The rays of the setting sun chased back the encroaching darkness. Nightfall brought little relief to the pair that wandered up the lonely mountain pathway. The air had been stifling humid yet faded into a biting chill, the sky overhead a bright orange-pink color quickly fading to dark blue, tinging the clouds and the high-hanging stars above, as well as the reflective shimmer of the massive planet filling most of the eastern horizon, both beautiful and hazy and far away.

Rhiasen wished it was just the miserable humidity of the day that had given her a headache. Wished it was just the strain of the days mission and exhaustion and hunger that dragged down her eyelids, her strength and sapped at her body heat now with the frigid air. Wished it wasn't endless stress and the thought of what lay ahead making the prospect of sleep anything but welcoming.

Wished she was anyone but herself at that moment, standing at a precipice with a horrible fate waiting, looming ahead with no where to run. In less than a week, they would meet the Emperor once more.

The Force didn't always guide her choices, it let her be the master of her own life. But every once in awhile it became clear this was not a fight Rhiasen could avoid. And here on the threshold she slowly approached, her heart quivered like an animal wishing only for escape and fearing death. Her mind screamed in equal dread with the same longing to flee and hide. Every cell within her strained for freedom in any direction but this one.

At her shoulder Scourge stepped forward to better be seen, as tall and silent as a statue of stone carved in a great temple. Ever ready, ever unwavering, his own dedication a burning hellfire compared to Rhiasen's own tepid embers.

"I can smell your fear." he whispered, low and measured.

There was no comfort in his words. This wasn't one of his attempts at dark humor, as much as that took on the form of crude jabs. It was cold, the truth spoken unflinchingly. No platitude given for the sake of kindness or some attempt to lessen the blow of his brutal words. He said this because he was stating a fact of her reality for the last few weeks.

Even her eyes had seemed changed, more bloodshot. Unrefreshed. Rhiasen smiled weakly at him, bitterness in her eyes, "Perceptive as always.." She hissed. "Anything else you'd care to comment on?"

Scourge only stared her down, in all the ways such a gaze could be given. The stare was hard, intense... A subtle bit of aggression to go with a straight line across his mouth, no hints of what could lie behind those lips. That kind of stare had once made her flinch and look away. But she knew him too well now. Even his stares didn't bother her anymore. And she only glared right back, her jaw stiff, her feet planted and shoulders squared in defiance.

"Petulance won't change your situation, Jedi. You know what needs done."

"My name is Rhiasen!" The words hissed out through her clenched teeth, frustration coming off her in a blistering wave of fury. Hands running through her hair, before gripping fistfuls and pulling at the tangles. He remained unphased, she expected that, "A little tact! Just a little! Tell me I am not ready, I won't feel offended..."

Scourge scoffed and turned, gazing at her from the corner of his eye, as if watching a small child throw a tantrum, "I would insult your capabilities, but that would be a lie, even by my standards."

Rhiasen didn't stop, "Thank the Force for small miracles, huh?...But it doesn't matter if I can do it or not! Do I even have a choice!?"

She glared at his profile as he scanned the horizon, ignoring her display. He was no help. And no consolation either, no matter what he told her or what he didn't. Because ultimately it was about the path the Force had laid upon them three centuries ago. They both were as trapped by it's guiding light as they had been the Emperor's enslavement. This was where their fates led, this was all they had to follow. There was nothing beyond this path, no future but a deep abyss waiting, where a choice couldn't even be made anymore should the Emperor be allowed to live.

How fitting to bring them both to this moment.

So, finally, she sighed and pulled her hood up, closing her eyes and struggling to calm herself, pushing her anxiety down beneath the surface, taking her courage by the reins and strangling the rest into submission.

She walked on.

They eventually found a hut. Through a doorway they walked. Entering the living area of a long abandoned building, broken by age, disrepair, and war. Thankfully Voss architecture stood strong and solid against the decay of time and damage. Stone columns held aloft the ceiling of the small house, a domed archway decorated in red and gold, reminding of old times and what this home might have looked like before when light of a warm hearth and voices of family and friends had lit it up.

