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happy halloween batchers! 🎃

last year, i asked what you think the batch would dress up as for haloween! this year, i want to know what you think your favorite jedi would dress as. drop a comment with your thoughts 💭

i'll be dressing as padme this year! anyone else doing a star wars themed halloween costume?

enjoy two chapters for your holiday 💫

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later, Saedii was back in the jungle of Nal Kopak.

True to his word, Krell had allowed her to retire to the Venator for a few hours. To shower and change into fresh clothes. To have a medical droid wrap up her leg and stitch above her eye. Then, she'd been given a full plate of food. Real food, not a rations bar.

It had tasted better than anything Saedii could ever remember. Bread and soup, so warm as it filled up the empty expanse of her belly. Even though it was exorbitantly salty on her tongue, Saedii finished the bowl and used the last of her bread to mop up the dregs.

But her time for rest was short. Once her bowl had been cleaned, the Second Sister had been eager to return to the prison. To assist Krell in his search.

It was strange to be back in the place where, only a day before, Wolffe and the others had been standing. It felt almost like a dream – the standoff, the Third Brother's death, the chase through the night-dark trees. If not for the faint echoes in the Force and the footprints in the dirt, Saedii might have thought she'd imagined it.

Stormtroopers had flooded the trees. Their boots crunched through underbrush as they swept through the immediate area in search of clues.

From the whispers of conversation, they hadn't found much. Krell and his Inquisitors had followed Saedii's trail into the trees, but reported that Anakin and the others hadn't followed her long. Their footprints had led back to a much smaller clearing further away, where they'd taken off in a shuttle.

Already, Krell had sent his Inquisitors off to search nearby planets. Messages had been broadcast onto the public channels with Anakin and Obi-Wan's descriptions. Ahsoka, too, though Krell was more interested in the more experienced Jedi. What he considered to be the better prize.

Saedii had been left behind to search through what was left. A reward of some kind, Saedii supposed. In three days, she would be allowed to return back to the Fortress.

She hadn't been left alone. Kalth was here somewhere, also searching. And somewhere even further off, so far away that Saedii could hardly sense him, the Eighth Brother. Her babysitters.

Even though Saedii had fought her way back to him, Krell still didn't trust her enough to leave her on her own.

It felt odd to search without a helmet. Somehow, in the short time that Saedii had first been introduced, the feel of cold metal around her head had become comforting to her. Having her face exposed to the humid air felt wrong. 

Her emotions were safely hidden behind a blank expression of focus as she walked through the trees. The guilt and anxiety she felt over Wolffe and the others was tucked deep, though in the silence of the trees around her, they threatened to resurface.

Killing for Krell was unforgivable. Had taken a chunk from what little remained of her soul. But selling out her friends and the Rebellion? It hurt just as bad.

The gaping hole within her felt massive. A blackhole.

One hand reached up to rub her chest. At the aching space that beat beneath her ribs, cold and empty.

A hand suddenly grabbed her arm, yanking her back.

Saedii moved on instinct, breaking the hold and striking out. There was a grunted breath as her hit landed, but another arm wound around her, pinning her arms down.

"Don't make a sound," Kalth's voice hissed.

Panic struck her chest. Saedii struggled against him, slipping an elbow into his ribs. Grunting, he released her and stumbled back a step.

Saedii reached for her lightsaber.

"Wait." He held his hands up. His own lightsaber was still on his belt. "I just want to talk."

She didn't trust him. Not for a second.

But to her surprise, he slid his helmet off and tossed it on the ground. Letting her see his face – a face that was surprisingly open and honest. And riddled with black-mottled bruises.

That was enough to pull Saedii out of her defensive crouch.

Kalth's eyes flicked over the trees around them, darting to the retreating backs of the stormtroopers. With a tilt of his head, he gestured Saedii to follow him further into the trees. Away from the soldiers.

Wariness made her hesitate. She didn't trust him.

"Please," he added.

Inquisitors didn't beg. Kalth especially had never asked her for anything since she'd been there. That one word was enough to make her nod. To follow behind him as he filed out back through the trees.

Deeper into the jungle, the shade grew heavier, slicing through the humidity like a knife. It felt cool against Saedii's neck and face – the only part of her exposed. Navy and burgundy flowers bloomed along their path, thriving in the limited light.

Once the sounds of the troopers had finally faded, Kalth stopped. Saedii's hand hovered uncomfortably over her lightsaber.

"You can trust me," Kalth said quietly, noting the way she held herself.

Saedii's voice was flat. "I can't trust anyone."

"I know how to get out. To leave."

This again? A frustrated breath left her. Was Krell still trying to test her? Had she not proven her loyalty over and over already? What more could she do to prove that she would obey?

Saedii shook her head. "I've already told you. I'm not –"

"I know where Hemlock took the girl. The Clone."

A surprised breath escaped her before she could help it. "Omega?"

"Yes." Kalth's eyes twitched around them. Searching for listening ears. "She went to Wayland."

Wayland. Maps of the galaxy flashed through Saedii's head – the Outer Rim and its star systems. From what little she remembered, Wayland was uninhabited. Mountainous and treacherous.

It wasn't far from here. Perhaps only a few hours by hyperspace. All this time, Omega had been only hours away. So damn close.

The knowledge that Saedii could see her – could have Omega in her arms – in less than a few hours suddenly made a spark flare inside of her. The cold, empty space in her chest was suddenly full of heat. Of purpose.

Saedii could get Omega out. Could save her.

