Private Book Smart

[Kirie]

Location: Desevro Academy
Tag: Anet Raine

"Let others into your life. It is through them that you may find the passion to bend the Living Force to your will."

- Fundamentals of Dark Healing, Chapter 2

The room was dark and cold, as it always was. Rough-hewn walls and cold metallic bedframes. Uniforms folded and hung in neat rows by the door, a smattering of personal items sitting on a shelf carved out of the red sandstone, looking very small. A strip of lights ran along the low ceiling, that nearly scraped the top bunks of the beds, but it did little to banish the deep shadows that gathered in the corners. It was not a comforting room, but Kirie was almost glad, for in its starkness it kept her on guard. After all, the Academy outside was no kinder.

The room was supposed to house four of them, but with the ranks of the Academy still filling out there were only two: herself and a quiet, angry girl named Avina. She and Kirie had chosen opposite sides of the room and had exchanged only a smattering of words since she had arrived on Desevro. That suited her just fine, she liked the quiet. The only downside was the Avina was surly, and she had a near opposite schedule to Kirie, making her an unreliable escort for getting around the grounds.

Instead of bothering her, Kirie rose without fanfare, dressed without looking up, and slipped out the dull metal blast door that locked each evening for security, and lingered in the hall, waiting for someone she could walk with. There were a few students hurrying to classes or sparring matches or to study, but they were all heading the wrong direction. Some walked with their heads down, others looked confident, others defiant. All but a few walked in pairs, or threes, or more. Those who walked alone walked quickly, their eyes furtive, glancing around in quick darting motions. Their fear was warranted, people walking alone made good targets. Even Kirie dared not move more than a few steps away from her door, lest some roving acolyte see an opportunity to prove their worth to their masters, or otherwise thin the herd of eager trainees.

After a few minutes waiting, leaned against the wall, the carved stone floor leeching the remaining warmth from her skin, Kirie spotted somebody that might work. A girl around her age, who she'd seen in some of the same classes, but never conversed with. She was heading roughly the right direction too, and seemed in no great rush.

'Anet, right?' signed Kirie, stepping forward so the other acolyte would see her. 'Need someone to walk with you? I'm heading to the Library.'

Kirie tried to keep her body language relaxed, peering at Anet through strands of her brunette hair, head upright, but with her hands clasped in front of her like a servant she didn't exactly sell her confidence. She had not really got the measure of Anet from the little she'd seen of her, and at the Academy it was hard to tell someone's temperament from the outside. She hoped she hadn't made a mistake approaching her.

​

 

[Anet Raine]

Today was one of the few days Anet could - under the right conditions - suspend disbelief and pretend she was at a proper institution. Or at least that would've been true if the violence wasn't palpable. She read it on the students' faces, she felt it in the subtlety of the atmosphere, the unnatural coldness that permeated despite the absence of a crossbreeze.

She kept her eyes forward as she walked, and her posture defiant, almost like she owned the place. For some, it kept them away from her; maybe she knew more than they did, perhaps she was an apprentice and not a mere acolyte. For others, it was a challenge, an opportunity to prove themselves better than she, and by extension better than those who wouldn't dare cross her. Regardless of foreign perception, her internal world was brimming with fear and anxiety. Anet did not know this place; she did not know these people beyond the little pieces that slipped through, and she could not defend herself even if she tried.

'Anet, right?' signed Kirie, stepping forward so the other acolyte would see her. 'Need someone to walk with you? I'm heading to the Library.'

The scholar stopped and turned with an audible squeak from her boot. Her expression was that of someone who had been pulled out of a daydream, but quickly settled on an entitled sense of self-importance.

She looked the woman up and down with an examiner's appraisal. Pale blue eyes under an expressive brow, with strands of white hair flowing down one half of her face, the other half tucked behind an ear. Though most of her attention appeared cursory, she was trying desperately hard to recall this person's name and came up empty. So she kept it aloof instead of admitting any lapse in memory.

"Fortunately for you, so am I."

She was skeptical of the woman's intentions, but she didn't sense the same hostility in her as she did with other students.

Anet sighed, "Very well..." She gestured forward. "Lead the way."

 

[Kirie]

Location: Desevro Academy
Tag: Anet Raine

Pink tinged Kirie's cheeks as the other Acolyte looked her up and down unabashedly, as if she were some trinket for sale at a market. Kirie took the opportunity to study her back, though her gaze was less pointed, less outwardly enquiring. She was sharped-faced and intimidating, but there was nothing about her immediate demeanor that suggested immediate hostility, only that she regarded Kirie as a little bug, and was considering whether or not she should be squished.

