Private Black Water

[Adele Adonai]

AVENIA | AERIS III | KATHOL SECTOR
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step ~ Camassi Proverb

Traveling the Kathol Sector was not for everyone. Depending on the route charted by the pilot, it could be a lengthy, perilous journey that could take months or even years, depending on the world one traveled to.

Aeris III was one of the worlds that could take several months to reach, but the trade that spacers and traders alike could cash in on the trade and barter opportunities with the locals -- if one had the finesse of handling the delicate negotiations with the offshoot clans of the Witches of Dathomir.

They were descendants of the Singing Mountain Clan, who traveled centuries past through the star temples that once connected Dathomir and Aeris III. This pathway no longer existed the power and ability to cross the great distance lost long ago. Instead, these witches made a home on Aeris III among the Aeris ancient civilization's ruins.

This was the world Jedi Master Adele Adonai had hidden away in the wake of the fall of the former Galactic Alliance and then the First Order. Time has a way of bringing with it change, as, with it, governments rise and fall. Word and news took time to reach worlds on Kathol, and by the time the news that a new Alliance and First Order were building anew, it had been years since the quiet, contemplative woman made contact with anyone she knew before. A trial that required her several months of meditation to maintain.

For the most part, the witch clans of Aeris III were a bit more forgiving when it came to individuals who struggled with the Darkside and its corruption. It allowed Adele to slowly come to terms with herself, her past, and what it made her now. It was the sort of training and development that could only be done by her alone. The distracting flight of an inquisitive, but concerned bee would only make it more challenging for the weaver to independently work through the process, regardless of the temptation to reach beyond the fields she tended. It was a path she had to walk alone.

The spaceport was little more than an open clearing that leads to the tradeport carved along the side of a mountain. Remnants of the Outer Planets Alliance worked here as traders and middlemen, but there was more female variety than men here. This was due to the matriarchal society of the clans. Some still considered men little more than slaves, while others were more flexible with equality.

A commotion prompted a stir within the spaceport. The origin and circumstances surrounding were unclear but would serve as the setting for the Will of the Force.

Or perhaps, just terrible smuggler's luck. ( Amea Virou )

 

[Amea Virou]

Adele Adonai

It started as a weird feeling. Everywhere Amea turned something seemed off and she couldn’t quite figure out why. The streets were as lively as ever, merchants doing their parts to keep the noise levels up, children playing in the streets. In reality it almost took Amea a shamefully long time to realize exactly why what was off, and all it took was that one voice. It was sweet like honey and smooth like water on silk with a pretty face to match it.

Amea’s own lips stumbled over every single word they tried to push out of her until a buff woman grabbed at her shoulder and threw her to the ground. She spat insults and threats at a perceived move on their partner, and just like that it dawned on Amea as she slowly got her surroundings back into focus again…

Almost everyone in this room was a woman.

Her eyes closed and shut in a set of rapid blinks to try and figure out if this was all real, and to her horror it very much was. As her eyes met with the hulk that towered above her, Amea had tried to reason with her and make her see sense but it was already too late. A boot rose above her for the stomp, the partner extending her hand in horror before Amea grasped at the foot with an ease that caused the other woman to freeze in surprise.

And then, slowly but steadily, the servos in the brunette woman’s hands began to close her hand. A sickening crack echoed around the cantina as the hulk howled in pain. And yet Amea did not let go. She stood up, eyes meeting the hulk’s until their roles were reversed.

And there it was, that spark of anger and hate that had caused her trouble so many times before. It was a dance of dominance, a feeling of righteous retribution for what had happened to her until she threw the foot to the ground with huff. But the hulk wasn’t alone. Although incapacitated on the ground, her friends decided to join the fray. One became three became five before the entire cantina entered into a brawl that quickly lost any and all purpose and ultimately saw Amea with a set of cracked ribs, a black eye, and more than a few bruises.

The tab of the damages were put on her and the first five that started the brawl. It was an angry Amea that was carried out of the door and thrown in the sand for the dogs to find.

It must have been quite the sight.

 

[Adele Adonai]

A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfection ~ Camassi Proverb​

A slight frown would pucker the bridge of Adele's brow. Only the lower portion of her face was visible under the pale gray hood she wore, revealing the violet markings across her cheeks and chin. From what could be seen, she wore a white robe with a light grey over tunic, cinched tightly at the waist with a plain braided belt of cloth. There was silver embroidery along the hemline and the loose sleeves certainly seemed a little out of place in a world of witches and space travelers.

It would be the swish of the robe and the cloak that would draw interest as it came to stand beside the prone form of Amea Virou . A pale, alabaster hand-decorated with violet tattoos would delicately reach down to offer assistance.

"May I be of assistance?" she had a low and gentle, melodious voice, drawing the attention up towards her face, revealing a pair of listless, ice blue eyes surrounded by lavender shadow, drawing attention towards the inky purple tattoos across her face and the long, thick braid of her hair that lay over the right side of her chest.

There was a pucker of her brow at the sight of blood, the bruising already spreading across Amea Virou 's face. The woman drank in the sight of the dark hair, black eye, and bruises with a critical eye. A lifetime of working with the physiology of various aliens gave the healer the ability to distinguish the subtle tells of various injuries.

 

[Amea Virou]

Adele Adonai

Weary eyes rose to meet Adele’s before they rolled away again with an indignant sigh. Amea’s arm pushed against the ground to lift her up with a pained grimace. She spit the blood from her throat, let in a deep breath before she let out a sharp exhale. A hand moved to touch against the side of her ribcage as she slowly shook her head.

