Chapter Text
“I want to introduce you to someone.” Saw said in that cryptic way he had.
Cal crossed his arms. “A friend?”
The anarchist laughed shortly, harshly. “An ally.”
“Okay. And why do I need an ‘introduction’?” The Jedi looked skeptical.
“He is not a trusting man.”
“Strong words coming from you.” Cal noted.
Saw put out his arms. “What can I say? You trust enough for all of us.”
“Ouch.” Cal put on an overly hurt expression. “One day that will be a compliment.”
“But today trust is a commodity. I trust you. And I trust him, to a point.”
“To a point?” Cal was mildly annoyed he was having to drag the information out of Saw.
“I trust that he hates the Empire as much as I do.”
The Jedi uncrossed his arms and moved them to his hips. “Ah. I see.” He paused. “Arrange the meeting. Merrin and I will meet him.”
Saw gave Cal a look at the inclusion of Merrin. “All right. I’ll send the meeting time and coordinates to the Mantis.”
Cal put a hand on Saw’s shoulder. “Until next time.”
“Until next time, my friend.” Saw said with a certain sparkle in his eye.
The Jedi gave Saw a mock salute as he headed back toward the hangar and the Mantis.
***
“This meeting…” Merrin had her elbows on the Mantis’ holotable, leaned forward with one hip cocked out to the side.
“Dramatic, right?” Cal was standing beside her, arms crossed.
“Precisely.”
“Which one do you think pushed for this meeting? Saw or his ‘ally’?” Cal mused.
Merrin sighed. “I am more curious about what his ‘ally’ wants of us. Saw seeks to use you as a weapon, he always has. Will they attempt the same?”
Cal began to interrupt. “Saw –”
She held up her hand to stop him. “It is honesty and not an insult. He has shown his true nature since Kashyyyk with you, so many years ago. Yes, he helped you free the Wookies, but he abandoned the effort there when they no longer served their purpose as his weapon. But that does not mean Saw has not been an ally in our fight against the Empire. He has pointed us in useful directions. We have done good things, thanks to Saw. But you should acknowledge his faults as you do his strengths.” Merrin admonished.
Though she would not raise the issue again, she thought of Bode and how he’d used Saw to get to Cal. They’d already fought over Cal’s easy forgiveness of the rebel leader after what happened, after Bode’s betrayal. Perhaps her Jedi was correct and Saw was as taken in with Bode as they themselves had been. Yet it gnawed at Merrin that he’d risen through Saw’s ranks quickly and easily – for someone who claimed not to trust, why was this behavior not cause for concern?
And how were they to trust this new “ally” when the shadow of Bode Akuna still lay dark across their lives?
Sometimes Merrin’s directness caused Cal’s hackles to rise – he wanted to defend Saw but frustratingly, her candor cut to the heart of the matter. “I know.” He admitted.
They both turned their attention back to the map, staring at the coordinates, lost in thought.
***
The meeting was for the early afternoon on a random, uninhabited moon in the middle of nowhere in the Outer Rim. The new contact requested no droids, so BD would be watching the Mantis.
The little droid was not pleased and had chittered something about discrimination and stereotypes. Both Cal and Merrin comforted him, reassuring him that they were equally displeased.
They landed the Mantis some distance away from the meet spot, unwilling to let this contact anywhere near their ship, matching trust for trust, or lack thereof.
Without the need for consultation between them, Merrin and Cal chose to wear what they felt were their most intimidating combinations of clothing: both dressed all in black with deep red accents.
Merrin was particularly fond of the way Cal’s black leather bomber jacket looked over his black tank top, snug across his freckled muscles. In a moment of self-indulgence, Merrin allowed herself to simply watch her Jedi, as they strapped on their belts and holsters, stepping into their boots in preparation for their departure.
“Should we make a plan?” Cal smirked when he caught Merrin’s admiring gaze.
“My plan was to follow your lead.” Merrin slid on her jacket, continuing to eye him, unbothered by his awareness of her appreciative observation. “I am more intimidating when I do not speak.”
“Trust me. You are equally intimidating when you do speak.” Cal reached over and took her hand, pulling her close.
“Are you flirting with me, Cal Kestis?”
He leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss. “Is it working?”
Instead of answering, Merrin closed the distance between them and demanded more than one innocent kiss, her tongue and teeth finding his lower lip and claiming his mouth. Cal instinctively wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against him, hungrily opening his mouth to allow her tongue to sweep against his.
When they finally broke apart, Cal was nearly panting. “So yes? It’s working?”
“Yes.” Merrin agreed. “Now let us go and get this over with.”
***
They steeled themselves against the wind of the landing Fondor Haulcraft.
As usual, Cal stood with one hand on his hip and the thumb of the other hooked into the belt of his blaster, a deceptively casual stance. One might assume he was relaxed, but in truth his hands were closest to his weapons that way.
Merrin’s arms were crossed over her chest, and she settled her face into stillness and a lack of emotion. She wore a simple silver ring to which Cal had attached a Dathomirian focusing stone. This way, she could turn the ring and have the stone in the palm of her hand removing the need to worry about losing it in the heat of battle. She’d also been told it was ‘fashionable’ by the patrons of Pyloon’s Saloon.
Cal reached out to Merrin in the Force, feeling along the edges of her magick and how her energy bubbled under her stoic exterior, anxious but prepared and focused. He took a moment to connect and ground himself in her essence, her starlight.
The ship door opened to reveal a sinister looking figure, hooded and cloaked in black. He paused a moment to assess the situation before striding down the ramp: a tall man, his long jacket billowed behind him as he walked towards them.
Cal and Merrin gave each other a sidelong glance to confirm what they were both thinking.
Dramatic.
The man stopped a comfortable distance away – within easy earshot but not threatening.
“Kestis?” He started, his voice low and gravely.
“And you are?”
“A friend of Saw’s.”
“I don’t know you, friend of Saw.” Cal was not interested in small talk, not after the hoops they’d had to jump through to meet him and especially from someone not willing to provide him with a name. “Why did Saw think you were worth our time? Or was it you who wanted to meet us?”
“I am an enemy of the Empire.” The man pulled down his hood to show his face, sidestepping the question. “Like you are, Cal Kestis, Jedi knight, Empire’s most wanted.” He pointed at him, sleeve trailing down. “Scrapping on Bracca, freeing Wookies on Kashyyyk, interfering on Imperial digs, infiltrating the fortress Inquisitorius, the murder of the Second Sister, Nar Shaddaa, the – failed – coup on Norsid, the assassination of senator Daho Sejan on Coruscant itself, the murder of the Ninth Sister, whatever it was that happened on Jedha, the infiltration of Nova Garon, the list goes on.”
“Thank you.” Cal nodded his head and pitched his voice to be cocky, as if he was proud.
And there were certainly things to be proud of on that list.
But Trilla Suduri and Masana Tide were not things to be bragged about, nor was the loss of his entire team on Coruscant, and he certainly was not proud of what happened on Nova Garon.
Merrin could feel the underlying pain radiating off her Jedi, in spite of his faux-pride, and she resisted her natural reaction to take Cal’s hand, knowing they needed to project strength and this man would see Cal’s emotion and her support as a weakness.
“You lack subtlety.” The man drawled. “No wonder you come recommended by Saw Gerrera.”
“And what good is subtlety against the Empire?” Merrin finally spoke, her annoyance at his haughty tone toward Cal causing her to uncross her arms and gesture strongly before resting her hands on her hips in challenge.
This man did not know Cal Kestis.
“Ah, the Desert Ghost speaks.” He turned to her with a put-on smile. “Your moniker suggests you understand the need for guile.”
“I know this galaxy needs a revolution and not a coward hiding behind subtlety.” The look Merrin gave him would have withered a lesser man and Cal would swear he saw the man flinch.
Smothering the proud look which threatened to suffuse his face at her defiance, Cal instead raised his chin in supportive challenge.
The tall man looked down and gave a short, pained laugh before meeting her gaze again. “Fair enough, Nightsister.”
Merrin’s lip curled in a quiet threat, warning him off of calling her by that name again.
Raising his hands, he backed off. “I think we can help one another.”
“How?” Cal crossed his arms, waiting.