She swallowed and nodded at the woman's words, conscious again that she was acting like she already knew she was inferior. A respectful stance that made her look smaller, a deferential nod. It was no wonder nobody took her seriously. Kirie clasped her hands togethet decisively, but the gesture was forced, parodoxical.

'Okay.' Kirie signed stiffly. 'Watch my back, and I'll look for trouble ahead.' Maybe it would bring some relief to Anet to not have to look out solely for herself while she traversed the grounds. Kirie had never seen her walking with anyone, and Kirie wondered why. Walking in a group brought her relief, but it had it's dangers too. Maybe Anet was the type who was more inclined to trust in her own abilities than those of others.

'I'm Kirie, by the way.' she added awkwardly.

They preceded down the little used back hall that connected the Red Library to the Academy directly. This passage was not an original construction, and had instead been carved out recently to connect the two complexes. It was dim and narrow, the floor covered in a fine sheen of red sand, and it smelled like oil and machinery. Kirie was silent as usual, but she also didn't sign, her eyes and ears straining to pick up the slightest sign of danger. About halfway to the Library, Kirie seemed to start, then slowed without explanation, her stomach twisting in the telltale way she had learned preceded a variety of nasty things.

'There's something...' Kirie signed urgently.

Gently, slowly and uncharacteristically smoothly, Kirie reached out and grabbed Anet by the shoulder, pulling the two of them into one of cramped alcoves that ran along the hallway. So cramped, in fact, their noses were almost touching, and Kirie had to unsling her bookbag, the flimsiplast volumes spilling onto the ground. Kirie pressed a finger to her own lips, just as a strange scraping sound began to echo from further up the hallway.

 

[Anet Raine]

Eyes glanced low to watch the woman's hands again as she signed.

"Fair enough," she answered.

It wasn't until that moment that she actually realized the chestnut brunette had been signing to her. From academia, Anet had experienced her fair share of kinetic languages - most often of the Lorrdian variety. Although the Outer Rim dialect was not her strongest, she at least managed to gather the gist of words and phrases signed her way. The historian wondered if it was a cultural thing or if the woman was deaf (no other possibility crossed her mind).

They began to walk side-by-side, and Anet once again caught signs on her periphery. She quickly glanced over to steal the meaning.

"Kirie?" She stretched out the sound for confirmation.

Anet's demeanor had softened already... sometimes casual conversation had a way of disarming people.

When they crossed the threshold into the new construction, Anet wrinkled her nose at the smell and playfully kicked up some dust in front of them. It started to become a pleasant walk, one devoid of the characteristic tensions that marred the half-arkanian's mood on Desevro. Until Kirie's hands moved more urgently than before. Body language was every bit a part of tone, and Anet didn't need loudness to perceive panic. Still, she was confused.

"Hmm? What is - ah!"

Her new walking companion had just dragged her into the tiniest little alcove, now effectively aglow with their mutual body heat. After all, that aforementioned half of her genetics allowed her to see into the infrared spectrum. Were it not for the urgent signing, she might've accused Kirie of being too forward.

Anet grunted and instinctively pressed herself to the back of the 'wall' as much as the cramped space allowed, just as Kirie's bookbag fell open and spilled some volumes onto Anet's feet. Naturally, she was very frustrated by this.

"What the chaos is--"

She cut herself off as soon as that unusual sound caught her attention, and quickly took cue from Kirie.

Barely above a whisper, "What is it?"

Kirie

 

[Kirie]

Location: Desevro Academy
Tag: Anet Raine

They were uncomfortably close, and Kirie for her part tried her best to press herself against the wall, following Anet's lead. It didn't give them much more room, but they had no choice, for the scraping was growing louder. She stilled her breathing, again signing the signal for 'shut your mouth right now or we might die' and looking Anet in the eye for the first time since she had requisitioned her as a walking buddy. Her eyes were blue and bright and cold. Alert, but not outwardly fearful, not yet.

The scraping- a sound like a heavy chunk of metal being dragged across the stone- was getting louder. It was hard to discern exactly where it was coming from, only that it approached, the harsh noise echoing strangely off the walls until it seemed like it was behind them, beside them, back the way they'd come.

Louder and louder. Kirie was sure whatever it was, it was coming straight for them. If she was braver, if she knew what she was doing, she would have prepared to fight, or at least waited until the perfect moment and jumped out to try and get away. Instead she just balled her fists as the sound reached a terrifying closeness, screwing her eyes shut and shaking her head softly. It rose to a cacophony, more a scream than the inorganic sound it'd begun as, and then-

Stopped.

