Post by blackest_knight on Aug 31, 2008 0:43:01 GMT -5
I can't believe I didn't post this....I'm going to put the original here, and then post the reworked version when I get around to making it....
*
“Look Rhyssa, whatever you decide to do, Rhyssa Thorn is dead. But at least this way you’ll have a few more years of life.”
Bren Moradin felt the burn from her sea green eyes. He knew that if he could get her to agree with him, the strong-willed red-head would forever after be lost to him. And yet, if she didn’t agree, she’d still be lost. At least his way he knew she would still be alive somewhere in the galaxy. At least this way, he wouldn’t be the one to pull the trigger.
“You planning on shooting me, Bren? Or are you planning on talking me to death?”
“Rhyssa, do you know how hard this was to plan? To get them to agree that I would be the best to stab you in the back?” He gestured vaguely at the large furry figure of Hatarron standing just out of earshot. “To find a Wookie I trusted to get you off of here safely?” To find a Wookie whom I thought wouldn’t rip your head off.
He could tell she knew what he was thinking when her lip curled up into a ghost of a smile. He was amazed he had been able to keep this whole affair secret from her. But then again, she probably thought no one would dare try something like this: she was honestly better than any of the men in their squad. And on top of that, she was easily the most over-confident person he had ever met. Which is why she wouldn’t have thought the whole squad would try to stab her in the back.
“And now we come to it,” she said after a moment. “You did all of this, but I know you, Bren. What’s your price?”
“All I want is a promise, Rhyssa. Promise me you won’t try to get revenge on us, or the Empire. Just forget us. Just go and live your life.”
“Do you even know what you’re asking me?”
He hesitated, but only for a minute. “Rhyssa, you’re good. You might think that the Empire is the place you belong, but you’ll find somewhere else. You could be a mercenary, heck you’re good enough to be a bounty hunter.”
“I should have known. You don’t have the heart to pull the trigger on me, do you? That’s why you’re my second. You’re too soft.”
“Rhyssa...please, don’t do this.”
“Listen to me, Bren. Just listen to me. I thought you knew me! I thought you knew what the Empire meant to me! Here I can make a real difference. I’m helping to bring the galaxy together! Out there, as what, a mercenary, I’m no one! I’d be working for whomever paid me the most, just to survive. I’d just be helping to tear the galaxy further apart!”
“Rhyssa, you’re wrong! You could still make a difference!” he blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill from his blue eyes. “You being alive makes all the difference to me.”
Rhyssa bit back her retort. Deep down she knew what he was asking her. Bren hated killing anything unnecessarily; to him, all life was precious and should be honoured. She was often amazed that he had been able to make it this far: second in command to one of the best Imperial Special Forces units. Yet his philosophy did not make him weak, he still killed whenever ordered to. It was one of the things that she admired about him, how his philosophy made him so different from her.
And she knew that he loved her. She knew they must have been able to keep their affair secret from the squad if they had agreed that he could stab her in the back; Bren was a terrible liar and would never have been able to pull this off had they known his true feelings for her.
Unknown to Bren, Rhyssa had loosened the knife she kept hidden up her sleeve from its sheath. She sized him up, trying to decide which would be easiest: his trigger hand or his neck. From where she stood, both would be a difficult mark, but she had the utmost confidence that she could disable him. She could kill him, right here and now, then take on the rest of her squad.
So now the choice was her’s. Just how much did she love this man? To her, her job had always been everything. Even a year ago, she would never have hesitated. She had her gun by her side and her squad at her back. She had been on top of the world, happy in her place, bringing order to the galaxy.
Yet now she hesitated. Never in her wildest dreams would she have expected that anyone but her gun could capture her heart. Yet somewhere along the way, her blue eyed second had done just that.
She made the mistake of looking into his eyes then, those blue eyes that pleaded with her now. Those same eyes that had somehow managed to thaw the heart of one of the coldest women to grace the galaxy. And she knew what she had to do. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought she would fall in love. And never had she thought that same love would take everything away from her.
She exhaled sharply, lowering her knife. “If you really did love me, you’d have put that bolt through my spine. You wouldn’t be asking this of me.”
He let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and slowly lowered his gun. “Thank you, Rhyssa.”
She turned to him, her eyes hardening. “Rhyssa Thorn is dead. You killed her, Bren.”
He stood in stunned silence for a moment as she walked over to where the Wookie was waiting to take her off of the planet, and out of his life, his heart clenching in a pain worse than had she hit him with her knife.
“Wait!” he hurried after her, needing to say something. Hoping they could part on better terms than this. “If you need anything, contact me. I’ll do my best to get you whatever help you may need in your new life.”
Again she turned to him, her eyes even harder than before. “When you’re ready to release me of this promise, then we’ll talk.” She continued on to the Wookie. “Maybe then I’ll be ready to forgive you.”