“I believe you’ve had a few experiences with the Emperor’s Fist.”
He knew about Vader? If nothing else, this man was well informed.
“And why would you help us with that?”
He gave Cal a serious, imploring look. “Imagine the effect his removal would have on the Empire’s ability to fight against us.”
“And what do you know that could remove the Enforcer?” Cal was skeptical and somewhat surprised by the man’s offer.
If Cere could not defeat Vader, how could he ever hope to?
“I know that you are something of an amateur archaeologist. And I know that there is a tomb and that the current inhabitant was buried with items that could weaken Sith lords.” The man cocked his head. “He was concerned about their power even in death.”
“You ask no price for this information, friend of Saw?” Merrin’s skepticism of his altruism clear in her tone.
The man clicked his tongue. “If you were to say, stumble upon any other valuable artifacts during your search for these items, I know a dealer who would be very interested in buying. I would even be willing to give you a percentage of the price, as a fee.”
“How generous.” The Jedi kept his voice neutral, looking over at Merrin.
The two exchanged a glance, wordlessly weighing the possibility of confronting Vader.
Cal saw that Merrin wanted to avenge Cere as much as he did, but he wondered if Cere would want them to go down that path. She gave her life to fight the Sith lord and save them all – would it be foolish to unravel that sacrifice?
And yet.
Yet.
The Empire without Vader’s enforcement would be significantly weakened; his Inquisitors were not nearly as invincible. If there truly was something that could weaken the Sith lord, perhaps it was worth it.
“Where is this tomb?” Cal finally asked after a few long moments of silence.
“I’m assuming you’ve heard of Korriban. Although, a Jedi might know it as Moraband.” He pulled an electronic puck from his pocket, pressing down to project a small map, glowing blue in the afternoon light illuminating the moon.
“A Sith planet.” Cal said for Merrin’s benefit.
The Nightsister crossed her arms but remained silent.
This was not the time for her to talk candidly about her concerns in taking Cal to a planet bound to be connected to the dark side of the Force.
The man pressed down again on the puck, shifting to a map of the surface, the tomb clearly marked. “The tomb is not without dangers.”
Cal and Merrin looked at him without speaking, both unmoved by his concern.
He pressed the puck one more time, collapsing the map and walking toward them, holding it out in offering. “It is yours.”
Cal considered the puck for another moment before reaching out and taking it. “We’ll be in touch.” He dismissed the man.
“I sincerely hope so.” The tall man nodded and turned to walk back to his ship, demonstrating he did not think they would stab him in the back, at the very least.
Merrin had considered it, of course.
Maybe not a stab that would kill him, but one that would remind him not to speak in such a tone.
They watched him get in his ship and depart before Cal brought his wrist comm up. “Hey, BD. We’re heading back now.”
The droid beeped in relief.
“Us too. See you soon.”
***
BD had downloaded the contents of the puck – coordinates, maps, and lists of loot and the potential mysterious Sith-weakening items – and plotted a course for Korriban. Now, the three of them sat in the cockpit, the white-blue of hyperspace all around.
“Do you think Cere would want us to avenge her?” Cal broke the silence, voicing the question that had been weighing heavily on his mind since their contact first mentioned Vader.
Merrin sighed, choosing her words carefully. “I think she would understand why his removal would benefit the galaxy.” A pause. “Revenge, in this case, is an additional side benefit.”
Cal snorted softly. “I wish she was still here to poke holes in our plan and laugh at us and our stupidity.”
“Me too.” Merrin agreed, giving BD a comforting pet when he whined sadly.
They lapsed into silence thinking about the loss of Cere and the morality of avenging her in a galaxy full of suffering.
“Have you considered –” Merrin started, turning in the co-pilot seat.
Cal raised an eyebrow, interrupting her. “That this is a bad idea? That we’re headed toward a Sith planet?” He too turned his chair, facing her.
“Yes.” She crossed her arms, not rising to his flippant tone.
“I have nothing to hide from you, Merrin.” He reassured her. “I meant what I said – you will not lose me.”
He knew it might be a risk – how strongly would the dark side call to him on a planet like Korriban, home to Sith far older than any of the darkside users they’d narrowly escaped? But with Merrin at his side and his own fears under control, the planet could not control him.