Silence. Cold and barren. Forgotten and covered in shadows and dust, filled now only by Rhiasen and Scourge. And what it represented, all around them. And her damned mind betrayed her once more.

Is this what awaits the future, Rhiasen wondered. Should she die? How many more homes would stand like this, the air growing colder and colder without people to remind it why it had been warm in the first place. As devoid of life as the planet of Nathema, to whom even the dead could find no peace.

Scourge once more broke through her gloom, hearing the heavy clunk of his boots against the duracrete floor. He emerged from the single other room in this house aside from the main room, the bathroom, and leaned against the wall. Hands crossed across his chest. Waiting, watching.

"Empty."

Rhiasen sighed, "We... will stay here for the night.. I can't take another step.."

Silence again, heavy and all encompassing as the dust that settled itself on Rhiasen's robes, sneaking its way in past every fold and wrinkle. He nodded. She pulled her pack from off her shoulders and began looking for something, digging. But her search was not fruitful and a huff left her nose.

"...No rations... just great." Rhiasen snapped, throwing the empty pack against the far wall.

The crash it made was muffled, defeated. A stark symbol of everything she didn't say out loud, it rang out within her mind until it was nearly maddening and deafening. It sounded too much like her heart breaking under the strain of the constant pressure put on her, one problem piling on another, each adding to the next, each an echo and each growing stronger, feeding off one another.

The sound of crinkling wrapper and a package thrust before her made her blink and come back to herself.

It was food. An energy bar of some sort. Plain, gray-colored, not very appetizing looking. But it was food, and Rhiasen practically pounced on him for it. Scourge looked less than pleased.

"Eat, rest, meditate. This world can wait another day to die."

Scourge rumbled as he let her snatch the bar, watching her already try to shove most of it in her mouth, as if trying to avoid tasting it.

Her mouth full, cheeks puffed, Rhiasen let herself sit down on the ground and ate with some measure of joy at that point. She mumbled a thank you as best she could and watched Scourge look around. Not much else to keep his attention apparently.
Not that his attention could keep hers either, thoughts were consuming her. When did it become a fight to force her thoughts elsewhere.

After her meal, she adjusted her position into a meditative one, not even acknowledging Scourge's movements as he moved around the house. Doing whatever it was he did to kill time.

Her breathing exercises were long learned and easily called forth in her mind. She cleared herself of distractions, her aura, her physical pain, the discomfort and nervous energy of her fear. Every distraction, a sound that broke the silence or the faint movement of Scourge near to her, all of it fell away into nothing. Only calm awareness as her body became more and more numb.

Only then could she open the door between her mind and the living world that surrounded her. Feeling, sensing, touching everything that surrounded her. Not seeing, but not blind either. Her spirit, her energy, feeling her power and life so vibrant and true and flowing. All life was present. Living. Alive and aware. She could see them and the potential for their lives as pure light. The trees, the plants and insects that crawled upon them. Everything.

Even Scourge, though her senses could barely perceive him. Barely detect the fact he was there. Nothing. Empty. No spirit, no glow. Nothing. Yet a vague memory of living, yet not fully. Perhaps he could be brought back, Rhiasen thought. Would be brought back in time. When this was over and the galaxy freed.

She breathed again and her body responded. Awake, aware, yet feeling so connected and at one. Here. She was here. She was safe.

Here in the world the two of them knew. This is who she was. This is what her power allowed her to do. Rhiasen was the heart, and he was the shield. This is who they were together and how they kept eachother going. Even now. Especially now, when her greatest test awaited upon a throne soaked with blood. And now, on a journey of not just vengeance but also of hope. So much rested on her and her crew. All eyes watching. Ready to see her fall, or watch her lead.

Yet in her soul, she found a strength. From her roots that had been watered by many a failure, and blood. Many failures. Countless times she was wrong, was foolhardy and thoughtless, was angry, hateful, arrogant, prideful. Desperate, willing to take risks without thought or regard. Driven by passion and hot temper. Back to her Sith roots, not the Jedi way.

