Private Burn It To The Ground

[Kalanda Tishire]

Location: Ryloth, within the Jixuan Desert.

The sun blazed high in the sky, as the lone figure of Kalanda trot towards a place she wish she could have left behind. It was a lone hut, certainly weathered from age and sand, but she knew within it, laid lavish goods and enough luxuries for an Alderran noble man to feel right at home. Of course, it also had a nice cellar towards the back, with only a cot and a small barred window. That had been her room for as long as she could remember. Her new attire made it manageable.

She hadn't been here in many years. It was a place she thought best left untouched. But here she was, looking upon it yet again. Home. It was built in the middle of nowhere, far from the nearest village. But that was always the intent with her mother, the control that she wished to exert over her. It was suppressed for much of her time. A way to not give in into what her mother desired her to be, to not devolve into the cretin she was. In truth, she had failed. She spent most of her life running, trying to stay away, trying to be anyone but herself. 'Healing the galaxy one heart at a time'. It was childish. She had known that back then, but she had come to accept it now. "Mother." The word was simple, and yet it felt so foul. It made her knees shake, her insides tremble, filled her with a tinge of fear, and the memory of a vibro-whip striking her across the back. The truth to being strong was casting aside the past, not letting it define who she was. It was this truth she would uphold, and with it, she would tear down the monuments to her past. Her hand reached into the pouch she carried, and drew forth that which she had come to depend on for many years.

The sand seemed to almost anticipate what the witch aimed to do, as it kicked up around her. She closed her eyes, feeling several specs brush across her eyelids, the sand seemingly trying a vain attempt to stop what she was about to do. She had done this chant before, the same spell she had conjured on Borosk, the one that nearly took her arm. How fitting that something that caused her so much pain would be the tool she would sever her past with. In the ancient tongue of the Dathomari, she screamed out against the storm, green fire flicking across her arms as her spell grew in power.

"Birena het res Ena'oekyn Lata, aek res key het kaiken. Kotfa, fiisos het res Tȃtbat Esu, gat'leo pu lora ' hekanar! Moskal fannalat, Nȃtylal cruak, pu kel lora au day meni ar manak! M'lehat sharen hisul, melo sharen tyr, dene I'shuree vatyole miree solu!" (“Winds of the Singing Mountains, hear the word of power. Rush, waters of the Dreaming River, against your sisters' foes! Lightning rend, Thunder break, your dearest sister's live is at stake! Strike them down, make them hurt, let my ichor burn pure!")

She brought her hands together, directing it towards her prison of manner years. She poured her rage, her fears, and pain into the effort, feeling it build up within her like a pressure cooker until she could hold it no more. When it released, the impact knocked Kalanda onto her back, sending up a blast wave of sand, as a bolt of green flaming lighting tore through the home. The concussive force showered the area in sand, rubble rained down from above, and Kalanda found herself nearly smoothed under the churning of sand. By the time she had gotten her bearings, she could see the fires engulfing the house, the roof had caved in, and it seemed her attack had blown the entire front section inwards. She sat in the sand now, silent tears streaking against her sand blasted face, before vaporizing against the unyielding sun. She had no home. She had no friends. She had no family. Once again, she felt the solitude from those many years ago. Not much had changed it seemed. She was still a lonely girl, desperate for acceptance, and despite her best intentions she would never receive it.

Akelia Se'lai

 

[Akelia Se'lai]

Akelia wasn't exactly surprised that her wayward daughter returned. In the end, all children crawled back to her. Without the Sith woman to soothe her pain, her child held as much vigor as a blind and dumb Bantha runt. The girl didn't know that her mother had never left her, that her mother would always watch for her. She merely waited, knowing that the frail self esteem would give way, and as they spiral out of denial after denial, they would eventually have to accept their lot in life; there was no escape. When Kalanda arrived, Akelia made no move against her, sought not to strike at the woman while her guard was down. Rather, she watched from the shadows, relishing the bitterness and hurt that the young girl was feeling. She had been doing this for years, and time and time again it proved effective. Yes, there were slip ups, but the end result was all that mattered. Her children belonged to her in the end.

