On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CXIII

Vader, had he been anything other than the Dark Lord of the Sith he was, would have jumped and proceeded to race towards the screams that suddenly filled the abandoned corridor.

That said, he did move rather hurriedly. How could he not when he could sense the origin? The terror, the panic, flowing from his apprentice's presence, the distress radiating from her very being.

Blasted shields! He should have noticed sooner!

Vader entered Luna's room, easily locating her thrashing form on the floor, as though she was attempting to fight off something he could not see.

A warrior through and through. He would have felt pride, had there been time. Had his little girl not been in the grips of her first ever vision.

The Sith had hoped ever since he'd first realized precisely what sharing blood may mean that Luna would have failed to inherit his particular curse. Clearly a foolish thought. He should have warned her better. Prepared her.

No time for that now.

Vader knelt to the ground, and in a single smooth motion, pulled the girl up from the floor and into his arms. She fought him, of course, still locked in the vision's throwl, but the Sith Lord was stronger, easily overpowering Luna's reckless attempts at freedom and holding her close to his chest, where she wouldn't be able to easily escape. The many hits she landed against him were bothersome, but not terribly so. Nothing that couldn't be ignored.

What were a few bruises to someone like Vader after all?

What couldn't have been longer than a few minutes—though it felt like an eternity of trying to bring her out of the vision, or at least project some form of reassurance to the girl through the Force—Vader's Shadow returned to the Sith.

He sensed it before he saw it. Her Force presence sparked to full alertness, increased by the adrenaline that was pumping through her system while her struggles finally ceased, though her body remained tense in his arms.

Then Luna, not only alert but now aware of her surroundings, realized her Master had come to her. The tense stiffness disappeared immediately as she wilted into him, sobs that she had somehow either kept to herself or been too busy screaming beforehand to have, shuddered through her body, though she cried quietly.

She'd always tried to be so quiet, as if prepared to disappear at a moment's notice.

"You're safe, little one. It was only a dream," Vader lied, sensing now was not the time to push the girl for information. "Nothing is going to hurt you, not while I'm here."

That, at least, was not a lie.

It was a promise, though the girl didn't know it.

And even if she had, Luna was far too concerned about the contents she had just seen. Had been seeing for a good amount of time, though her Master did not know it being he had been off on a mission and had only returned the day before.

It was not her own safety she was concerned about, but his.

~*~

Luke found her first. Well found wasn't quite the right word, more like stumbled into range of Luna's screaming on his way to breakfast still thinking the girl was in the medcenter only to find her having a fit on the floor like a demon possessed.

"Luna! Wake up!" Luke yelled, springing to her side, immediately trying to pin her down so she didn't knock her head into the bed frame or give her arms any more bruises. It was harder than it sounded, the girl fought hard in her sleep, nearly knocking Luke's head into the bed as she tried to buck him off or scratch his eyes out. "Luna! Snap out of it!!"

Yelling did no good either. Luke attempted to divert his attention enough to get Vader's attention from over their bond, but was snapped back to reality before he could establish contact as she kneed him in the stomach and nearly succeeded in elbowing him in the eye. They struggled for what felt like hours before, finally, Luna's eyes snapped open and the struggles ceased.

"....Luke?" the girl gasped in surprise, eyes widening in surprise to find him practically on top of her. "What?"

"Are you alright?"

"....If you'd get off?"

"Oh, right. Sorry," Luke responded, suddenly embarrassed as he hurriedly moved to the side. The girl winced, air hissing through her teeth. "You okay?"

"It's fine.... Just feels like I've been hit by a car," she responded, eyes shutting once more.

Luke did not know what a car was, but he figured with the context it wasn't something you'd want to get hit by. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Already like this earlier. Sorry if I punched you, Ahsoka's said I sleepfight rough."

"Kneed actually," he corrected, moving to sit against the wall. He could already feel bruises developing on his abdomen. "I'm fine."

"Sorry."

"It's fine.... So, what was all that....sleepfighing about?"

"Vision. Didn't always used to do that when they came in nightmare form."

Luke raised an eyebrow in surprise. He'd had visions before. And he'd sure as hell never gone through whatever the hell Luna had just experienced.

"Never had my visions happen like that before," Luke commented, though he immediately regretted the words. It wasn't like he'd had much experience with visions.

"Pray it stays that way," Luna stated, voice wearier than he'd ever heard from the Sith apprentice before.

"Is it normal for them to come in the form of nightmares and not during meditation?"

"....It's normal for your father. And me," the girl responded after several moments of silence. "Part of the bloodline. Of the inheritance." She said something else, lips mouthing words that he couldn't fully catch (the curse perhaps?).

"....You're losing me."

"Forget it, Luke. How'd you find me?"

"You have a healthy pair of lungs."

Luna chuckled a little at the words. "I guess that answers the question of whether or not my ribs have healed up."

"Speaking of, how's your recovery going? Ahsoka said you were still resting in the medcenter yesterday."

"Broke out late last night. Might have overdid it a little."

"You don't say," Luke commented, his sarcasm tangible as he studied her profile. "Want me to walk you back?"

"Hell no."

Before the young Jedi could respond to the words, he heard a low sounding growl. His head snapped up to find two glowing eyes staring at him, the cyborg-beast's form outlined by the open window behind it.

"Cerberus, kioska kalv. Tym kash zo draugas," Luna said, lazily lifting a hand. The beast stopped growling, bending its head down to bump its snout against her palm. Luke had apparently failed to sense the thing's presence earlier.... "Luke, this is Cerberus, my tuk'ata."

"Hi."

Cerberus simply looked back at him and glared.

"He takes time to warm up to people," the girl stated, moving to push herself into a sitting position. The massive Sith hound stepped off (and Luke ment stepped, no leaning down or jumping off required) the bed and onto the floor, nudging the girl's back as though to help her up. "Well, I'd better find a new haunt."

Luke blinked at the words before realizing if Luna wasn't where she was supposed to be, then it was likely no one else knew where she was, and if she disappeared again.... "I was headed off to breakfast earlier. Want to join me?"

She looked at him, same look she'd given him months before when she was weighing her want to not interact with time travelers and Jedi to her wish for some actual, real, food.

As seemed to be usual when it came to Luna, food won.