Ossus

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke put one hand one the cave wall, his wandering hand now resting on his master's waist.*

 

"Yeah, I feel it. I feel lots of things. The Force, the flesh, swift slaps to the face because I'm a relentless letch--I'm that kind of sensitive."

 

*Locke leaned in, still grinning even as Kirana began to loose her composure...*

[Kirana Sunrider]

With the cool wall at her back and the intimacy of his 'advance', the only way she'd get away from Locke would be to force push him away... but the last time she did that it backfired and he ended up on top of her... Kira was very aware of his hand on her waist, of their lack of clothing, of his masculine scent. Her breathing shortening and becoming rapid.

 

She knew she should at least try and get away, put some distance between them... but with all they had been through and what she had read about in the history books from the hidden library... she wasn't sure she really wanted to... there was one thing though...

 

"I thought you wanted to make your lightsaber Locke..."

 

Her voice came out soft and breathy, her confusion still evident... part of her wanted him to continue his advances... part of her was afraid of what would happen if he did...

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke was completely undeterred by her attempt at changing his coarse. His fingertips slowly traced the outside curve of her body, going up her waist and under her arm, then up her neck where he rested two fingers on the underside of her chin. He spoke softly to his panicked master. *

 

"It can wait."

[Kirana Sunrider]

His light touch tickled her slightly. Kira gasped as she felt his fingers moving up her body to under her chin. Her voice barely a whisper as she tried to distract him again,

 

"I... I thought that's what you wanted..."

 

She was very aware of how close their bodies were, swallowing as her eyes fluttered closed...

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke perked an eyebrow at her last ditch effort to change his mind Smiling and closing his eyes momentarily, he nervously bit his lip before he spoke.*

 

"This- is what I want."

 

*Locke leaned in slowly, his hand tracing her jaw before resting on the back of her head. His lips touched hers, cold and damp from the cave air. They kissed, his eyes closing as their lips made contact, though he fully expected her to push him away...*

[Kirana Sunrider]

This wasn't like their first kiss in the heat of battle, this time his touch was electric. There was no-one shooting at them, no-one attacking them... and no armour to separate skin from skin. Putting up a token resistance her hands went to his chest to push him away, but instead of carrying out the movement her fingers felt his muscled contours. Not quite knowing what had come over her, she let him deepen the kiss, finding herself responding almost against her will. Her hands went from his chest to slip around him, caressing his back and leaning into his kiss...

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke's other hand went from the wall to her shoulder, then went across her back to trace the contour of her spine. They kissed with great intensity- Locke's passion compounded by how hard he had been working to get as far he had come. He pressed forward, sandwiching her between the wall and his own body. Locke's lips stretched into a smile as he tilted his head to rest against her forehead.*

 

"Wasn't so bad now, was it boss?"

[Kirana Sunrider]

Her eyes fluttered open as the kiss ended and Kira's blue eyes met with his. Her heart was beating rapidly, the kiss having had a dramatic effect on her. She relished the feel of his body pressed against her, enjoying what she had so long denied, the force bond between them open at that moment. A slight smile appeared on her lips at his words and she struggled to come up with an answer.

 

"I..." she lowered her eyes, then glanced back at him her voice soft and full of emotion, "No, it wasn't bad at all Locke"

 

She could feel through her back the tingling sensation of crystals on her bare skin, adding to the moment shared with Locke. Not in control of what she was doing as if someone else had taken control of her actions, her hand caressed up his back to his head, running her fingers through his hair before pulling him back down to kiss again... What am I doing?

[Locke_StarSpanker]

You're submitting to your desires...

 

*Locke heard her thoughts clear as day from that distance, with her mind wide open to him. Tingling sensations ran through his body as she slowly manipulated his blonde hair. Locke's hand moved slowly up her back once more, moving steadily toward the latch of the last garment that stood in his way...*

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kira'd never felt anything like this before, the sensations of flesh upon flesh, the emotions swirling about them as she surrendered to the kiss. I've never felt like this before... Her hands explored his body, weaving their way over his back, through his hair...