Curosity did take her however, as she watched her daughter conjure forth the ichor, and seemingly infused it with her own power. The results spoke for itself, as the house buckled, the impact shattering the foundations, sending a cloud of sand and smoke into the sky, and raining molten glass and stone into the surrounding area. It seemed the welp had learned some new tricks while she was off world; her dress attire had certainly improved after all. It wouldn't matter. This was a moment she had waited nearly a decade to get underway, she was going to savor it. She watched as Kalanda struggled out of the sand, moving to rise, only to sink back into the dirt like the pawn she was. Yes, revel in it. You reap what you sow. With the moral of her daughter firmly established at being at an all time low, Akelia would make her way down to great the girl; they hadn't talked in some time after all.

Of course for her, it was as simple as shifting places. She merely focused, let her mind lead her body where to go, and willed it to be so. One moment she over looked the smoldering homestead from the safety of the plateau, the next she was a mere thirty feet from Kalanda, slowly encroaching the young woman. "It's a shame really, you were set to inherit this." It was a simple prod, spoken in the most relished tone she could muster forth. She reached out, and grasped the frail will of the child with an iron grasp, and began to work her magic. "How have you been, Kalanda?" Oh yes, this was going to be a sweet, sweet night to long back upon.

Kalanda Tishire

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

The pain was as she remembered it. Crushing, sharp, overbearing. Her hands wrapped around her chest, trying to will it to stop, trying to make it go away. It was a futile effort, but one she sought to bring back under her control. Physical pain was one thing. You could manage it with medicine, block it out mentally, or simply numb the nerve cluster to make all well. Sadly, emotional pain didn't work quite the same. It buried deep, it's lashes struck so deep no needle could ever sedate it, nor scalpel could ever touch it. In this moment, she would suffer alone; or perhaps not.

When she heard that voice, her blood ran cold, her heart shuttered, and the icy cold chisel of fear was lodged within her spine. No. Not here. Not now. The sobbing stopped, as the clutches of dread took hold of her mind, and the pain that was unraveling her from the inside became nothing more than a study thump of pain. "You can't be here." She mumbled, her tone lacking an emotion to it, as she couldn't conjure it forth. The hot sand she had collapsed in felt as cold as the snow of Hoth, and the air she tried to pull into her lungs was nowhere to be found. She had to of died and gone to hell. There was no other explanation. She dared not look back, least she be proven wrong.

She couldn't fight her.

Not now.

She just didn't have it in her. Something inside her locked up, and any rage she had tried to push forth merely died before it could truly boil to the surface. Mother had always played her mind games. Mother always knew how to control her. Kalanda only looked ahead, in her expression was a sense of guilt and despair, as she realized what she had just gotten herself into. "I'm not going back with you. Never again." It was the only act of defiance she could muster, and a weak one at that. Her words were strained, her body trembled, but she wouldn't go back to living in that cell. She'd rather die.

If she had any regrets, it was she wouldn't get to see Amur again. It was a small comfort to hold onto, as the nightmare she had dreaded for years had come into existence.

Akelia Se'lai

 

[Akelia Se'lai]

She could feel the girls will power slipping away, as more and more of Kalanda's mind fell under Akelia's sway. A low chuckle was drawn from her lips, as she approached, hand still firmly clamping into the mind of her daughter. It was like a dream come true in how it had plated out. She had been waiting so long for this moment, to finally have a youthful body once again. "Oh, but you are ever so wrong, Kalanda." To her surprise, she felt resistance as she pressed deeper, applying more pressure onto the rebellious girl. Her mind had certainly strengthened, but all it would take was a bit more pressure to make her cave. She was drowning in her misery, she had fully accepted the darkness, there was no way the child could resist. Akelia would twist her mind until it belonged to her, and her alone. She felt a surge or rage push up, thrusting up from within the child and seeking to break free, but Akelia held strong, and pressed back in kind. The witch had certainly gotten more stubborn, but this level of resistance was...abnormal.

It seemed that every time Akelia attempted to enforce her will, the damn girl rose up stronger than before. Was she....using the very fear that Akelia crippled her with to resist her? There was more than one way to address that, but it was the word that Kalanda spoke to her that caused that line of thinking to pause. "I'm not going back with you. Never again."