Kirie opened her eyes, confused. Her eyes scanned the now empty, silent corridor, awash with adrenaline. Finally she saw it, an afterimage. Perhaps an arm, a leg in motion, and lingering heatwaves. After a moment, even those faded, leaving just her an Anet, crammed together in the alcove.

Kirie let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, suddenly dizzy, reaching out to Anet to steady herself before snatching her hand back. She looked at Anet doubtfully, and then stepped out the alcove, just enough to give them some space.

'A memory.' Kirie reasoned. 'A spirit.' A weak explanation for something she didn't understand. Kirie was very happen for whatever that had been to remain a mystery, to never bother her again.

'Maybe we should move on.' Then, after a beat, 'why anyone thought it was a good idea to build a school in a haunted temple is beyond me.'

Nevermind the fact that whatever that phenomenon had been, it had come from the library entrance up ahead. Kirie sighed, and looked to Anet for confirmation they should continue, rather than double back to the dorms.

'Oh!' signed Kirie, looking down at the pile of texts flung around at Anet's feet. 'My books...'

 

[Anet Raine]

She kept her eyes on Kire the whole time. Even as the phantom threat passed frighteningly close, carrying with it an unnatural chill. It was an odd thing to feel so, so very cold for one with Pantoran or Arkanian blood, and Anet had both.

When the entity finally passed, Anet felt as if a lead blanket had been pulled off of her - she took a deep breath to prove its presence was no longer suffocating her. Just when the bookworm's hand had placed itself on her, and quickly recoiled. Under different circumstances, Anet might've felt a twinge of embarrassment and the flush to match. However, she only managed to maintain that downward stare from half a foot above.

The scholar allowed herself a moment against the wall she leaned, and turned her head to keep Kirie in sight.

"I have read about Force spirits... I didn't think..." Her words trailed off, no longer to fill the silence.

That would have to be her job.

'Maybe we should move on.' Then, after a beat, 'why anyone thought it was a good idea to build a school in a haunted temple is beyond me.'

"Because it is a place of power to shape us, even at the risk of our demise," she conjectured.

Anet then stepped out of the alcove, stepping across the scattered books even as her walking companion brought attention to them. And no, Anet never looked down to acknowledge them. Instead, her sight was cast sidelong at the hallway where the 'spirit' had disappeared, before turning the other way, then finally back at Kirie.

"We should continue walking. Are you okay?"

Despite the uncanny calm in her voice, Anet was deeply terrified... and yet exhilarated all the same. The fear that ran through her veins brought with it a rush of life. A reminder that she was meat both blessed and unfortunate enough to recognize its own mortality, and echoed that epiphany with a euphoric smirk.

 

[Kirie]

Location: Desevro Academy
Tag: Anet Raine

"Because it is a place of power to shape us, even at the risk of our demise,"

Kirie sniffed. Some of the time, she thought that their demise or at least a happy side effect. There were other ways to foster Force mastery, their instructors were just lazy, or otherwise enjoyed seeing their students squirm.

'Maybe.' Kirie shrugged, obviously unconvinced.

Anet stepped out of the alcove and past Kirie, kicking over her books, scattering them further. Annoying, but it also allowed Kirie a chance to bend over and scoop them up without Anet peering at the titles too closely.

"We should continue walking. Are you okay?"

'Fine.' replied Kirie, a little miffed that Anet hadn't stopped to help or even tried to pretend she cared to. She did ask if she was alright, which softened the twinge of dislike, but Kirie had the distinct feeling that even that was aelf interested.

No matter. It was a Sith academy, just about everyone was unlikeable. What was important is that Anet wasn't throwing Kirie at a wall or attempting to skewer her with a saber.

Yet.

'We should.' Kirie agreed, conscious that she had fallen into her usual pattern of communicating as little as possible. That was what she'd learned kept her safest here, and it wasn't like her and Anet would ever be friends.

She didn't want anything to do with any of them, these true-blue Sith. She would just do what she had to do to survive the semester and take it from there.

They resumed walking, Kirie cowed by the incident and Anet strangely bouncy. She became aware that she had never asked the girl if she was okay. Impolite, but the moment had passed.

The sloping corridor levelled out, ending suddenly in a circular blast door engraved with runes and secured by a biometric lock at the centre. Each of them had been entered into the system when they'd arrived on Desevro, and warned that if they tried to sneak anyone or anything in-or out- they would be destroyed.

'Been here much?' It wasn't just conversation. The Library was strange and confusing, and as she had been told many times, could be very dangerous. She didn't want Anet endangering herself, even if she didn't know her that well.

