[IC] Annabelle's Task

[Joslae]

Day 5

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A new day, a new torment. By the time the camera activated itself, the sun was already high in the sky. Natellia could be seen laying sprawled out on the sandy floor, with her eyes wide open and staring up ‘’You know…’’ she’d say in a tired voice, clearly speaking to the camera ‘’...when I was younger, my mother used to always say that I should go to bed early to be well rested in the morning. I regret not listening to her. MOM…!’’ she shouted against the sky ‘’...If you’re out there, know that you were right!!’’. A groan followed and Natellia rolled on her stomach, crawling towards the camera. She put a hand on her head ‘’...Oh, and I’ve been having this absolutely horrible pain on the top of me head, which lead to pain inside of my head. Ain’t that just nice and dandy? And of course the academy doesn’t hand out any pain killers, so here I am munching on old fruit I… liberated from the mess halls’’ a small chuckle could be heard and Natellia put a finger in front of her lips ‘’But don’t tell anyone!’’

She began rummaging around in the little camp that she had made. She had gotten rid of the upper part of her robe and now had only her uninspired gray bra covering her chest. She did not appear to mind, as it was clear that she had gotten herself to a secluded part of the Korriban wasteland. She briefly stepped out of view while going about her stuff and the camera could then spot the girl’s upper robe, which had been folded such to have it function as a pillow. It actually looked quite comfortable, but the dishevelled appearance of Natellia could make one believe that the nights were anything but comfortable. When Natellia stepped back into view, she had gotten herself a nice stack of five similarly shaped rocks. Judging by her broad smile, she was quite happy with them ‘’...This pleases my compulsive tendencies! I found more like ‘em, so I’ll be using those from now on.’’ She positioned the recorder in front of herself and began stacking the rocks on her head. It was clear that her face and her arms and torso had not been equally exposed to the sun. If we’re honest, she kind of looked like a bowl of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Once again, the young alderaanian girl did not seem to care. She had better stuff to do, like hoping the sand didn’t get into any annoying crevices of her body.

The same routine was repeated: Breathing exercises to lower her heart rate and waiting several minutes with the recording on until she actually began balancing the rocks on her head. There was something different about today, however. Whereas yesterday, there was sweat covering almost every inch of her face, today saw her with a face that was as dry as the planet she was on. Yesterday, she started shuddering and shaking when the recital began, but today she was almost as static as a statue. The stacked rocks balanced on the top of her head with not even the fairly strong wind being able to throw them off. The only thing that was noticeably affecting Natellia was the weight of the rocks. Her head was red from the concentration and all the muscles around her shoulders and neck were completely tensed up.

‘’Peace is a lie, there is only passion… through passion, I gain strength… through strength, I gain power… through power, I gain victory… through victory, my chains are broken… the force shall free me…’’

The recital was once again succesful. Though Natellia’s eyes were still closed and though she still had the rocks on her head, a small smile was growing on her features. Then, out of nowhere, she exhaled sharply and the rocks simultaneously fell from her head. She fell forward towards the camera and looked as if she had ran a marathon back to back. The smile had faded as well as any energy she possessed to make a witty remark. She simply grabbed the camera and shut it off.