Fiction Activity

Competition
Alignment Shift
Textual submission

The second she'd woken that morning, Malice knew something was wrong. She sat up quickly in her bed, looking immediately around her own room. Everything seemed to be as she'd left it. Aiya was still sleeping where she had been the night before, and the sleepy Nexu twitched in her sleep. Still, Malice could still feel something was different, and she was determined to find out just what it was. Making sure not to wake Aiya, she got out of bed, quickly pulling on her normal outfit and clipping her lightsaber to her side. She opened her door, peeking her head out cautiously. Everything seemed to look the same outside her hallway. A few people she didn't know walked by, but that wasn't cause for alarm, there were many people she didn't know yet.

She walked around, glancing through different windows and doorways, trying to find what in the world could be throwing her off so badly this morning. Passing one of the training rooms, she had almost completely passed it, when she realized who it was inside. Kalon Entar sat, seemingly in meditation. That was odd by itself, as he wasn't one to find any use in the practice. She entered the room carefully, still fully on guard. The Savant seemed to sense her presence immediately, and a warm smile lit his face, making Malice freeze mid-step. Kalon was smiling? Actually and genuinely smiling? He opened his eyes, getting to his feet and coming over to her.

"Kaila, it's good to see you. Have you come to meditate as well?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.She pushed it off, frowning.

"I told you not to call me that." She replied, her eyes filled with suspicion and a growing paranoia. Kalon's warm face turned to one of confusion.

"What do you mean? Why would I call you by anything but your name?" he questioned. He could see there was something wrong with her today, and he was starting to grow worried. "Kaila are you feeling alright?"

"What's going on, Kalon? Something is wrong and I can feel it, and now you're not acting like yourself." Malice shot at him, her voice starting to raise. Kalon didn't answer, but slowly pulled a holocommunicator out, speaking into it.

"Can we get Master Selika to training room C-74? Her apprentice is here and she's acting...out of character."

Perfect. If anyone knew what to do, It would be Selika. Leaving Kalon behind her, Malice approached one of the training dummies, deciding to take some of her frustration and anger out on the unsuspecting target. After a few well-placed kicks, the dummy's head ripped clean off, hitting the ground with a soft thump. She glanced over, not realizing Selika had already entered the room and was sharing a few worried glances with Kalon. They both looked at her, not saying anything at first until Selika raised her hand.

"Kaila. May we speak with you?" She called. Malice flinched. Even if Kalon calling her that had simply been a slip-up, there was no way in the galaxy that Selika ever would. Selika was the one that had given her the name Malice, telling her it was her new name and her old name was dead now. She approached the two slowly, eyeing each of them with suspicion.

"Kalon tells me you're feeling strange today." Selika started, her face painted with worry. "That was quite a bit of...aggression you displayed over there. Has something happened? Would you like to talk to us about it? You know anger and hate are not the Jedi way."

"Well, of course it's not, I'm not-" Malice cut herself off quickly, realizing it would be a short conversation if she'd finished her sentence the way she almost had.

"-feeling well. I'm not feeling well. Kalon was right. I just feel sick today."

Selika and Kalon's faces both relaxed instantly, their concern seeming to dissipate now that there was a believable reason for her behavior. They were both dripping with light side energy, and while Malice was still determined to get to the bottom of it, she was slowly beginning to wonder if perhaps she was dreaming. That would certainly make sense, and the more she thought about it, the more she began to relax.

"Would you like me to escort you back to your room?" Kalon asked, his warm smile returning. Malice nodded. Perhaps if she went back to sleep, she would wake up back in her actual body.

Kalon gave a small respectful bow to Selika before heading out of the training, room leading Malice back to her own quarters. She followed him silently, still trying to formulate how she was going to get out of this dream world. Currently, going back to sleep seemed like her best shot, and she was so busy concentrating, she almost didn't realize Kalon had stopped in front of her door.

"I hope you feel better tomorrow." Kalon said, inclining his head to her.

"Thanks. I hope I-" her sentence halted and she winced, looking down at her finger. Her hand had slipped reaching for the door code, and she'd somehow managed to cut her pointer finger. A small drop of blood beaded and dripped from her hand, falling to the floor. She looked at it in horror, her breathing starting to quicken.

"Kaila? What's wrong?" Kalon didn't get an answer. She just continued to stare at her finger. It was beginning to sting as she stuck it in her mouth, cleaning the blood off of it. After a short while, she muttered one sentence under her breath.

"You can't feel pain in dreams."