Private Beneath the Sands

[Brooke Waters]

Another world another rumor. Brooke was getting good at this. Slipping seemingly through time and space to chase down the former Witch Kingdom of Dathmiri. They had traveled to this galaxy and left their mark here, long before the Republic was young, it seemed. As a Witch, the worlds and the Force bent to her need, and Brooke was using that to her advantage. Ancient technology and arcane Force skills.

They helped her learn much more than even the Jedi could have instructed her. Was it dark? To some. But was it evil? Not in the way Brooke used it.

The ruined city before her had several structures and she was not able to get through to all. It was why she was in the state she was in now, a stone circle, made of stones from Dathomir herself, and blue corals. A focusing circle. Before her was a small spectral mouse, one of Chandrillan heritage, started circling, its own spirit melded with Brooke’s. Not in a way of master and servant, but of friends.

The mouse was quick and nimble, and could see out the smaller holes in the structures. The focusing circle helped Brooke use the Force to peer beyond the veil of time. To the past, seeking the secrets of what was left here.

She was not a fan of this world, of Tatooine. It was vast, and a desert. Once it was a paradise, and one that Brooke would have loved to see. Sitting beneath the setting suns, her airspeeder not far off, the spectral mouse ran, diving into one of the holes, unaware so much laid beneath the sand.

Niki Priddy

 

[Niki Priddy]

Objective: Not Die
Equipment: Business Casual | Wristwear | L&R Middle-Finger Rings | Belt | Keyring | Dasmi's Pendant | Coal Nail Polish | Transition Glasses | Glasses Charm
Augmentation: PGEM-SAP "Amber Eyes"
Tags: Brooke Waters

The voices in the back of her head would not relent.

Violently yanking back and forth for control over her. All the while she wrestled with trying to understand what exactly had happened to her on Ruusan after touching that stupid little effigy of ebon-crystal. Memories not her own had flooded her mind. Burned her entire being inside and out. Brought her mind to an awareness that was outside of her scope of understanding. Revealed how everything seemed interconnected. How everything seemed alive and breathing.

All of it.

As though some unseen but unifying billow controlled the collective breath the galaxy. It was all too much. Intent of her actions that had once grounded her in control was now spiraling. The thought to open a door bringing the groaning of metal as it tried to open while the panels attempted to peel outwards instead of slide within their track. Speaking to shut off lights bringing an erratic flickering until technology prevailed in place of the wanton ethereal connection that wound itself into being.

Fear of this unknown and new connection made everything worse. Heightening the whim of the power she did not understand. Finding it difficult to control as thoughts threatened to become reality.

Thousands of voices in malicious chorus cackling at the feeling that now dominated her once again. Reveling in the growing sensation. Her own memories blending with a battle that she had not taken part in some eons ago as the same fear, of loss, and helplessness merged into one. The whole of the starship creaking and bent in towards her. A crackle of worrying coming over the comms as the crew of her starship began to check in with one another.

Her body shook beneath the strain of trying to keep herself grounded. In control.

Still under scrutiny of those malicious voices mocking her for the effort. As though they were all whispering in her ear as different voices jumbled together as one to fight the malignant intent behind the mockery. A forced feeling of urgency and bravado rising in the deepest part of her being as her emotions tumbled against one another. Wanting to wail in fear, and scream in defiance against that fear. Unable to pick the words apart as her hands rose to her head. Unsure if her own will or something else tried to push it all away. To understand what was going on. To find someone that might help her. To quiet the voices. To understand this feeling. To help her.

For someone to help her.

The air surrounding her crackled. A swirl of blue and red swirling together as purple lightning sizzled and crackled. Her eyes snapping open to stare at the small swirl of lightning that expanded before swallowing her completely. Both guiding and pushing her forward to something unknown. Threatening to dump her in place if she did not walk. Her eyes blurry against the tears that rose up to this sudden challenge.

Blinding brightness greeted her on the other end.

Heat took the place of the cold as warmth radiated against her skin. A dry air making her choke on the breath she drew in. The ground beneath her shifted unexpectedly as a hand reach out to steady herself. Stone greeted her. Worn smooth and burning hot as she yanked her hand back. Blinking away the tears and trying to keep the hiccupping sobs at bay as she spun in place to examine her surroundings. Alarm and fear still dominating her unnatural presence in the Force.

Like an unnatural creation, a tear in the Force given shape. Shards of glass hidden within flowing water as echoes of others flow throw her without touching the real world around her.

"Sand. Sun-Suns. Sky." Niki slowly spun as her voice rose. Eyes wide, searching as her breath came in ragged bursts. Arms extended to try and balance as her heels dug in and worked against her. Nearly falling over with each step. "Speeder. Ruins."

Her presence in the Force whipping into a frenzy as the cruel voices began to overshadow her senses. A malignant bubble threatening to burst.