She chased answers and relief in her meditations, and found some fraction of solace after a few hours. But her physical fatigue and exhaustion still were too much to ignore. She needed sleep.

Rhiasen sat up with a slight groan, joints aching. Though the light trance had eased some tension.

A firm presence came to stand beside her.

"Sleep is necessary, and meditation can only do so much. The hour is late enough, and the room is secure. Do not protest."

Orange eyes flickered about the room, spotting the only durable-looking couch in the far corner, "Looks.. cozy."

"You will survive. As will your concern for such niceties."

With a grumble, Rhiasen half stumbled- half dragged herself across the small room and collapsed onto the old couch. It wasn't a particularly big couch either. Cushions sagged down to form the curve of the worn and cracked surface, and what passed for armrests were bent and pressed back hard.

She curled up, head laying back, shivering and tucked up under her robes to save what body heat was left. With one small mercy, she fell asleep rather quickly but her body could not be bothered to fall into the state of healing restfulness her mind demanded. Back and forth she went in this state, barely there, then tossing about. Small whines of distress occasionally breaking the still air. Her own cries mixed with slight shivering. Until she felt the couch shift with sudden additional weight, waking her slightly but not enough to crack her eyes open.

This was not a large couch by any means, and two people being on it forced them to press close together. Scourge said not a word when he sat down, perching himself upon the opposite end, and settled. Despite his own inability to feel it, Scourge radiated warmth, and that was a sensation Rhiasen was happy to sink into in this exhausted state, shuffling to slide closer to his side.

"Come." was all he offered, propping his arm up to make room. She complied.

His arm moved to wrap around her, securing her close to him in a strange half embrace.

"I would make a sarcastic remark.." Rhiasen sleepily muttered, but her breathing was calming. "About you caring. But..."

"Save the energy." came his reply.

Rhiasen managed a soft laugh, nestled against him, allowing a rare moment to rest as if all of this would hold them off for a few more years, away from a looming war. Away from killing the Emperor. How naive.

"I am afraid." she said, whispering it. As if fear had to be a secret, "What if I can't?"

"Then you die. No one can save you from such a fate except yourself. You have that choice and it is yours alone to make, Jedi."

Rhiasen gave a hum, "Am I supposed to think it comforting?"

"Nothing else needs said." A brief pause came as he continued, "Perhaps you lack understanding. Or maybe you underestimate your own power."

She only shrugged against his side, pressing closer, "Whatever the truth... It is hard to tell... this is it, isn't it?" Rhiasen spoke softly.

"He knows you are afraid." Scourge whispered, "His presence fills you with horror. But these are the last days the Emperor will ever feel anything so sweet. Whatever happens in time, his reign will end, and he will be reduced to less than a shadow."

"How are you so sure." Rhiasen sighed.

"I have made certain it will be so, whatever the outcome."

"You will keep him from killing me then?"

"Do not ask what you already know to be a foolish question, Jedi." Scourge grumbled.

Despite her fear and her exhaustion, the bitter, unhappy edge to his tone and words did actually make her smile, "Aren't you just the most helpful, devoted little Sith, Scourge."

"Flattery will not prevent me from letting the Emperor devour your life force and end your pointless, tiresome whining."

She snorted. So scathing, so biting... Not a hint of fondness in his voice even in the least bit, and yet he made her laugh, a smile still touching her tired lips, "What a terrible threat."

"One would think." He bit back.

"I might just be the lucky exception to a terrible fate."

"Make sure it stays that way." He advised. "I grow bored quickly."

"I wouldn't want that.", She yawned, closing her eyes as she leaned up against the Sith Lord. He remained unyielding even as her head bowed into exhaustion against his chest, curling inward to use him as a pillow. His breathing never hitched, his body never adjusted, just the barest incline to rest his chin upon the sleepy head of the small Jedi, arm barely bending to settle his palm against the small of her back, his thumb on the ridge of her hip. The gentle touch was all that could reach her. The only act of concern he could give.

"Nor I, Jedi."

It was a reassurance that wasn't lost on her as she drifted into a dreamless sleep.