Who was she to tell her, her own mother, what she would and wouldn't do? This wouldn't do. Not one bit. She reached for the vibro-whip at her belt, and let it uncoil. Incensed was putting it mildly, frenzied would possibility the correct term to use, as Akelia cast the whip back, letting her rage take hold; the tendrils digging into Kalanda's mind slipping for just a moment.

With a flick of her wrist, Akelia sent the whip towards her daughter, striking the woman in the back, lashing across her shoulder, before coiling it around Kalanda's neck. "YOU DON'T GET A SAY IN IT YOU LITTLE WRETCH." She pulled tight and hard, snapping Kalanda off her knees and into the sand, as she began to strangle her daughter with her favored tool. Even that wasn't good enough for the crone, however, as she would loosen the strangle over her daughter, and release a burst of lightning through the whip, aiming to electrocute Kalanda into unconsciousness. The burst took much of the overflowing anger within the older woman, though she still was fuming as she spoke her next few words. "That is the last time you get to tell me no."

She had waited too long for this day, she would not be denied a second time. That she was certain of.
Kalanda Tishire

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

It Hurts

The pressure on her mind increased, feeling as if someone was pressing a power hammer onto the top of her skull. She had felt this pain once before, back on Dathomir, her reward for having achieved her status as a sister. It was a deep secret. One that she had hid from everyone, not even her precious Murmur knew. Kalanda had told herself that last girl wasn't her. It was the great lie, larger than the one she had told Amur; that the ones closest to you could hurt you the most. She had almost believed herself when she had said it, but she had spent so long in denial that fact and fiction sort of blended together. The Kalanda at age sixteen was a child, she didn't know how to fight back, she didn't know how to defend herself. That didn't count then, right?

Wrong

"Please. I want to be free of this pain. Please Matron...." She had pleaded for the memories to be stripped, for the feelings to be numbed, for her past to no longer loom over her for the rest of her waking days. The pain had been worth it then. Her days became brighter, her shoulders lighter, her attitude more positive. She felt as if anything her mother had done to her was no longer possible. But that was the thing about feelings, they lied to you at times.

She felt the tendrils slip, as the pick wedged into her mind slipped, and with it she regained fragments of control. She tried to rise up, turn and face down the hollow shell of a woman that had been her mother, but faltered. Was it doubt? Was it fear? Or was it mere acceptance? It was hard to tell. Perhaps she was just tired. One thing was certain, was when that whip struck her, it brought back memories of a past life. It tore into her clothing, slashing a fine red gash into her shoulder, driving Kalanda into the sand once again, before it coiled around her neck and began to dig it. She felt her mother pull, her body bent unnaturally, sending a series of pain induced convulsions before the lightning even struck. A pain scream managed to escape her lips as she tried to resist in pain, the metal fibers of the whip slicing into her neck, the sand beginning to sting into the newly opened wounds. Yet, as she suffered, her mind went back to a single interaction, one she had back so long ago.

"I... I never met someone willing to give so much for me. I don't know how to thank you. I'll find a way to make this up to you, for everything."

As she laid in the sand, her body quiver, throbbing in pain, Kalanda lingered on those words. If only Amur was here now. Maybe this wouldn't be happening. But they were just words. It would do little to save her here and now. There was no bitterness though. She understood why things had unfolded this way, the same reason she was laying in the sand at the mercy of her mother; she was weak. You are stronger than this.

There was another brief attempt to move, but it was no good. She felt tired, worn down. Fatigue stung at her limbs, her mind grew heavy, as did her eyelids. Just remaining conscious became a struggle. Her hands weakly tugged at the whip slowly strangling her, making it even harder to breath. There was little to do other struggle in her pained throes, maybe get off one last quip to infuriate her mother before she moved on.

Don't do this. Please.