*
“Look Rhyssa, whatever you decide to do, Rhyssa Thorn is dead. But at least this way you’ll have a few more years of life.”
Bren Moradin felt the burn from her sea green eyes. He knew that if he could get her to agree with him, the strong-willed red-head would forever after be lost to him. And yet, if she didn’t agree, she’d still be lost. At least his way he knew she would still be alive somewhere in the galaxy. At least this way, he wouldn’t be the one to pull the trigger.
“You planning on shooting me, Bren? Or are you planning on talking me to death?”
“Rhyssa, do you know how hard this was to plan? To get them to agree that I would be the best to stab you in the back?” He gestured vaguely at the large furry figure of Hatarron standing just out of earshot. “To find a Wookie I trusted to get you off of here safely?” To find a Wookie whom I thought wouldn’t rip your head off.
He could tell she knew what he was thinking when her lip curled up into a ghost of a smile. He was amazed he had been able to keep this whole affair secret from her. But then again, she probably thought no one would dare try something like this: she was honestly better than any of the men in their squad. And on top of that, she was easily the most over-confident person he had ever met. Which is why she wouldn’t have thought the whole squad would try to stab her in the back.
“And now we come to it,” she said after a moment. “You did all of this, but I know you, Bren. What’s your price?”
“All I want is a promise, Rhyssa. Promise me you won’t try to get revenge on us, or the Empire. Just forget us. Just go and live your life.”
“Do you even know what you’re asking me?”
He hesitated, but only for a minute. “Rhyssa, you’re good. You might think that the Empire is the place you belong, but you’ll find somewhere else. You could be a mercenary, heck you’re good enough to be a bounty hunter.”
“I should have known. You don’t have the heart to pull the trigger on me, do you? That’s why you’re my second. You’re too soft.”
“Rhyssa...please, don’t do this.”
“Listen to me, Bren. Just listen to me. I thought you knew me! I thought you knew what the Empire meant to me! Here I can make a real difference. I’m helping to bring the galaxy together! Out there, as what, a mercenary, I’m no one! I’d be working for whomever paid me the most, just to survive. I’d just be helping to tear the galaxy further apart!”
“Rhyssa, you’re wrong! You could still make a difference!” he blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill from his blue eyes. “You being alive makes all the difference to me.”
Rhyssa bit back her retort. Deep down she knew what he was asking her. Bren hated killing anything unnecessarily; to him, all life was precious and should be honoured. She was often amazed that he had been able to make it this far: second in command to one of the best Imperial Special Forces units. Yet his philosophy did not make him weak, he still killed whenever ordered to. It was one of the things that she admired about him, how his philosophy made him so different from her.
And she knew that he loved her. She knew they must have been able to keep their affair secret from the squad if they had agreed that he could stab her in the back; Bren was a terrible liar and would never have been able to pull this off had they known his true feelings for her.
Unknown to Bren, Rhyssa had loosened the knife she kept hidden up her sleeve from its sheath. She sized him up, trying to decide which would be easiest: his trigger hand or his neck. From where she stood, both would be a difficult mark, but she had the utmost confidence that she could disable him. She could kill him, right here and now, then take on the rest of her squad.
So now the choice was her’s. Just how much did she love this man? To her, her job had always been everything. Even a year ago, she would never have hesitated. She had her gun by her side and her squad at her back. She had been on top of the world, happy in her place, bringing order to the galaxy.
Yet now she hesitated. Never in her wildest dreams would she have expected that anyone but her gun could capture her heart. Yet somewhere along the way, her blue eyed second had done just that.
She made the mistake of looking into his eyes then, those blue eyes that pleaded with her now. Those same eyes that had somehow managed to thaw the heart of one of the coldest women to grace the galaxy. And she knew what she had to do. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought she would fall in love. And never had she thought that same love would take everything away from her.
She exhaled sharply, lowering her knife. “If you really did love me, you’d have put that bolt through my spine. You wouldn’t be asking this of me.”
He let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and slowly lowered his gun. “Thank you, Rhyssa.”
She turned to him, her eyes hardening. “Rhyssa Thorn is dead. You killed her, Bren.”
He stood in stunned silence for a moment as she walked over to where the Wookie was waiting to take her off of the planet, and out of his life, his heart clenching in a pain worse than had she hit him with her knife.
“Wait!” he hurried after her, needing to say something. Hoping they could part on better terms than this. “If you need anything, contact me. I’ll do my best to get you whatever help you may need in your new life.”
Again she turned to him, her eyes even harder than before. “When you’re ready to release me of this promise, then we’ll talk.” She continued on to the Wookie. “Maybe then I’ll be ready to forgive you.”