Merrin was quiet. His awareness of the potential for temptation meant that he had considered it himself and was not ignoring the problem or pretending it did not exist – a good start.
“You will wear gloves.” She said after a few moments of silence.
BD beeped in agreement.
“Wow.” Cal gave them a shocked and betrayed look. “I can control it much better now, thank you both for that.” It had been a long time since his psychometry had activated without his consent.
His little droid chittered and trilled at him, as close to a scold as BD would ever get.
“Okay, okay.”
“I am glad you can see reason.” Merrin took his answer as acquiescence and stood up from her own chair, stepping close to his. She set a knee between his legs and leaned over, kissing him tenderly.
Cal relaxed back into the captain’s chair, putting a hand on each of her hips, and slowly tracing his right hand up her curves, caressing the side of her breasts, continuing up to her neck and then cradling her head in his hand, tangling his fingers in her hair.
Merrin hummed into his lips, and Cal used the opportunity to deepen their kiss, wrapping his arm around to pull her close. For a moment, she allowed it, bracing herself with the back of his chair and leaning closer, opening her mouth to him.
Within her embrace, Cal realized that her concern comforted him.
Αt first, it had stung.
But now, holding her close, feeling her magick trace and tease along his Force, he realized her concern was an act of love, an act of care. He took a moment to lose himself in the feel of her lips, the softness of her skin; he breathed her in and he breathed his insecurities out, relaxing into her.
But before he could grab her hips and fully pull her onto his lap, Merrin leaned back.
“I want a shower, Jedi.”
“I could help?” He offered, giving her a look.
Merrin raised an eyebrow. “I do not believe you wish to help.”
“I can help –” Cal started suggestively.
BD interrupted, annoyed at being overlooked.
“I’m sorry, buddy. I forgot. You go, I’ll watch the con.” Cal said to the droid, even as his eyes never left Merrin’s, his fingers still tangled in her hair, his arm still wrapped tight around her.
As BD left the cockpit, the little droid grumbled in binary about regular scheduled chargings.
“Stay.” Cal said softly, kissing her nose and nuzzling her cheek.
Merrin lifted one hand so she could run her fingers along his cheekbone and up through his hair, sorely tempted. “Another time, Jedi. After that meeting I feel a layer of slime atop the dust of Koboh.”
“I’ll hold you to that ‘another time.’”
“I would be disappointed otherwise.” Merrin gave him a heated look before she sauntered out of the cockpit.
***
The area of Korriban they would be landing on was uninhabited. The puck that Saw’s contact provided had been helpful in navigating the surface – the information contained within was surprisingly detailed and recently updated.
Cal shook the puck at Merrin before pocketing it to take with them. “Who is this friend of Saw’s?”
“Informed. Haughty. Sly.” The Nightsister listed, while she finished packing her backpack with supplies for the day. “I do not trust him, even as I trust his motives; he does hate the Empire.”
Cal sighed, pulling on his boots. “Another Saw then.”
“No, different.” She considered. “Where Saw would detonate a problem outright, uncaring of the consequences, this man would sabotage it from the shadows. It is clear he sees himself as a…” She paused. “I do not know the word. In his heart, he believes he is the smartest man in any situation.”
Cal raised his eyebrows. “That is a nuanced judgment considering we only spoke to him for a few minutes.”
She shrugged, knowing her assessment was accurate. “He is hiding something.” Merrin closed the backpack.
“I know.” He sighed. “I just hope whatever he’s hiding is not about this damn tomb.”
***
“Do you know anything about the Sith buried here?” Merrin asked as they began walking toward the tomb, following the directions from the puck.
“A little. Show her BD.”
The little droid chirped and walked across Cal’s shoulders to perch on the side closer to Merrin before projecting the image of a pale-skinned human man, eyes colored a yellow-orange.
“The puck’s information told us that this is the Sith lord Darth Pravus and all I could dig up from those books that Cere and the Brothers had downloaded to crystals is that he lived during the Old Republic and he was notoriously private.”
“Hmm. We do not know why he was afraid of other Sith?”