 

[Anet Raine]

Anet walked with the steps of someone late for a meeting. Naturally, Kirie would have to keep up if she were to remain parallel and within the scholar's sight for kinetic communication.

Eventually, they reached the blast door.

'Been here much?' It wasn't just conversation. The Library was strange and confusing, and as she had been told many times, could be very dangerous. She didn't want Anet endangering herself, even if she didn't know her that well.

"Not as much as I should," she answered.

Well, it was cryptic and impossible to measure, but at least something of Anet had been revealed in the answer. Then, the half-pantoran gave the brunette a quizzical look and turned to face her.

"I've gathered you aren't deaf, so why do you sign?"

Anet wasn't willing to play the passive-communication game with her walking companion. Context would be brute forced rather than revealed... if she had her way, that is, and she absolutely intended to have it her way.

 

[Kirie]

Location: Desevro Academy
Tag: Anet Raine

Books tucked safely back in her satchel, Kirie took measure of Anet again. What had she meant by that? 'Not as much as I should.' Maybe that she was studious, or behind in her classes, or that like Kirie she wanted something the Academy's usual classes didn't offer. Interesting.

"I've gathered you aren't deaf, so why do you sign?"

Kirie nodded slowly, having expected the question at some point. She had been pleasantly surprised that Anet understood ORSL, and she didn't fault her for her curiosity.

'I was a slave.' Kirie answered, betraying no emotion, as if she were merely discussing her classes. 'I escaped, was recaptured, and my captors deigned me unworthy of speech.'

Despite her careful attempt to keep the experience of the events separate from the fact, memories welled up as she signed, and Kirie turned her head away, eyes closing in a long blink as the familiar image of the moment the tendons and muscles in her throat had stretched and snapped then melted to nothing, as Lirka Ka stood-

Wait, that wasn't right. Kirie's eyes opened, brow furrowed. Lirka had rescued her from her rogue Kainite minions, so why had she been-

Whatever thought she had been grasping at slipped away like water down a drainpipe, and Kirie blinked a few times, apparently dazzled, before her eyes refocused on Anet, her heart beating strangely fast.

'I'm a free woman now.' Kirie told her, holding up her wrist for Anet to see the decorative shackle that adorned it, etched with Sith runes of unbinding, of walking, of release.

'Where did you learn ORSL?' Kirie asked. She figured if Anet was curious enough to ask questions her walls might be down enough to answer some.

Stepping forward and swiping her bracelet at the door. The slightly shoddy-looking mechanism creaked, and then opened with a hiss, allowing the pair entry to the Red Library.

They entered from a little used back entrance to the Reading Room. As usual, Kirie was a little stunned by the grandeur of the space, with its rows and rows of shelves, clusters of fine wooden desks, and racks of equipment on the walls around them. The curt nod of the clerks at the front spurred her inside, as did an apparently enquiring glance from a roving servitor droid. Kirie looked around for awhile, her eyes settling on a row of desks across the reading room. The spot was deliberately chosen, tucked in a corner with bad light surrounded by shelves that blocked the sight lines of roving librarians, and was close by the book she actually wanted to see.

'I'm going to study over there.' Kirie said, pointing to the desks. It wasn't really an invitation as much as a plain statement, but Kirie did consider that having someone else sitting and studying would provide some legitimacy to the visit. Then again, she would be another witness.

 

[Anet Raine]

"A slave?"

It was clear from how Anet said it that such concepts were purely academic to her. It was like a notion rather than reality for someone like her - a rich girl from a powerful family, raised on a planet that was considered a natural and social paradise. Her entire life until recently was effectively a curated experience, with guardrails and assistance that only obscene wealth and power could provide.

To hear Kirie put to an act of her 'masters' decided she was not allowed to speak... It only reminded her of someone who muted their pet for being too loud. An act that Anet always considered cruel, but for it to be done to a person?

Fuck.

Anet's heart sank hearing it... It went beyond her own philosophy. Sure, everyone had a place. Yes, that place was dictated by natural law. But this struck her as unnecessary cruelty by someone who did not understand.

Fucking animal. She cursed an imaginary slaver.

'Where did you learn ORSL?' Kirie asked.

Kirie's words snapped the scholar out of her trance. "Where did I? Oh..." It felt safe enough to answer. "I am a resident at Shey Tapani."

Only one of the most prestigious universities in the galaxy. Very exclusive, too.

"We um," her tone suggested she was still bothered by what Kirie revealed. "Language accessibility is important to academics. I know a few kinetic languages, as well as spoken ones, and a few dialects."