She hadn't thought about leaving for a long time, but now that she knew Omega had a chance at freedom, that was all she could think about. All she wanted.

"We can save her," Kalth continued.

"We?"

Kalth lowered his voice. "I want to come with you."

That same uneasiness from before flooded through her. A frown broke through her carefully blank expression. "Why would you want to come? You're an Inquisitor. You like being an Inquisitor."

A cold laugh erupted from him – a sound with no humor to it. "Is that what you think?"

"That's what you told me last year. On Serenno."

His expression faltered. "I...was different then. I didn't have –"

Kalth suddenly cut off. He looked away, scowling into the darkness between the trees.

"Didn't have what?" Saedii demanded.

Around them, a soft breeze blew through the trees. Ruffling the leaves. It played along the back of Saedii's neck like a caress, soft and sweet. A stark difference to the tension that played between the two of them now.

The scowl deepened on his face, like he wished he'd never said anything. Unconsciously, his hands flexed into fists at his sides. "A year ago, I didn't have you, Saedii."

Her name again. Not the Twelfth Sister. She stilled at the sound of it. Torn between elation and reluctance.

"I don't know why, but it makes me...angry to see you hurt," he admitted. "I care about you, even though I'm not really sure why."

"Because you know me. You remember," Saedii said softly.

It wasn't a question.

He sighed brusquely. "My dreams – they're coming more frequently now. Everything that I thought I knew feels different. Confusing. I...don't know what is real anymore."

The Force was frenzied. Turbulent. Kalth's emotional state was, just as he said, confused. But beneath it all, there was a faint ribbon of golden light. Not the darkness that Saedii had been accustomed to the past year, but a faint echo of familiarity.

His old self. He was still in there.

Just as she'd hoped.

"I don't know what's real, except for the way I feel about you," he continued. Voice hard, like he was admitting weakness. "Seeing Krell hurt you – I don't like it."

"That's why you lied to him this morning. About Anakin and Obi-Wan," Saedii realized.

Kalth nodded brusquely. "The Grand Inquisitor wouldn't have believed you. Not on your own. I didn't want to see you punished."

Saedii reached for the necklace tucked under her shirt. Reaching for familiarity.

It probably made her the biggest idiot in the galaxy, but she believed him.

"So where does this leave us?" she asked.

A faint glimmer of something reflected in his eyes as he realized that Saedii was going to trust him. "We'll need to get to Wayland and rescue the Clone. Otherwise, Krell will use her against you."

"Omega," Saedii corrected.

He nodded, as if that was insignificant. "Krell won't let you out on your own. He'll want you watched. I'll need to find a way to convince him to let me be in control of you. If it's just the two of us, we can go to Wayland."

"We need to go now," Saedii insisted.

"Soon," he agreed. "I know you want to save her, but the Clone has lasted this long –"

"Omega," Saedii corrected again. "And I don't care how long she's survived. I want her out of there now."

"We need to be careful. Go slow," Kalth cautioned. His eyes once again roved the forest. Agitated now. "If we're caught, Krell will –"

He broke off, closing his eyes. An unconscious shudder rolled down his back.

The feel of his fear leeching into the Force nearly made Saedii sick. She swallowed thickly, asking, "Krell will what? Kill me? I'm not scared to die, Kalth."

"No." His eyes opened and they were frigid. A thousand light-years away. "No, Krell doesn't want you dead. He wants you complicit."

"He's made me complicit for the past year."

"No, he hasn't. Not really."

Icy cold terror cooled the Force. Kalth's jaw worked as he looked away from her, and at his sides, his hands twitched into fists.

Saedii observed him. "What did he do to you? What made you trust him so blindly?"

"I don't trust him. I never did," Kalth asserted with fire. "I feared him, for what he could do. For what he did do."

Memories of the past year flashed behind her eyes. Phantom pain flared in her back, her neck, between her shoulders. Somehow, Saedii got the sense that she had only had a taste of what Krell was capable of.

Kalth sucked in a breath. "He can make you see things. Make your memories feel fake, and twist them until you remember something else. Until your mind is shattered and broken."

Goosebumps raised along her arms. Down her spine. This didn't sound like the mind tricks that Anakin had mentioned.

"How?" she asked.

"I don't remember."

He shook his head sharply, as if trying to clear it. Teeth baring, he hissed, "I have flashes of a room, deep in the dungeons of the Fortress. A stone table. Krell and another strapping me down."

"And then?"

"Then nothing. My mind goes blank."

Her jaw tensed. Whatever it was that Krell had done to Kalth in that room had to be responsible for the change in his behavior. For his twisted memories. For nearly two years, it had held Kalth in an iron grip. Driving him to hunt and kill his own brothers and sisters.

But it wasn't permanent. Kalth's presence here proved that whatever Krell had done could wear off with time.

Saedii reached a hand out, touching his shoulder. "We don't have to worry about that. Krell won't catch us. We'll be careful."

"We'll have to be. Once we've freed the Cl – Omega," Kalth started. "Krell will have lost his only way to control you. His only option, if he gets his hands on you again, will be to take you to the dungeons. To that room."

"That's not going to happen."

That spark inside of her was quickly catching. Flickering to life. Saedii had been so sure that there was nothing left of her old self; that the fight had been beaten out of her.

But she'd been wrong. Her old self was still in there – just like Kalth. The defiant side of her – the part that demanded she fight – had taken refuge among the the shadows of her pain and grief. Waiting for the perfect moment to reemerge.

A spark had been all she'd needed to bring it to the light.