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.