Anet watched the brunette open the door and followed her inside. Her first thought was how it paled in comparison to the library on Lorrd, which she had the privilege of visiting again quite recently, yet the materials... The half-pantoran grinned widely. She was excited.

'I'm going to study over there.' Kirie said, pointing to the desks.

She looked to Kirie. "I'll join you," said so so seriously.

 

[Kirie]

Location: Desevro Academy
Tag: Anet Raine

Anet's reaction to her story ran over her like water. It was good, that she seemed to care, it boded well. But Kirie couldn't linger on it, or else it would drag her down into the pool of misery that never failed to appear when she considered her past too thoroughly. So she did as she always did, nodded in confirmation and allowed the conversation to move on. There was nothing gained from lingering on it.

"Where did I? Oh..." It felt safe enough to answer. "I am a resident at Shey Tapani."

'Shey Tapani?' Kirie was unable to hide the surprise from her face, but she did manage to suppress a giggle and her instinctual follow up question of 'Then why are you here?' Kirie stared for a moment, wondering what was most appropriate to say. Finally, she settled on 'I'm surprised.'

'I'm from Jutrand.' Kirie added, anticipating a question from Anet.

"I'll join you,"

Kirie nodded and snaked her way across the Reading Room to the back corner, taking a seat and laying her things out on the polished wooden tabletop, watching Anet out the corner of her eye as she pulled out her Alchemical textbook, Ur-Kittat phrases datagem and sparring manual. Finally, she pulled from the bottom the text she hadn't wanted Anet looking at too closely, for it may have hinted to what she was up to. A small brown volume with embossed gold aurabesh lettering on the side that read Fundamentals of Dark Healing.

Kirie waited until it looked like Anet had begun whatever study she was doing, then opened the book, flipping to a page near the back that she had dog-eared. Her eyes scanned the handwritten note scribbed in the margin of the book- Itself liberated from the Jutrand Library- that she had noticed a week earlier.

"Inaccurate. See p. 141 of The Book of Glass by Lady Ysgrim, Scholar of the Temples on Desevro."

The page may well have been inaccurate, for the skills it sought to teach her, on Shatterpoints and how to harness them to heal or harm, had just about blocked her progress entirely. That book, and the answers in it, was probably within the Red Library's archives these days. She just had to figure out where.

Not in the Reading Room's collection, certainly, and as an acolyte she had no authority to send for something deeper.

Surreptitiously, when she thought Anet wasn't looking, Kirie stood and walked around to the next stack of shelves, as if looking for a text there. As soon as she was out of sight, she made her way quickly and quietly to a pedestal hidden between the shelves, upon which sat a Library Index, secured both by a passcode to open it, and a physical chain which kept the hybrid object secured to the lectern.

With a last furtive glance to make sure no Librarians or droids were watching her, Kirie retrieved from her pockets a Clerk's Credentials, carelessly left on a desk for a few moments. The index whirred and clicked, and when Kirie opened it, a small holographic search interface appeared above it.

 

[Anet Raine]

It was natural to Anet that Kirie was surprised. Indeed, why would someone like her be here? Actually, that question applied to both of them, now that Anet thought about it.

'I'm from Jutrand.' Kirie added, anticipating a question from Anet.

"I've never been."

She practically didn't know it either, not that she revealed the fact.

While the brunette focused her attentions on a book, Anet pulled out her datapad. If she managed to catch a glimpse, Kirie would notice the woman was monitoring a market feed - quite an odd thing to visit the library for, as if it were just some HoloNet hotspot. And although the scholar's attention had been focused on the viewscreen, she did rapidly glance up (with attempted subtlety) whenever the woman seemed to do anything... such as secreting a book... in a library.

How odd, Anet thought.

She couldn't help but smirk a little at Kirie's behavior. Cute, she thought (quite derogatorily). Her icy eyes flicked back down to the screen, joining her fingers in the consumption of financial data with HYDIAN-WYL regularly appearing on the display.

Surreptitiously, when she thought Anet wasn't looking, Kirie stood and walked around to the next stack of shelves, as if looking for a text there.

Foolish behavior. Anet was a rich girl. Let's reemphasize that - filthy rich. People like her learned how to sneak, lie, and obfuscate well before they hit the double digits - instant capitulation for Kirie as far as she believed. Rich and confident.

Anet waited until she felt it was the right time to move and trailed after with a shadow's step off the ball of her foot. When the mute rounded the stack of shelves, Anet was quick to spy with her (quite unfair) infrared advantage, to cheekily avoid ever needing to peek around the corner. As soon as she was convinced Kirie wasn't waiting to ambush her, she rounded the corner and stretched her gait to catch up.