Akelia Se'lai

 

[Akelia Se'lai]

Her will was commendable. Ake'lia had to admit it now, as despite her best attempts Kalanda's mind stayed whole. The fear hadn't torn her apart, nor had she been able to directly control the girls mind. She had seen it in her children before, some of them had nearly killed her after all, but this was different. Almost like there were two minds, working together to foil her, would explain why she was unable to form a solid grasp. With her daughter disabled, Akelia moved forward, whip held tightly as it's sharp edges dug into Kalanda's neck further. She knew beside the witch, watching as she struggled to breath, the will to fight slowly slipping away. Excellent. She couldn't leave her like this obviously, she still needed her alive, but...a minute or two of punishment wouldn't be the end of her new body. "You surprise me Kalanda, your will, it's commendable." She mused, taking her hand and placing it on Kalanda's head, as she would briefly link minds with the girl, trying to understand what was stopping her control.

What she found surprised her, as the source of her problem was soon evident. Someone had tampered with her daughters mind. It was almost bound together, kept tight by strong bands of force energies that kept it under tight control; like some sort of emotional barrier. But who could have done this, it was outside of Kalanda's skill range to-

The answer was obvious. The Nightsisters had done it. Kalanda was never strong enough to get here on her own, was she? No, this revelation made it all the more clear, her daughter had never truly grown to the extent she had feared. It would take a moment, but soon this barrier would come tumbling down. "You nearly had me concerned dear, but I see through your little tricks now." She couldn't help but gloat, and why not? It was over. She had gotten what she had longed for. Now she could finally have a full set of fingers, and a few decades to salvage what little life she had left. With a bit of glee, Akelia would set to undoing the barrier, unaware of what this shield was keeping back, nor caring. After all, Kalanda was no longer be a threat. Both hands now gripped the side of the young witch, as with little to no elegance Akelia tore down the walls around the girls mind, relishing at the pain and panic that would accompany it's removal. This was every bit as sweet as she imagined it would be.

Kalanda Tishire

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

She wasn't dead. Not yet. But soon that wasn't going to be a problem. Air was getting harder to come by, and the pain was impossible to ignore. Kalanda could feel her lungs threatening to burst, her mouth gasping desperately for air, as her fingers tried in vain to move and undo the whip about her neck. It hardly mattered, Akelia was already over her, that coy smile was a mocking image for the witch as she could see how much the woman was enjoying the torment. Perhaps she could come to terms with a death like this, maybe found some way to rationalize it to herself before she lost consciousness. That was until she felt her mother gazing into her mind, and that horror gave Kalanda a second wind.

She could feel the woman squeezing her mind, pulling away at it's foundations, crushing the defenses that she had put in place so long ago, the sort that she could never again erect once they were removed. The pain was extraordinary, as if someone had taken a hammer to the side of her skull time and time again. But the real pain, came from the feelings that flooded in afterwards.

The barrier had been a way to protect herself from her mother, but not for the reasons one might have thought. Kalanda had struggled with the darker aspects of her past. Over a decade of hurt and abuse, she was forced to keep locked up, confined, unable to lash out or be stricken back even worse than before. When she had tried to move on, those memories came back, and she found herself unable to progress. Her rage, her frustrations, her control, it had taken months before she found she was able to direct it. In time, she came to resent it, hate it, and wanted to be free of the worst of times she could recall. She saw no need to let it fester within her, had no desire to touch that part of herself ever again; after all, what good came of it?

Then she met Amur. Amur had found strength in her pain, in her past, but it still wounded her like a knife. Perhaps that was Kalanda's weakness. Unable to accept her past, unable to make that connection with her Amur. Perhaps there was another solution, a way to make it all work that Kalanda hadn't thought of people. They could share one anothers pain, and grow from it, rather than having Amur just depend on her. She wouldn't be a monster like her mother. She would be something far better than that, but it wouldn't happen unless she made a change here and now.

But that block was now removed. And with it, the pain, the rage, the fury that had stewed within Kalanda for years boiled back to the surface. Where there had been only cold embers to call upon for her power, there was now an inferno that sputtered within that made Mustafar pale in comparison. Almost like she was brought back from the dead, the witch's eyes opened, and found her mother still looming over her. Her teeth gritted tightly, her eyes widened with murderous intent, as Kalanda poured all the abuse that her mother had held over her for nearly twenty years into one solid blow to the face. It would come from below, the hands that worked away at the whip instead shot upwards towards the chin of the crone, and if it landed, the blow would be....painful to say the least.