 

Becoming aware of him doing the same to her, only his hand had paused at the catch of her bra... coming to her senses she pulled back from the kiss, shaking her head...

 

"I... no... I can't do this... please don't..."

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke was surprised by her sudden opposition. He stepped back, his touch falling short of her skin.*

 

"What's the matter?"

[Kirana Sunrider]

Again confusion shone in her eyes, part of her wanted him to continue, but reality had struck... this was all moving too fast for her. Kira's eyes lowered from his, only to fall to his chest. She closed them, feeling his hurt at her pulling away from him. She turned back towards the wall, tears escaping her as she fought an inner battle. She didn't want to hurt him but she'd never been romantically involved with anyone before... it was obvious that he was experienced where she wasn't. Her thoughts roamed back in time, unwanted memories surfacing once more...

 

She had purposely stayed away from that area, especially after her best friend growing up had been hurt so badly. Both girls had had a crush on the most handsome boy at highschool... and they hadn't been the only ones. He turned his attentions towards her best friend, Caset and for a while her friend had been the happiest Kira had ever seen her... until that night. Everything had changed, including Kira's whole view towards men. The group of friends had been at the beach one night, Cass had gone for a 'moonlit' walk with him, Kira had seen the pair walk off, kissing as they went. A short time latter she had heard Cass scream "No! Get off me!" and had run to her friends aid. By the time she had gotten there it was too late. Her friend had been abused and all she could do was drag him off Cass and drive her fist into his pretty boy's nose. She'd hit him with such force that his nose had shattered...

 

That night everything had changed... her friends innocence lost... and Kira's attitude towards men. Keep them away, never let them close. Use them for information by teasing them with what they thought they'd get - then give them nothing... she'd trained in every form of self defense she could possibly learn but the damage had been done. Cass had changed, at first she'd withdrawn. Kira had done everything she could to help her but nothing had worked. When Cass had found out she was pregnant, her disgrace had increased even though it wasn't her fault. She committed suicide rather than bring the child into the world and Kira had punished every man that had shown interest in her after that. "Ice maiden" she'd been called as icy and hard as her cold blue eyes. She'd left her homeworld, moving to Coruscant and eventually after working in various body guard jobs, had joined the rebellion.

 

Her voice was a low whisper, tears now flowing freely down her face...

 

"I'm sorry Locke... I can't... it's all too fast..."

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke touched Kirana's face, whipping away on of her tears with his thumb. He had observed her stream of memories, and was extremely sympathetic to her fear. He began to channel a small stream of force energy through her, which carried with it a mildly consoling quality. Locke's hand went to the back of her head, which he pulled to his shoulder. He gently rubbed her back. He spoke with an incredibly soothing voice, holding the girl close.*

 

"Shh... It's okay, Kirana."

[Kirana Sunrider]

With the comfort he offered as well as the gently force touch and understanding, Kira felt some of the tension leave her. She rested her head against his shoulder, her arms sliding round him to receive the comfort he offered her. It took a while for the tears to stop before she pulled her head back, offering him a tear stained smile.

 

"Thankyou Locke."

 

She had realised he had used her name rather than 'boss', his sincerity touching her deeply.

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke Smiled warmly, completely unphased by Kirana's objection. He had seemingly infintite patience, and great compassion. A born Jedi. Locke kissed her moist cheek and stepped backward.*

 

"You don't need to thank me for what any decent human being would do..."

[Kirana Sunrider]

"You'll make a good Jedi Knight someday Locke... speaking of which, I haven't been much of a Master the last few hours have I?"

 

She became aware again of how little she still wore, scooping up her shirt through the force and slipping it back on.

 

"We should probably get these crystals back to the ship." Tilting her head to the side, her smile widening, "Unless you want a dunking?"

 

She could still feel the call of the crystals embedded in the wall of the cave and could see the one's that had emerged from the surface.

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke extended his hand to pull at the crystals embedded in the wall. Through the force he was only able to dislodge four crystals, only enough to make two lightsabers. Locke facinated by his inability to collect any more based on how easy it was to get the four. Locke disregarded it, putting his arm casually around his master's shoulder.*

 

"Sounds good to me. What are we waiting for, boss?"