The index whirred and clicked, and when Kirie opened it, a small holographic search interface appeared above it.

"Sly girl," Anet teased a few breaths away from Kirie's ear. "What are we doing here?"

 

[Kirie]

Location: Desevro Academy
Tag: Anet Raine

There it was, the book she had been thinking about for months, finally within reach. Not too far away either, just tucked away in the Storage Levels, where they intersected a larger passage to the Old Levels. That crossroad would be easy to find, but just in case, Kirie jotted the turns from the turbolift down on the closest writing surface she could find- which turned out to be Fundamentals of Dark Healing itself. She had the directions, now all the she to do was-

"Sly girl," Anet teased a few breaths away from Kirie's ear. "What are we doing here?"

If she'd had the ability, Kirie would have screamed. As it was she merely jumped a foot in the air and spun around, just clawing back the fearful urge to push Anet away and sprint out of the library. The rush of nerves to her head made her vision blurry, and Anet had to stand there while Kirie recovered, doubled over in front of her. If the two had been closer, Kirie would have given her a smack across the cheek.

They weren't close though, so Kirie just did her best to raise herself to her full diminutive height and look as unamused as possible.

'Hello, Anet.' Kirie signed, her face a picture of neutrality, 'I was just...' Her eyes flicked back to the index. She was sure she had closed it, but there it was, a blinking image showing a route down to the prohibited levels, on the index she wasn't allowed to use. Kirie scratched her head 'Uhm.'

Kirie seemed to deflate, it was written in Anet's eager, amused expression. Whether she wanted or not, she had earned a companion for this particular venture. She let out a long sigh which finished in a soft whistle between pursed lips, and she finally looked back at Anet.

'Okay, if you want to come, I'll show you.'

Kirie paused another moment, brow crinkling in thought.

'Actually, since you're so sneaky, can you go get that red canvas backpack from the wall and meet me at lift V? Just make sure nobody sees you.'

Kirie gave a satisfied smile. The ball was back in Anet's court. She knew instinctively the girl wouldn't tattle, so she'd either help or go back to whatever she'd been doing. If Anet insisted on being a nosy companion, she could at least be a useful one.

 

[Anet Raine]

Anet placed a hand on each hip as she watched the bookworm completely fall apart in surprise. Indeed, she felt a scream would've added to the satisfaction. It wasn't that the scholar was cruel... Okay, well, maybe just a little - but she found the whole thing refreshing. It took away the oppressive edge she had felt nearly the whole time on Desevro. For a moment, it was like she was just back at the university, watching a clumsy colleague.

"You were just?" Words echoed with a smirk.

"Uhm?" Teased again.

'Okay, if you want to come, I'll show you.'

Her chin lifted with slight pride.

'Actually, since you're so sneaky, can you go get that red canvas backpack from the wall and meet me at lift V? Just make sure nobody sees you.'

"This isn't some elaborate ruse to get rid of me now... is it?"

One skeptical eyebrow raised, and no smile returned. After a few seconds of deciding, Anet elected to trust her. She figured that Kirie was in too deep to try and get rid of her this late anyway.

Anet tucked a loose strand of white hair behind her ear, then went to retrieve the backpack. Not too much after, she found her way to Lift V, and trusted to see Kirie there...

Kirie

 

[Kirie]

Location: Desevro Academy
Tag: Anet Raine

"This isn't some elaborate ruse to get rid of me now... is it?"

Kirie shook her head and tried to look very serious, but the tiniest hint of a amusement tugged at the corners of her lips. She was funny, this Anet girl, and easy to trust. That was a dangerous feeling.

Regardless of her wider doubts, Anet seemed both agreeable and curious enough to assist with getting the pack. While she did so, Kirie busied herself with jotting down the last of the directions into her datapad, which she slid smoothly into her pocket before closing the Index. She cast another furtive look around the library, but nothing seemed amiss, so she casually walked back over to the desk to grab her bookbag, and made her way to lift V.

It was a few anxious minutes of waiting in which Kirie was increasingly fearing she'd been ditched or turned in before Anet finally emerged from behind the shelf with the red pack in hand. The packs were essential tools for any trip outside beyond the Reading Room, permitted or otherwise, because they contained safety equipment that would be necessary. Items from flares to beacons and deployable distress droids to miniature laser cutters and collapsible hard hats. Kirie gave Anet a nod to signal her approval, and turned back to the lift, conscious that it was in relatively open area, if someone happened to go past.

'Well done. Lets head down.'