 

[Brooke Waters]

Focusing was not the challenge. It was the understanding that was. Brooke was going to be looking through a spectrum of time in the same space. What had happened in the past, who was there, what could be of value in this desolate place. The blonde was smiling despite herself. The history of witches always made her feel more connected to something greater. Even if she had that other voice in her mind most times. But here? So far away from water? It was not as loud.

Even if she was also feeling herself be quite dried out.

Her mind was focused on her summons, the mouse making its way in, but there was a flash, something strong in the Force that caused her to flinch, and shake her head. The mouse was still there, turning to investigate, was it… no, this was now. The spectral animal moved closer before blinking out.

Brooke could feel the torment going on. Shaking her head, as she came to, she grabbed her bag, covered in shells and corals, clearly enchanted to an inch of its original life. Moving towards the location where she felt the Force, she reached in and pulled out several stones, whispering a spell as they disintegrated and began to glow.

Another spell, and there was a bubble around the pair and part of the ruins. Protection, and she hoped, something to quell the mind of the new arrival. Without the other voice in her own mind, she was much more herself, helpful and caring.

“Easy, easy… Do you know what you just did?” Brooke wouldn’t believe the other if she said yes.

Niki Priddy

 

[Niki Priddy]

Something around her stirred. A presence in that new feeling that dominated her senses as the angry voices yelled in discordant unison against the presence that drew closer. The voices allied against the anger yelling in triumph as the protection spell snapped in place. Safe-Calm-Peace- One particularly loud voice tried to assure her. Trapped-Isolated-Danger- its opposite spoke against it. The two clashed against the notions as Niki steadied herself against the closest thing that wasn't the ground.

Eyes still searching, shaking violently as she tried to form words.

"M-My lab. I-" Scanning her surroundings again. "Where. My lab?"

Her nails bit into flesh. A trail of blood seeping from her palm as the nail sank deep. Trying to shake herself from the dream she believed herself to be trapped inside.

"I don't. What-where?" Voice shrill as she sank against the wall. Breathing still rapid and shallow as she tried to calm herself still. Bloody palm rising to cradle her head. Red streaking white hair as the sand below drank from the offering.

She had just been in her lab on her ship. Now she was surrounded by sand. Had she fallen? Tripped maybe? Concussed and experiencing a hallucination? She didn't remember ever travelling to a desert planet like this one. Or seeing this woman before her. Something drawn from her memories wasn't seeming like a possibility. A holonet movie? Didn't recall any with this kind of setting off hand.

Reason was failing her. Her body trembling now when she couldn't find the logic behind what was happening. Her knees were drawn up tight as her arms moved, head lifted up to the woman.

"Help me-Please?"

Brooke Waters

 

[Brooke Waters]

Oh. She had no idea what was going on. Natural talent? Messing with forces they didn't fully understand? The blonde finished putting up her protection spell as she approached the other woman. She hoped that it would filter out whatever was out there. It did help her with the Dweller. So Brooke could only hope.

But the other started speaking. Asking where she was. About a lab. Oh. Not something random then. Or a random location. "Your lab? Sorry. You're on Tatooine. A remote location here." She want about to give away the fact it was ruins of the Witch Kingdom.

Bridging the gap, Brooke reach out a hand and touched the others shoulder. Whispering a spell the area seemed to fill with the soft and cool feeling of a summertime beach and oasis, the goal to calm emotions.

"You don't realize what you did, do you?"

Niki Priddy

 

[Niki Priddy]

The spell finished and snapped into place around them. The voices in her head began to weaken. Quieting but never truly gone with her manufactured connection to the past that had gathered and forged itself anew.

The quiet was welcome though as her breathing began to ease back from frantic to something she could begin to manage. The hand on her shoulder steadying as the dire heat shifted to a comfortable warmth. Her own hand covering the woman's like an anchor as she tried to make sense of what happened.

"Tatooine? " The name spat with horror.

Mouth agape as she rapidly blinked and looked at the sand in front of her.

"I was. I was between. I was in space." A sense of dread settling as she looked to the woman once more. "What's wrong with me!? What happened!?"

Brooke Waters

 

[Brooke Waters]

Brooke was nothing if not good at her craft. That wasn’t her bragging, but with everything she did the past few years, and her seemingly long youthfulness? She knew her way around a spell and the Force. Pulling in some tricks from the Jedi and one from another obscure Force tradition, she weaved a spell to hopefully help the newcomer here.

When the other didn’t seen to comprehend the why she was on Tatooine, that was when Brooke thought more about it. “You were between?” What did that mean? There were some people who did walk a flow between space and time. She was not expecting that this one, an initiate at best, had done that, at least consciously.

“I think you… are you aware of the Force?”

Niki Priddy

 

[Niki Priddy]

"I was. On my ship headed to Naboo." The tone of her words wavering between desperation and anger. Trying to explain. Trying to understand. Wanting to understand. But failing.