“Not unless you have another partner that wants to kick my ass.” She hissed in pain and felt her torso twist by itself. “Or a grudge over something I’ve done.”

Amea hunched, her shoulders clearly weighing a tonne as she stood up again. Her eyes wandered around them with a drowsy glance. She caught glance of the hulk and her partner, the partner glaring daggers at Amea for what she had done.

“You’re not her.” Amea eventually chuckled, the pain in her chest forcing her to stop and cringe. “Figures.”

“... What do you want, lady?”

 

[Adele Adonai]

When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills. ~ Camassi Proverb ​

If Amea Virou 's rude behavior insulted the woman, it wouldn't reveal itself upon the seemingly placid expression Adele wore. A few seconds of inspection and the Jedi Master would sense the stirring within the girl. There, buried deep. A dark, still pond, reflecting the jagged landscape and an ocean of stars. A slight frown would mar the smooth expanse of her tattooed forehead.

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another," she replied to Amea quietly, as if that held the root to her answer. Ice blue, lidless eyes would rise to settle upon the towering witch woman and her mate. Already, one could feel the radiating anger and hatred coming from the pair, as well as the pain resulting from the crushed hand the brunette had inflicted upon the hulking woman.

"I am a healer," her quiet voice would relay, in a steady, but firm tone. "Perhaps, this is a misunderstanding and I may provide services to both of you so as to quell the confrontation?"

Of course, things were never so easy.

The mate that had been staring daggers at Amea for crushing her partner's hand would come rushing forward, fingers extended, ready to claw at Amea's face in vengeance.

Such a rolling boil of emotions. She practically vibrated with echos of the Darkside. Much like Amea Virou had when her wrath had resulted in the launch of righteous indignation.

A small motion, barely detectable, as two fingers summoned the Force, telekinetic strands weaving out to coil and swirl, much like the threads woven by a Weaver -- or a spider's web. It caught the woman midstride before she could make contact.

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow." Adele would murmur quietly, her melodic, calming voice drifting across the din with the Camassi proverb.

 

[Amea Virou]

Adele Adonai

“I crushed her foot.” Amea scrunched her nose with a grimace and gave the ‘healer’ a slow shake. “I don’t think they’re all that interested in talking, and I am not all that interested in covering the expenses.”

This wasn’t something Amea had started, this was something that had been forced upon her. Mistake or no, she had already tried to reason with them once and they had all gotten burned for it. The idea that they would simply smooth that over at this point was almost laughable.

… Oh no, the healer decided to do that… Deep-talk mambo-jumbo.

Well, Amea could do that too.

“The patient farmer catches… These hands, I don’t know.” She said and promptly gave up with a shake of her head. “You are a healer, I respect that, but this fight was over before it even began. She had her mind pretty set on trying to stomp my lights out if I didn't stop her. I have no fault in this.”

Or so she told herself at least. A second passed before Amea looked at the jedi before her yet again.

“You’re a jedi, aren’t you?” Amea asked and gave the woman as much of a look up and down as she could muster with the swelling eye. “Carry yourself like one.” Dress like one too, but that went unsaid. “Trying to calm everything down all the time, even when it can’t be calmed.”

 

[Adele Adonai]

Patience is a bitter plant, but its fruit is sweet. ~ Camassi Proverb​

A quiet, if introspective expression would rest upon the Jedi Master's face at Amea Virou 's words. While she had not raised her voice, her displeasure and incredulity were easily distinguished.

That seemingly serene appearance did not deter from the purposefulness of her actions.

"Even a hare will bite when it is cornered." the words were a contemplative murmur directed at the dark hair brunette, that eye already swelling a mottled green and blue. It would soon be replaced in a burgundy stain, like the brush of a rose petal dipped in blood.

The insult regarding the Jedi Master 'acting' like one did manage to find a chink in that proverbial white armor. The slightest of tension would curl the fingers of her left-hand close, thumb, and forefinger rubbing at the fabric of her skirt.

Returning her attention towards the woman she held telekinetically in place, she added, "Solve one problem, and you keep a hundred others away."

Yet another Camassi proverb indicates that solving one problem may ensure that others' subsequent domino effect may be prevented.

"Any further altercation will not provide you the recompensation that you seek," Adele stated, "A blood price was given and met. There is no need to escalate matters."

"No! She owes more! She crushed her foot and now won't be able to walk!" anger would roll off the woman—her aura spreading with her hate. The touch of it went rippling across Adele's mental walls, striking the small silver circlet that lay just over her head underneath the cowl of her robe.

There was a slight arch of tension that would tighten the line of Adele's jaw. A tick. A tell. A crack in that perfect porcelain facade.

"Then, let me assist in healing your partner's wounded injuries." Polite in demeanor and grace, but a subtle shift across her eyes made them briefly seem to glitter with an icy sheen.

"Should you require an additional blood price, then one can be negotiated."

What did that mean?

 

[Amea Virou]

Adele Adonai

Solve a problem to keep others away was pretty much exactly what Amea had just done. An indignant hand placed itself on her hip with a raise of her brows. It hurt to sass, but in this very moment she needed it and mostly for the sake of her own pride. Her knuckles paled for a second before she eased up on the tension to bounce back into a stance.

“Your rabid dog should have thought about that before she started something she couldn’t finish.” Amea said, her eyes piercing into the angry spouse’s. The jedi, who had clearly not appreciated being called a jedi, offered to heal the partner and provide additional blood price.

Not very jedi-like after all, huh?

Amea bounced away from the healer.

“I am not paying with my blood either. You’re welcome to try and make me, Jedi.” Amea spat blood on the ground, her eyes darting back up towards the raging spouse. “You too, sweetheart.”