[Kirana Sunrider]

"Only waiting for..." Kira let the force guide her towards the wall, alittle further along from where Locke got his crystals from, "this."

 

She dislodged two crystals, both almost clear, one with a greeny blue tinge and the other an amethyst hue. Both only small, but perfect for the two daggers she had in mind to make.

 

Feeling more in sync with her padawan, Kira placed an arm around his waist and the two made their way through the edge of the waterfall and over to where they left their other items. Kira slipped back into her trousers and placed her robes around her shoulders before the two made their way back to the ship.

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke grabbed his book for ignored his shirt, it having sank to the bottom the of stream where Locke had not the will to retrieve it. Plus, he really liked going shirtless. Locke headed back to the ship with his master along his side, climbing in the roof hatch, their ship still firmly embedded in a pool of mud. Locke's feet hit the floor of their ship with a loud clank. He politely helped her down as well, though not without sneaking a peek at her bum.*

 

"You know what we need on this ship? A real shower. Though, getting water for it would be kind of a hassle. We'd have to be careful. Conserve the water. Shower together. Yep. It's an inconvenience, but I think it'd be worth it, personally..."

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kira grinned at him, mischief again in her eyes.

 

”œIs that so Locke? You had the opportunity to shower with me under the waterfall and you missed it. While I do admit a real shower would be good, I don't think two people would fit in that small cubicle.”

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke raised an eyebrow, her thoughts still quite open.*

 

"I'd say 'that's pleanty of room, we'll just have to be really close.' except I think you've beaten me too it."

 

*Locke set his crystals and his book on a table, turning around to lean against it...*

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kira blushed again muttering under her breath, you weren't s'posed to hear that... Watching him place his crystals down on the bench, she brought her own out of her pockets and examined each. Placing them down on the bench as well, she went to the storage cupboard in the hold, getting out a box of special componants that she'd had transfered from the freighter.

 

"Feel up to some construction Locke?"

[Locke_StarSpanker]

"Oh yes, boss. I'm all about it."

 

*Locke scratched his head, looking in the box curiously. He began to pick through the components carefully, selecting the best and most appropriate ones for what he wanted. He would need one power cell for a regular lights saber, but for what he wanted to create- he needed four. He couldn't find a four way power gate, so instead he took three two ways, which he would have to modify to work as a single unit. He took two light emitters, several circuits, switches, etc, etc, along with the strongest coil he could find. The pile on the table next to his book grew and grew as he picked up more and more specialized components for the lightsabers he was to build...*

[Kirana Sunrider]

"I'll be back in a moment Locke"

 

Kira left him to it, heading towards the galley to fix them both something to eat while they worked as neither had had sustinance for quite some time. She made up a plate of sandwiches and took them back into the hold, placing them down on the work bench within reach of him. Taking a sandwich she sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall and relaxing while she ate. She would make her daggers after she'd eaten.

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke sat down at his bench, taking a sandwich with a thankful nod, stuffing all of it into his mouth without taking the time to chew. He went to work on his first lightsaber immediately. Locke used the only casing that was available to him, a fairly plain one with black grip. It wasn't a bad one, just not what he wanted. Locke started with the standard lightsaber because building it would be, for him, pretty easy. All the components were prefabricated, all he had to do was hook them up properly.

 

He went bottom to top, starting by fitting in the power field conductor, in which he fitted is energy cell. The energy gateway fit snugly on it's output, and in it fit the primary crystal. Locke picked carefully which one to use, though it really wouldn't produce any sort of noticeable difference. There were two more parts Locke wanted to incorporate, but he couldn't find them. Mildly displeased, Locke fit the energy component into it's housing in his hilt.