A shake of her head had her trying to rewind her memory to explain further. "I wasn't even thinking of a place. Or even leaving my ship. I don't. I don't know what I was even thinking of besides wanting help."

Her hand pulling her glasses down while the other rested on her chest. Measuring her heart rate as she focused on the next question.

"I–Yes. Just recently. Wasn't before. Ruusan. After I visited Ruusan." That's when everything had started going wrong.

Brooke Waters

 

[Brooke Waters]

Naboo. That meant the High Republic. She set up a refugee town on that world. Not a bad place to be, honestly. She could approve. It wasn’t for her, though, more Jedi centric than witch, but she did try to plant and seed her clan’s blue corals on that world. A nice shallow, low energy environment. “Did it have auto pilot? In hyperspace?” Perhaps the Nautilos could locate it and help it land, she mused to herself.

“Sometimes help is just what you need. And visiting Ruusan is a crash course in the Force if I’ve ever found one.” She nodded, giving the woman a cursory glance, her eyes blinking as she was trying to look not just at her, but near-and-beyond her, into the Force.

“Now, the Force-teacher’s cryptic one off. Do you know what you’re looking for help with?”

Brooke pulled her canteen out and re-wet the cloth she kept on her neck. This desert was hot and dry. At least one she didn't like.

Niki Priddy

 

[Niki Priddy]

She eventually shook her head at the question.

"Organics aboard. Gozanti class with crew. They... they'll be alarmed." The topic helped center her thoughts with a few deep, held breaths.

The space directly around Niki was for all intents and purposes physically empty. Within the Force, the sight was a different matter entirely. Thousands of eyes watched with intent. Some amber hued. Others humanoid. More of varying species. All seeming content to watch.

To wait.

The tides of light and dark not simply brushing against one another. Clashing violently where they met. Their presence intermingled within the other as though reliving an old battle they never grew tired of.

And her own presence in the Force akin to viewing either side through a splintered pane of glass. Held together with sheer will where it all should have begun unraveling.

"I. Don't." That was perhaps the most alarming part.

"I've brushed against jedi and sith alike. Never understood the wizardry of the Force. Didn't ever feel it till now. It's–" The cool damp against her neck made her pause as her eyes closed. Enjoying the relief from the heat before speaking again. "Overwhelming."

Brooke Waters

 

[Brooke Waters]

This girl was definitely lost. Girl? She wasn’t sure. Maybe woman. But the fact that she came out of a ship that was now still flying? Could be very difficult. “Are you the pilot?” Brooke was a bit concerned if it was that. She had a ship that could fly itself, integrated intelligence as it were. The blonde kept an eye on Niki and nodded.

“I can get you to communicate with them but I think we need to have you landing here. And get yourself centered.” She was calm and resolute with that. What she didn’t want was someone who was maybe finding herself in the Force to feel out of sorts. The Force was challenging, and should be respected.

Given the time.

“It can be overwhelming.” The blonde nodded. “And there are so many levels and depths of it. It can pull you and roll you over if you’re not prepped for it. I am unsure where your ship is, but teleporting? Thats some high level skill.”

Or an accident.

Niki Priddy

 

[Niki Priddy]

She shook her head again at the question. The first bit of relief showing finally. "Thankfully no."

The chance to let the crew know of what happened helped ease her nerves back further. Real things that made sense. Someone usually had a way to make ranged communication happen. Somehow.

"That... yeah. I'd like to have some familiar things around me." Niki found herself nodding without reason as her hands fiddled with the hem of her pants. "I have the transponder and signal codes to call them if you've got something to send them. That way they know it's me and not some random lucky ."

The talk of this all being overwhelming was spot on.

Half the time anymore she felt like she was drowning beneath a tidal wave. All of the new things that were happening to her. And uncertainty of who she could speak to about it. Did she hide it? Revel in it? Was she a problem for the Ashla aligned or would those under the Bogan find her a problem? Both perhaps? Something both parties would universally find repulsive?

"I. I didn't mean to. It didn't feel right. It felt. Stars." She rubbed her eyes with a small laugh. "I felt like a small child being half pulled and half guided."

Brooke Waters

 

[Brooke Waters]

As long as she wasn’t the pilot, the agency was off. Brooke could relax into actually providing proper assistance. She gave a comforting expression as she nodded. “If you’re not the pilot, they will be fine. We do need to contact them but no one will be in threat of death.” That was important.

She may be a witch but she wasn’t a nightsister.

“I’ve got my ship, we can make our way to and send a message, but I was looking through these ruins, are you willing to help me out after I get you in touch?” If not, Brooke could come back, but she was here, it was dry, and she didn’t want to come back if she didn’t have to.

But helping a fledgling witch?

“Didn’t feel right? You weren’t trying, you said. Were you looking to reach the Force? Or whatever you may know it as? Sometimes it has a way of humbling everyone.” A calm smile then.

Niki Priddy