Kirie swiped the Clerk's credentials at the turbolift's console, prompting the quiet hum of machinery as the lift car rose the the top level. The doors opened with a soft ping, revealing a small, new looking car with a thin coating of red dust at the bottom. Kirie, trying very hard to act as if she knew was she was doing, stepped inside, glancing back to see if Anet was going to come along. When they were both inside the turbolift, the doors slid smoothly shut, and Kirie breathed out a sigh of relief. On to the business of finding the book.

Using the Clerk's credentials again, Kirie entered the key for the archive level where the book was supposedly held, and swiped the access card.

Nothing happened.

Kirie cursed internally. The stolen credentials mustn't have been high enough. She clenched her fists in frustration at having got so close but failed, and turned her face to the ceiling, where she saw the black outline of an access panel.

She looked back at Anet, an idea forming in her head.

'Are you afraid of heights?'

 

[Anet Raine]

"What the fuck is in here? It's heavy!" She commented on the pack.

She watched as Kirie summoned the turbolift. Of course, the library had other floors, she nodded to herself in confirmation. As soon as the brunette stepped inside, she followed and stood next to the woman. Anet glanced down at Kirie as the doors slid shut.

She thought to inquire as to the woman's sigh, but held her tongue for now. After all, Kirie really seemed the anxious type.

She wasn't quite aware that they were in any danger, besides the strange encounter on their way to the library, and even more so in her mind - what is the worst that might happen if they got caught breaking some rules? Even among Sith, she did not imagine library security to be so... dire. Unless artifacts and the like were at risk, but...

The elevator began to rise. Quite briskly, too.

She stole a glance at the access card in Kirie's hand and did not recognize the name on it.

"Did you steal that?" Her tone almost suggested praise, if not amusement.

When the doors opened and revealed a different car, Anet turned to her co-conspirator with a puzzled look. Though she did not vocalize, her expression asked: "What the hell?"

There was some hesitation before she stepped into the car with her.

She watched again as Kirie used the stolen credentials. Anet snickered when nothing happened and looked around the turbolift as if sparing the acolyte the embarrassment of perception. To drive the point home, she pretended to tuck loose strands back behind her ear. Yes, the near-human was teasing her.

Her amusement ceased when Kirie signed her question.

"Heights?" Anet nearly coughed. "Um... Why?"

She was smart enough to pick up on context, but did not want it to be true.

Kirie

 

[Kirie]

Location: Desevro Academy
Tag: Anet Raine

"What the fuck is in here? It's heavy!"

'Supplies.' Kirie replied absentmindedly. She was looking around the turbolift car, eyes flitting over the handrails and then back to the slightly curved metallic ceiling, judging the distance to the port, which was just wide enough for them to squeeze their shoulders through. It was too high to reach even balanced on the railing, because she didn't have the strength to pull herself up using only her arms. If she had a boost though...

"Did you steal that?"

Habitually, Kirie turned and pressed her lips into a questioning 'Hmm?' that did not produce the hum of sound it once had. She hadn't really been listening. A slight flush crept over her cheeks and she found herself quite unable to meet Anet's eyes for a moment, before pride welled up in her and she looked back to Anet with what she hoped read as confidence.

'So?' She asked, answering the question without answering it. 'It's not like I'd be able to get permission.'

Kirie ignored the snicker and the look of judgement when the lift didn't move. Her brain was already on to solutions, so driven was she by the desire to close the gap in her knowledge, to finally be able to use the whirlpool of emotion inside her to heal, instead of just harm.

'The Sith teach us to take what we need, and then some.' Kirie added. 'Give me a leg-up please. I want to check something.'

Kirie waited for Anet to comply, a little self-conscious of how direct she could be when she was trying to complete a goal. She made a mental note to reign herself back in as soon as they had finished with this little sojourn. It was always better that people just saw her as the pliable and quiet servant.

With Anet's boost Kirie was able to reach the panel in the ceiling, and push it up and aside with the flat of her hand. The metal plate slid away to reveal an almost pitch dark lift shaft that rose maybe a car length or two further up before ending with a soft blinking red light. Kirie stuck her head up a little higher and pulled herself through the hatch so she was lying on her stomach on the dusty roof of the turbolift car. She looked around, eyes adjusting to the darkness, and finally saw what she'd been searching for: a dark metal ladder receding into the depths below, illuminated in patches by the little red lights marking each floor, descending a long, long way down, so that the bottom was lost in the limits of her vision.

Kirie crawled back to the port and looked down into the car at Anet.

'Coming?' she asked. 'Pass up the bag then I'll help pull you up.'

 

[Anet Raine]

Supplies? She didn't quite buy that, but then again, Kirie seemed up to something that Anet didn't fully understand. For now, she chose to let that curiosity go and instead focus on the curious task at hand... even if heights were now involved.