Akelia Se'lai

 

[Akelia Se'lai]

Once again, her hubris had gotten the best of her. One moment, she had victory in hand, the next, the situation had wildly changed. As Akelia set to removing her daughters mind barrier, she had felt something shift as the last barrier went down. She had thought it was just the girls mind recoiling in agony, but it soon became apparent that was not the case at all. The mind of Kalanda had shifted, at first despair, followed by pain had been the first reactions she had provoked, but now....it was just silent, almost as if she had made the girl brain dead. Then, she felt it. It came like thunder, pressing back against her mind, a wave of pain cascaded into a tsunami of outrage. She hadn't felt this before, not even a hint of it. Where had it come from? Akelia panicked, trying to suppress it, using her power to seize hold of the vulnerable mind, wishing it to placate before she lost control over the situation; it failed.

Her grasp slipped, as her power seemed to diminish with this new source of power for her daughter. She had thought that perhaps she could find a way to get the situation back under control once she was in her own mind, but a literal blow from reality informed her this was not the case. Kalanda's strike caught her right in the jaw, popping the bone out of the socket, and sending a spewing mess of blood from Akelia's mouth. She felt herself be swept off her feet, falling back onto the sand as a fiery pain tore through her being, her mind still reeling from having been ejected out of her seemingly worthless daughter. Sand covered her attire, particles getting in her eyes, and her now open mouth as well. She attempted to open her mouth, trying to scream her daughter into obedience, and found she could not manage. Where her words were once summoned, only pain resided now. Akelia could only rise up, her hand clenching her damaged jaw as blood began to bubble out of her lips. If the witch needed to be punished further, than so be it.

Kalanda Tishire

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

Before when Kalanda had felt her rage fueling her, she had found it had stopped once she had taken an action. Typically expelling it all in a burst, using it in a spell, or even striking something would be enough to empty it. This time however, she found that wasn't the case. As she struck her mother, that strength she had called upon didn't falter, nor diminish. Rather, it continued to grow, and with it she found a new strength to fight with. Throwing her mother off, she found herself able to rise, stripping the whip off from her neck, and managing to actually breath now without the sensation of strangulation interfering. It was almost a haze she fell under now. The voice that had pleaded with her to keep fighting had fallen silent, but in it's place she felt a new sense of power that she hadn't known. It was a power she had come to fear years ago, but back then she lacked a way to direct it, no way to channel it properly. But now, that wasn't the case. She had a splitting headache, her skin felt as if it was on fire, she had severe lacerations to her neck and shoulder, not to mention she was probably suffering from a mental break down at current; but she wouldn't let that kill her.

She was going to see Amur again, and her mother would have no influence in that decision what so ever. The very pain that her mother had inflicted upon her, was now going to be her way to fight back. She wouldn't cower any longer, nor let her past be an anchor to drag her down. She had been put through the ringer before, but she wouldn't let that define her, because as much as her mother had tried to make the case, she was nothing like her; and she wasn't any weaker for being so.

Kalanda rose, digging her feet in the sand and towering above her mother, as despite the pain she was still reeling from, her strength in the force remained. She could feel the blood rolling down her neck, staining into her clothing as she eyed her mother. She couldn't let the woman have time to recover, for Kalanda knew just how dangerous her mother was. The strike seemed to have rendered the crone mute, which suited her just fine. To think it would come to this, that Akelia would DIE in silence. Forgotten, unloved, and a shell of a human being. Kalanda couldn't think of a fate more fitting for her mother. Green flames came to life, roiling up Kalanda's shoulders, melting away the fabric in the process. A series of words came to her mind, but no sentences could be formed. She had done this spell only once before, out of her desire to protect Amur. How Ironic she would be doing it again, and for the same reason. Focusing her mother as the target, Kalanda would unleash the fiery torment towards the crone, it's blast was so massive, she was unable to see past the swirling green flames it produced. It was the strongest attack she knew, and one that offered little to no salvation for those who were struck by it. She disliked what it did to those struck by it, but for her mother, Kalanda would make an exception.

Akelia Se'lai