleep. Are there special spots that you are supposed to nap? Ibani has no idea.

She finds her way unerringly to Skellig once she's ready to nap. "Where do we nap?" she asks, curious.

[27_53]

Skellig has also changed by the time she gets cleaned up, and nods towards the bed.

"Wherever you want to. Usually if I am trying to nap, I end up on the bed. But sometimes if I am just resting on the couch or something, and don't feel like moving...I will just stay there. The bed is most comfortable."

He shrugs. "But I am also used to sleeping on the ground, so I am not against sleeping other places." He climbs up onto the bed, onto 'his' side and motions for her to join him. "Resting can just be relaxing, or you can sleep. There is no right or wrong way." He lightly touches her nose with his fingertip, as she settles in. "But I think both of us could benefit from a bit of extra sleep, after our exploring. You especially deserve it."

[last_kallig]

"Don't know about deserve," she murmurs as she curls up against him the way she did last night. "But tired."

Odds are good it won't be long before she falls asleep.

[27_53]

He is honestly not all that tired (there's a hint of weariness there beneath the surface) but when she curls up against him like that, it is hard to resist the urge to let himself actually rest and sleep.

And it is easier when there is another heartbeat nearby to focus on.

[last_kallig]

Given...everything, it is perhaps not surprising that Ibani has a nightmare. She's never pulled anyone into one of her dreams before, but she KNEW Ma'Vena was powerless to protect her. Skellig, Skellig is strong. (And, even though he's not Force sensitive he's not exactly NORMAL now, is he?)

The tiny flower is the loveliest thing she's ever seen and so vibrantly ALIVE that she fails to notice the warning note in the Force in time. The collar around her neck activates in a few seconds of utter agony that FEEL like much longer, her whole body twitching on the ground. She can just see a pair of boots, but they're not familiar.

"Lazy, lazy," the guard mock tsks, his tone cruel. "Guess those collars DO work as advertised. Not very satisfying though."

Ibani has forced her limbs to obey enough to get to her knees, desperate to avoid more punishment. He has a heavy baton in his hands and his smile is the smile of someone who likes pulling the wings off of flies. "I've always preferred the hands on approach."

The nightmare shifts, and Skellig will find himself able to move, to act!

[27_53]

When Skellig 'blinks awake' he is not in his room at the bar, but in a dank, dark space, the scent of...metal and mildew mixing on his tongue, and the high-pitched electric whine in his ears is painful.

And then he sees the child on the ground. Ibani, on the ground. And the baton in the hands of this guard, hear the thud of the heavy bootsteps on the ground as he moves closer to her, lifting his hand to swing...

The crack of the guard's elbow joint shattering is enough to send echoes down the tunnel, the controller of the collar hitting the ground a second after, and somehow Skellig has crossed the distance, closed the gap between them, has the guard's arm wrenched firmly behind his back at a most unnatural angle.

"You will not touch her with a fingertip," he snarls. "Let alone a hand."

[last_kallig]

The guard makes quite the noise of pain when his elbow shatters! He snarls at Skellig, enraged. He assumes Skellig MUST be another guard, because there's no way anyone else can BE here except as a slave in a collar.

"Little young for you to be getting territorial over her, isn't she?" he sneers. He's trying to distract Skellig enough that he doesn't notice he's moving his other hand to turn on his communicator, call for help.

Ibani has taken the opportunity to get AWAY from the fight, even if she's moving quite slowly.

[27_53]

Inwardly, Skellig is revolted by the insinuation and all it does it fuel the fire that is the rage burning beneath his skin - normally he does not allow this side of his energy to flare so brightly but this is a different scenario.

The guard doesn't get a chance to go for his communicator; Skellig grabs hold of his wrist and snaps it with another sickening crunch, this one causing another shout of pain and cry that echoes through the caverns.

(Part of him worries that this will be heard, but even if it is, even if more bootsteps start to hurry in this direction - he will put an end to all of them if he has to.) He pushes the guard away from Ibani, up against the nearest wall where he can grip him by the throat, pin him tightly to the point where he can only just barely breathe.

"Should rip other parts of you off for that remark," he growls, voice low. "But I'd rather just leave you here to rot instead."

[last_kallig]

"Not going to be the only one rotting," he manages to get out, just. "Too much trouble here and they'll pull out and wait for everything here to starve to death." His eyes flick toward Ibani. "Or detonate the collars on all the equipment, trash the batch and start fresh."

[27_53]

"Don't you even look at her," Skellig tightens his grip. "I will make you look like a cave-in accident crushed you beneath these rocks and you will be nothing but a smear on the floor that they will step over as they keep digging."

He has about taken all the oxygen (is it even oxygen here, this deep underground?) from this guard that he can without killing him, and it is so very tempting to just snap his neck and be done with it. Drop him to the floor and then find the key (he has to have a key on him, right?) and get her out of here.

But Skellig does not snap this guard's neck. Normally when he does this, it hurts him deeply, but this instance, for some reason, it is not really bothering him all that much.

"You are worth less than the 'equipment', because you do this willingly without a collar," his grip tightens. Now the guard can't breathe, he's struggling harder as darkness creeps in around the edges. "You have no spine."

[last_kallig]

It is definitely oxygen, or Ibani wouldn't be able to breathe. Maybe it doesn't hurt because this isn't real, or maybe Skellig is just THAT angry, the fire in him burning bright and hot enough to keep the Dark from sinking its tendrils into his being.

A Jedi would be appalled at what Ibani is doing right now, which is watching the proceedings with a sense of vicious satisfaction. She can feel his terror, his suffocation, but right now it isn't sickening. For all of her life that she can remember, she's been hurt with impunity by people like this, seen so many children die. (Helped pile rocks over their corpses because the ground is too frozen to bury a body and there's no fuel for a pyre.)

It might not be justice, but it will do just fine.

[27_53]

In the back of his mind, her presence is still a shadow on the radar of his awareness - she is hurting but she is not hurting, not at this very moment as he snuffs the life of this guard out with his bare hands.

Eventually, the struggle and the kicking and scrabbling stops and the guard's weight grows heavy; Skellig presses harder until he can feel the trachea collapse beneath his palm, the bones of the spinal cord crush. Once he is satisfied that the guard is DEAD, not just unconscious - he allows his grip to go slack, the dull thud-thump of literal dead weight hitting the ground likely one that Ibani has heard before.

Many times before, though softer and smaller, for children do not have as far to fall to hit the ground.

Skellig does not immediately turn to her, has to take a moment to steady his breathing, calm his heartrate down a bit.

[last_kallig]

Ibani has heard one or two adult bodies hit the floor, but most of them were children. She feels him die, in the Force, relaxes.

Ibani walks right up to him, unafraid. "You saved me," she whispers, knowing Skellig will hear her. "And he won't hurt anyone ever again."

[27_53]

"He will not hurt anyone ever again," he echoes, keeping his eyes away from her gaze (he can feel it, but he would not want her to see his eyes like this, as dark as they are with his feral nature running strongly beneath the surface) and his head turned. "You are safe from him."

There are others. The key. He has to find the key.
But what if there is no key?
What if another guard comes looking if this one does not check in?

Panic is creeping in at the edges of the nightmare, his own dread taking hold around the cracks at the sides of the shadows.

"Does he usually carry a key? We need to get you out of here--"

[last_kallig]

Ibani is growing deeply concerned that Skellig won't look at her, as it's vastly unlike him. Did she do something wrong, was she not good enough?

"Skellig?" She touches his arm, the one he crushed the guard's throat with. "Why won't you look at me?" Her voice is a mix of worry and desperate pleading. "I must have done something wrong, but I won't do it again, I promise!"