Cal shook his head. “No – but we know Sith are selfish and ruled by their passions. He had every reason to fear other Sith who might ‘covet his power’ or whatever.”
“The way the Sith use what you call the dark side of the Force is wasteful.” Merrin shook her head. “The Force is not only the light or dark – without death there can be no life.”
“Then why did it feel, you know, when…before – on Nova Garon.” Cal self-consciously adjusted the bag slung across his back.
“Because you were not using it for balance, but for vengeance.” Merrin explained directly, but gently. “You were reaching as these Sith do. For easy, quick power to achieve your aims.”
She was right, of course.
His anger had been driving him, he needed to kill quickly in order to find Bode and the compass. Then Denvik had attempted to intervene and he’d literally seen red.
“Does it always feel so, I don’t know, good? When you use your magick?” It was hard for Cal to find the words to talk about Nova Garon.
“I do not know what you mean by ‘good’? I can feel the balance of my magick within the energy of the universe.”
“When I was using it, it felt good. Like I’d had a few drinks and I was on the verge of being too drunk but not there yet and everything felt incredible.” While speaking Cal felt confident, feeling an echo of the euphoria again.
But then the words were out, and he remembered how he felt after – cold and empty.
Merrin took his hand as they walked, not wanting him to feel alone in this moment.
“No, my magick does not feel that way. It feels right. Correct and as it should be. My magick is mine. I hold it in balance, direct it to my will. I do not possess it.” Merrin shook her head. “I have never tried to explain that before. I feel foolish.”
“No.” Cal assured her. “I understand a little, I think. You can control your magick because you are in control of yourself. Because you let it pass through you. Men like Malicos, or Dagan, or Bode – they try to hold onto the power and they let the dark side control them.” He paused. “I let it control me.”
BD whined sadly, pressing against Cal’s neck.
“You and I work well together. Your Force and my magick have much in common. But I often forget they are not the same.” Merrin rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand as they walked. “I do not call upon the dark side in that way. Nightsisters can and have, but I find this to be uncomfortable.”
“Tell me about it.” Cal muttered. “I can feel the dark side here on this planet.” It itched under his skin, whispering and smoky.
“I as well.” Merrin nodded. “More even than Dathomir.”
“I suppose there is a reason this is a Sith world. They had an academy here, you know.” Cal gestured around. “Here of all places, in this valley with all these tombs – they also had a school.”
BD booped, pointing out where the academy once stood. There were some broken remains, ruins in the reddish-brown dirt of the planet.
“It makes a kind of unpleasant sense – here, with death, they taught the dark side.” Merrin shrugged, looking around. “The dark side is power and death, but it is also decay and rot. They were too consumed with it to see that a school here would only cultivate those things in their students. The dark power rotting their hearts and decaying their minds – until there was only these ruins left.”
Cal held tightly to Merrin’s hand, pressed close to BD, finding comfort in the midst of the darkness permeating the air around them. There was nothing about the overwhelming presence of the dark side on this planet that tempted him. If anything, he felt a resolve to fight against it, push back against the oppression of it.
***
“Here we are.” Cal gestured to a crumbling opening in the rock face.
Merrin furrowed her brow. “Is this some sort of trick? The tomb of a mighty Sith lord and it looks like a doorway time forgot.”
“Probably part of the plan? Pravus seems to be the paranoid type.” Cal shrugged.
Holding out a hand, Merrin nodded her head. “After you, amateur archaeologist.” She recalled the title that Saw’s friend had used for Cal.
He snorted as he walked past her and into the entrance. “I know, the audacity! I’m not an amateur, right BD? We’re professionals.”
The little droid beeped an affirmative, equally offended.
The Nightsister smiled and followed them into a small, unadorned entrance chamber leading directly into a hallway. There were no decorations here, no grave goods, just cleanly carved walls. Cal walked around, lightly tapping on each wall, checking for hidden rooms while BD scanned everything to add to his growing file on Korriban and Darth Pravus’ tomb.
Merrin always enjoyed watching Cal work like this. Watching him fight was one thing, when he was beautiful and dangerous. But this was quiet and academic and perhaps most importantly, curious. She watched as he wondered at each new thing, at every step along the way.