 

Locke next went to the focusing crystal. An inch above the primary the secondary was positioned to feed into the blade energy channel, which took the energy of the blade into energy modulation circuits and then into the Light emitter. Locke set it up with scary precision, screwing on the second plate the hilt casing carefully. Locke set the saber down on the table idly, as if ignoring it, as he went back to the box to look for more parts...*

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kira finished her lunch, smiled at Locke as he shovelled his food in, before heading to the box to get out the components she would need for her light daggers. Fishing out the emitters, switches, lenses and other bits and pieces, she laid them out beside her crystals. She contemplated then what to use as her lightdagger hilt. It would need to be alot smaller than a saber hilt. She headed over to the weapons locker and looked inside, trying to come up with ideas. Her gaze fell to the vibroknives that were kept in a box at the base of it and she picked one up, turning it over in her hand. Decision made, she picked up another and moved back to the work bench.

 

Carefully she removed the blade of the first one, hollowing out the insides of the hilt. She then placed each part within the hilt, modifying it slightly so that they would all fit snuggly inside, including the switch which was a force activated one. Lastly she placed the greeny blue crystal. Everything secured and the cover fitted, she activated the dagger's blade, seeing the pale green-blue blade emerge, very similar in colour to her saber blade, only this was alittle darker, not so silver.

 

Happy with her work, she shut it down and started on the next one...

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke anticipated that coming up with a workable light whip would take much more doing than the lightsaber, due to the extremely obscure nature of the weapon. Locke Fitted two energy cells on a T shaped energy gateway such that the two were in line with one another. He repeated with the second four, creating long energy cells with sideways energy outputs.

 

Locke found a third T energy gateway, which he eyed with mild curiosity. He scratched his chin, trying to decide the best way to make it work. Locke carefully used the force to bend the cross of the T into a right angle, then connected all four of the others to it. He used a crude extender to elongate the gateway before Energy could finally hit crystal. Locke's application of power field conductors was equally difficult, having to keep the energy flowing in the right direction through seven different flows. He slave wired the coils to the T energy gates in a last ditch attempt to save himself a little trouble. When Locke had finished with the power assembly it looked similar to an A-9 Vigilance fighter, with it's wholly strange shape. Locke moved on to the crystal, reasonable sure that this set up wouldn't explode.

 

Locke fitted in the primary crystal into the open end of the energy gate. He needed to start the crystal assembly, but he couldn't until he had a hilt casing for it. He wouldn't be able to use anything standard, not with all the deviations from standard design he had incorporated already. Locke took a big piece of durasteel from the crate along with welding torch and went to work...*

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kira glanced over at Locke, giving him a smile at his concentration before she started on her second dagger. She followed the same procedures as before, removing the blade from the second knife, hollowing it out and inserting the components as she had done with the first one. She slipped the second crystal into place. The amethyst crystal slid into place perfectly, the force swirling round both daggers and their creator. She tested the second blade, finding the pale purple springing forth just as the other had. Dis-igniting the blade she slipped them both into her boot sheaths.

 

Deciding not to disturb Locke in his construction, she silently left the hold, heading firstly to the cockpit to look out the view window then to her bedroom to gather up her nightshirt. She headed for a sonic shower, changing into her nightwear then to the galley again. She prepared two meals, leaving Locke's where he could find it when he was ready and eating her's. She hadn't realised the passage of time, so great had her concentration been.

 

Cleaning up her dishes she headed to bed. They'd set off first thing in the morning. She had to get back to Selvaris to see what was happening there.

[Locke_StarSpanker]

*Locke held up a long somewhat strangely shaped lightsaber casing. It was nearly twice the length of a regular lightsaber, and the shape near the base took a slightly more triangular, but wholly more ergonomic shape. It fit in his hand very well, him having cut, welded and bent it into shape numerous times to get it exactly how he wanted. Locke set it down on the table and mounted the power assembly in carefully, making sure that it lined up properly. Misalignment could result in catastrophic malfunction, IE- big explosion, And Locke's design was shady enough without worrying about flaws in construction. Locke screwed it in extremely firmly, moving onto the crystal energy chamber.

 

This set up had four times as much energy as in a normal lightsaber passing through the crystal, so rather than have larger channels, which would require larger crystals, Locke set it up to pass four times as fast. Locke position the second crystal along with the nicest blade energy channel receptor he could find in the box. That in place he started working on the energy modulation circuits, which he doubled to accommodate the excess power that would be traveling through it.