Anet sighed. She didn't even have the luxury of reading Kirie's defensiveness, or else she would've teased her fellow acolyte further.

'Give me a leg-up please. I want to check something.'

Arris nodded, albeit after a small hesitation, and gave the young woman a boost. She groaned a little, and may've surprised Kirie with upper arm strength that didn't fit the scholar's profile at first glance. A byproduct of hauling excavation equipment around dig sites for the last few years.

She watched as the brunette did away with a panel, then slipped into the shaft. The thick metal obscured most of what Anet could see infrared, but there was still a faint glowing blob where Kirie was prone. When she peeked back in, she would see the near-human looking back up like a lost kath pup. Anet nodded, passed up the bag, and then offered her own arm to be lifted.

Never before had she attempted a climb like this. Which no doubt more than a handful of her fellow acolytes would find pathetic.

After Kirie helped her up, Anet looked around the top where she crawled side-by-side with her accomplice.

"What are we doing?!" She asked, panic transparent in her voice.

 

[Kirie]

Location: Desevro Academy
Tag: Anet Raine

"What are we doing?!"

Kirie didnt answer, preoccupied by pulling Arris up by her arms. The muscles in her back strained and she shook with the effort, her leg trembling as she braced against a nut sticking out from the turbolift's roof, the only support on the otherwise smooth, curved surface. Her time living in luxury as a royal handmaiden had left her weaker than she'd ever been as a farmhand or a slave. Despite that, she managed to pull Anet up using all her strength, almost losing balance in the process and having to lay herself flat against the lift car to stop herself from sliding off the roof and tumbling into the abyss below.

Once she felt steady again, Kirie sat back up and let out a held breath, meeting Anet's expectant gaze. The girl looked panicked, and Kirie wondered if she wasn't as adventurous as she'd first seemed, or if she just really didn't like heights. Or, Kirie thought suddenly, maybe she's worried I'll push her off.

"What are we doing?!"

'I was going to use the credentials I... found, to get down to the old storage levels. There's a book down there that is supposed to teach a technique I want to learn. I really need it and-'

Kirie stopped signing and cocked her head in thought, struck by the realisation she had no good explanation for why she'd invited Anet to come along, especially as the expedition was growing more hairy by the minute, and the two had only really met that morning.

'And- It's good to have someone watch your back.' she finished. 'Besides, if you see something you like then its yours. The section we're going to is restricted to Lords, you know.'

Kirie felt her muscles beginning to stiffen from her position crouched on the turbolift car. She knew she had to start climbing down or she would become too afraid to begin.

Carefully, she stood up, teetering again as she straightened to her full height and shuffled across the smooth sloping metal to where the ladder was in reach. Reaching it meant tipping her balance over the void, resulting in a sickening moment of weightlessness before her outstretched hand closed around the first painted rung, which was smooth but easy to keep ahold of. That was good, it would be a long climb.

Kirie went down a few rungs to give Anet room to join her on the ladder, if she still wanted to at all. Kirie was beginning to feel a nervous flutter in her stomach that made her feel a bit sick.

Don't look down. She told herself, then signing up to Anet one-handed, she repeated it. 'Don't look down. Just climb.'

 

[Anet Raine]

All this talk of restricted sections and the promise of forbidden knowledge began to sound like the start of a ghost story. Anet wondered if Kirie had only brought her along as a bribe, a "hey, don't tell anyone" inclusion - or maybe she would try to get rid of her before doubling back to her real goals. What if that was the brunette's plan all along?!

The scholar felt a sudden paranoia wash over her thoughts, and even her senses dulled.

It was made worse by the fact that she watched her fellow reach across death and towards a risky ladder, and expected her to do the same. The fear she felt was made worse by the brewing insanity that came at her out of nowhere. Was this the moment Kirie had planned? Would she push Anet to her death, or pull her off?

"Wait!" She remembered something. When she and some of the other acolytes were forced to clear one of the ruined temples, she recalled the building played tricks on her... on all of them. One of the instructors said it was because the bricks themselves were laid with a mortar made of blood and bone. It might've sounded far-fetched, but as an archaeologist, Anet knew such grisly construction methods were real. Often in the most tyrannical regimes; progress by way of extermination.

Anet grabbed the ladder and began to follow Kirie down.

"I think..." She wondered how to word it. "I sense," now that word made her feel good... "a dark presence in the shaft. I think there are spirits bound to the structure, and we are near one now."

The scholar only hoped it was up and not down, but for now, she tried her best to avoid the darker temptations. Insanity would have to wait!

Kirie