He often teased her about watching him, and the jest was valid.
Merrin liked to watch Cal.
She could tell so much about him, just from taking a moment to watch the way he was walking or moving; and at this moment, as he worked, she could see the stress of the meeting and the mission and this Sith planet in his shoulders. But she could also see the way he was relaxing into the exploration and how he enjoyed it, even as he buttressed himself against the dark energy all around them.
And now, watching him with BD, Merrin smiled fondly at her najdroższy. There was much that was heavy in these days, but this was good for her Jedi.
The hallway they were walking into was not much more decorated than the first chamber, only a few carvings into the stone of the floors and ceiling.
BD tapped along the floor, walking up to the carvings to scan them. But as soon as one of his small feet stepped on the edge of the floor carvings, a sharp click echoed through the room.
At the sound, Merrin and Cal took defensive stances just in time to see multiple large slugs fall from now open ceiling tiles, making sickening plops as they hit the ground.
With an alarmed series of beeps and chirps, BD ran back toward Cal who lowered his arm to pick up his little friend.
“Gross.” Cal’s brow furrowed, pulling his saber off his belt.
Merrin extended her dagger-spear, taking steps to the right to flank them.
Lighting his saber, Cal circled left.
BD beeped excitedly.
“I know, buddy. A brand new gross worm-thing for you to scan!” Cal teased affectionately. “They kind of look like the – whoa!” He had to quickly dodge a stream of what looked, and smelled, like acidic spit.
Not at all liking the look of the yellow-brown bile, Merrin made quick work of two of the slugs who had reared up to about thigh-height in an attempt to spit at her – she made sure they did not get the chance, stabbing them through their strange round mouths.
She really liked these boots and did not want to go back to the Mantis with acid-made holes in them.
In general, slugs were bad enough – but these disgusting creatures had rows of teeth inside their circular mouths and Cal had no desire to find out why their physiology was arranged that way. He easily handled the smaller of the two, but the larger one, nearly up to his shoulders at full height, was annoyingly dextrous and evasive between accurately spitting streams of acid.
After dispatching another of the smaller ones, Merrin watched Cal and the larger slug for a moment, looking for an opportunity that would not end with her Jedi covered in corrosive spit.
With a distracting shout, she conjured green flame to her hand. The worm responded with an eerie shriek, turning to face the new threat. Using the distraction, Cal took a powerful swing with his saber and sliced straight through its head; it fell with a wet slap to the floor. Merrin was grateful his last strike did not cause the creature to spray its acidic spit all over them.
BD beeped and booped excitedly at its exposed brain, jumping off Cal to get a closer look.
“You okay?” Cal asked, extinguishing his saber.
“Of course.” Merrin nodded, letting the fire in her hand die down and release into the focusing stone in her palm.
Cal reached over and Merrin reached back, slapping their hands together affectionately for a job well done.
After his scanning was complete, BD informed them that this was a type of k’lor’slug, originally from Noe’Ha’On. They were a pestilent blight, known to invade and breed in starships.
“Thanks for that.” Cal nodded, decidedly disgusted. “And no more stepping on stones that look like that, right?” He pointed to the carved stone that the little droid had stepped on to release the slugs.
BD beeped an affirmative and an apology.
“No, buddy, no apologies. We’re all learning.” Cal assured him, kneeling down and giving him a little pat.
Merrin made sure to look closely at the carving on the floor, so that she too might avoid it. The pattern was frustratingly inconspicuous, a decorative motif that was not even a consistent geometric pattern.
“Let’s keep moving.” Cal pointed forward through another doorway into what looked like a similarly decorated hallway.
BD walked in, beeping and booping, scanning every bit of the floor and ceiling, letting them know there was another trap here. Now that they recognized it, the floor tiles could be avoided. They cautiously stepped over the trigger patterns on the floor without issue, grateful to see that the next doorway opened up into a much larger and wider room. All the walls in this room were painted, completely covered with frescos.
Both Cal and Merrin stopped and looked around.
“Are these more…?” Merrin started.
“Regal? Dignified?” Cal continued for her. “This was not what I was expecting.”