 

The final and most challenging part of this lightsaber's creation was setting up the lightsaber to coil around the alloy whip. Locke picked up a brick of steel and crushed the emitter, breaking it into several smaller parts. He picked up the whip and began carefully work on connecting the emitter contact to the alloy of the whip directly. The idea was that rather than having one small contact which emitted a 3-4 foot blade, the entire surface of the whip became the contact, emitting a blade but a couple of centimeter's in length.

 

Locke worked for hours on end, carefully calibrating the lightsaber to the exact specifications. Growing very tired, he picked up his screw driver and screwed on the casing for his hilt. Locke sighed, falling face first into his work. The lightwhip was complete.

 

Locke stood up, grabbing a hold of his lightsaber in one hand and his lightwhip in the other. The whip drug on the floor as he slowly walked over to the middle of the ship, where he'd have the most room. Locke held his lightsaber out in front of him and his whip at his waist behind him. He flipped the first switch, activating the golden lightsaber. Locke gave it a few good swings, testing to see if he had left any shorts in the mechanism that might cause it to flicker out or explode. Locke was proud of his work, noting it's flawless construction.

 

Locke deactivated it and span it around his hand, clasping it onto his belt. Locke turned and held up the lightwhip, giving it a few good cracks to make sure the whip didn't break off of the hilt. He grit his teeth, thumbing the switch nervously. He thumbed the switch, covering his face in anticipation of a huge explosion. Locke looked through his fingers at the weapon. Nothing happened. Locke lifted it a little higher, then bringing it a little closer to his face he looked for a sign of malfunction. Suddenly the blue light burst forth from the hilt, creating a short field around the alloy whip which slowly spread down it's length. Surprised, Locke jerked it back away from him, swinging the whip at the wall and slashing a very large gash into the hull of ship. Locke deactivated it before it could cause anymore damage to their nice new ship.

 

Locke coiled the whip and hung it off his belt, walking unsettled over to the gash in the ship. Locke grabbed a hold of a large piece of machinery and with a loud groan he dragged it in front of the wall.

 

Problem solved...

 

Ignoring the food he went into his personal cabin, leaning against the doorway. It was a simple cabin, with a small bunk, but somehow it was completely uninviting. Locke turned to eye Kirana's bunk, which was now in her cabin across the hall. He walked in, quietly, trying not to wake her up as he climbed into bed with her again. He had failed at this once, by his logic, but Locke's persistence was unrivaled. He laid on top of his sleeping master, planting a polite kiss on her forehead before he went down to sleep...

[Kirana Sunrider]

Visions danced behind Kira's closed eyes, to begin with not so pleasant as she saw again the battle at Coruscant. She flinched in her sleep as she recalled the battle of wills she had gone though against the dark lord, how she had come close to losing her resolve. Patterns shifted and she was now on the surface of the planet rather than in the freighter above. She had been ever so grateful to Malin for his assistance against that unseen enemy. Making her way through the rubble, she had then made her way closer to Locke's position, hiding in the rubble to use her battle meditation while the squad rescued him. She had been so relieved when he'd been brought in safe, a smile coming across her face as, in the dream she recalled their first kiss.

 

The dream shifted again, this time to the cave. She could feel his body pressed against her, his lips as they had kissed again, how he had held her, his lips pressing against her forehead”¦ it felt so real, not just a dream”¦ the weight of his body against her, sandwiching her between himself and the wall of the cave”¦

 

Her conscious mind broke through to the surface, struggling to make sense of it all”¦ the weight of his body”¦ Hang on”¦ he never kissed my forehead”¦ Her eyes fluttered open, sleep still fogging her mind as she tried to shift positions but found she couldn't, something was weighing her down”¦ Locke! What? She was so tired, her body felt so leaden, not only from how he was positioned. She struggled slightly, wriggling partially out from under him, sleep still warring with her conscious mind, encouraging her to rest”¦ part of her wanted to move, to put some distance between them. The lethargy won out though, her eyes again fluttering closed and a strange feeling of comfort coming over her as their bodies shifted, his arms surrounding her”¦ maybe this is all just part of the dream”¦ She sighed, falling into a deeper, dreamless sleep”¦