There were black robed Sith set in all sorts of elegant looking tasks: Pravus sitting at a table with others who all had books open before them, a red Twi’lek working in a greenhouse garden and trimming leaves, a purple Mirialan playing some sort of curved horn instrument for an intimate audience, the same Twi’lek reciting from a small book to Pravus and the Mirialan, and even Pravus sitting at a throne with an arm raised in proclamation.
All the visible pages of the books in the various paintings were covered in ur-Kittât runes, the Sith language. Cal had been too young to learn the language at the Temple, so he’d have to rely on Cordova’s old dictionary to translate it later on the Mantis.
“Do you think this is how he saw himself?” Merrin examined the greenhouse.
Cal shook his head. “Maybe.” The deep saturated colors made the whole room feel forgotten in time, and he wondered if these were mythological or historical scenes.
BD ran ahead, excited to scan the large fresco on the back wall ahead of them.
“Wait, BD!” Merrin called, perceiving that something in the room was not quite right.
The weight of the little droid running across a line of stones on the floor marked with odd decorative hatch-marks caused a number of darts to fly in from both walls, luckily too high up to menace BD. But the little droid was moving too fast to stop, even as he saw the floor falling out immediately in front of him. He trilled, calling out to Cal.
“BD!” The Jedi shouted, extending his hand and grabbing his small friend with Force stasis, pulling him back to safety.
Once back on solid ground, BD ran toward Cal. The Jedi reached down so he could pick him up, the little droid beeping and whirring when he made it to Cal’s shoulder.
“You okay, buddy?”
BD booped.
“Good. You’re two for two, huh? This Darth Pravus really did not want anyone in here.”
The chittering of the little droid let them both know how he felt about this tomb.
“At least you will have a large file on this place, BD.” Merrin said as a way to comfort him.
Beeping gratefully, BD pointed out there was a big, new pit they needed to cross.
Cal and Merrin both walked to the edge, looking over to see how deep it might be. Almost in unison they sighed at the annoyance of what, initially at least, looked like a bottomless pit.
Reaching into his bag, Cal pulled out his ascension cable. “This should do it.” He held the grapple with his left hand and reached out to Merrin with his right.
She was completely capable of teleporting across the new chasm but instead, she stepped close and allowed Cal to wrap his arm around her, holding her hip tightly. Merrin wrapped her arms around his shoulders and neck, careful not to dislodge BD.
Stealing a quick kiss, Cal reached up and shot his grapple at the ceiling, jumping as it found purchase, and swinging the three of them across the gap. Merrin gasped at the sensation of flying across the space and when their feet hit the ground, she turned and kissed him breathless.
“Have we never done that?” Cal whispered huskily, nuzzling her cheek with his nose.
Merrin kissed him again. Feeling his eager lips against hers after the thrill of their short swing was light and airy, as if she was floating in the atmosphere. “Never.”
Cal nipped at her lower lip. “Probably because you’re too stubborn and teleport everywhere.” He kissed her again, even as she pretended to protest.
He was right, of course.
But she certainly was not going to say it aloud.
Instead, she opened her mouth to his, inviting him to deepen the kiss. Cal took every advantage, his tongue gentle and insistent all at once. He wrapped his other arm around her and dipped her backward, causing her to mewl softly and causing BD to squawk and jump off Cal’s shoulder to avoid falling off.
“Sorry!” They chorused, righting themselves.
BD booped, chastising them even as they apologized.
“You’re right, you’re right.” Cal pandered, squeezing Merrin’s hand in his. “Let’s keep going.” He reached down his other arm to allow BD to climb back up.
Merrin would have sworn the little droid gave her a look as he re-took his perch on Cal’s shoulder.
After the large decorative frescos, the next hallway was long and narrow and anti-climactic. It resembled the very first chamber, no artwork and happily, no traps – though they walked through slowly as a precaution.
The next room was perfectly square and without one single bit of decoration, and perhaps most troubling – no passageways except the one from which they entered.
“Oh, great.” Cal ran a hand through his hair and BD chirped inquisitively.
The three cautiously walked into the room, looking for traps they recognized and wary of finding new ones.
Merrin’s brow furrowed. “What is that sound?”
Cal’s eyebrows raised. “Uh? What sound?”