Dare to Learn | Scherezade deWinter

[Srina Talon]

Location: Geonosis - Golbah City - [Capital Building]
Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

Patience. Time.

Srina considered these two things, above all, to be the most powerful elements in the universe. They were the most pivotal, the most uncontested, and the hardest to defy, and the typically overlooked. She waited quietly in the heart of Golbah City for [member="Scherezade deWinter"]. The capital of the Confederacy was a safe place. Neutral ground, well-protected from enemies and bound by laws that the wilds of Ryloth were not. She had not called the child fourth for harm or any sort of revenge. If that was her goal, she simply could have let her die on Monastery, but all that being said—this was a discussion long overdue.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] had taken this spitfire mouse under her wing. The flaxen-haired beauty housed her, sheltered her, and saw to her training needs. Srina found it admirable. Nevertheless, there were things that Schezerade seemed to need, guidelines, that had not yet been met. Or perhaps they had and the rebellious girl had chosen not to hear.

Either way, the Sith Apprentice had chosen the gilded halls of the CIS capital buildings for this venture. She stood in the lobby, a glimmering vision in ivory, without a single visible weapon on her person. The blazingly hot sun streamed through the glass enclosure that made up the circular reception area. Light and fractals turned snow colored hair into a mane of brilliant white-gold, leaving the room wrapped in unnatural stillness, save for the occasional politician that passed. Her form was patterned patriotically with some of the few desert flowers that Geonosis had to offer. There were thick silver bracers on her wrists coupled with tasteful tan feathers woven into moonlit tresses.

She barely seemed to breathe, more than a statue than anything else, and silver eyes remained fixated on the crystalline fountain that gurgled peacefully. If she was at all exasperated at the fact that the deWinter girl as inexplicably late it would not be noted in her expression or in her demeanor. Everything about her radiated calm, gentle elegance, and perfect tranquility. There was no sign of the crimson-clad Force User who had nearly killed one of her Master’s apprentices on Haseria.

There was no sign of the Echani who had nearly killed Scherezade on Haseria. How close the little royal had been to death, and yet, she seemed not to know it. Her ignorance was a curiosity. Dangerous.

Srina had done her homework about the little princess. She was older than she seemed, technically, but still little more than a girl. A child, with power, and abilities in the sense of both the Force and the fact that she had privileged blood. She could still remember how the emerald-eyed sprite had been introduced on Winter in the Library of one Kainan Wolfe. Her ‘Royal Highness’. That was enough to give any entitled youngling a sense of superiority when they didn’t know the meaning of it. She did not attend studies regarding her people, she did not care for them, she merely reaped the benefits of the proud deWinter name and prejudices without consequence.

It was unacceptable. If no one else would culture this woman-child, if no one else would speak to her truly, of Haseria, and the many other things that would one day see her dead—Srina would. It would be a hard lesson, potential kidnapping, and a very long moment of teaching involved. The apprentice of Darth Metus was a difficult taskmaster. She did not have the affection that Katrine held. She did not have the empathy of someone that sympathized with her situation.

At the end of the day—all that mattered was the following:

If Scherezade deWinter was old enough to wield a knife, she should have realized before stabbing the Vicelord, that she was old enough to die by one. It was a message that would be conveyed this day. One way or the other.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Golbah City, Geonosis. Scherezade had stared at it from orbit, her nose pressed against one of the windows aboard the Giggledust. She'd managed to travel above and beyond what was expected in the past three months, yet this was the first time she traveled to the CIS' capital. And alone, on top of that. Katrine was not with her, was not around this time to give her a few quick tips on how to survive this. Golbah City was supposed to be a safe place, but all in the information her grandmother had dumped into her mind alerted that places marked as safe were usually anything but.

She was getting better at it though. Until about a week ago, information that sprung into her mind as a realization of that information had been enough to send Scherezade into a frenzy which was often uncontrolled. But it was relaxing now. She could heed the warning in the information in her head and plan accordingly without the need to grab the biggest canon she could find and start bringing buildings down. Heck, she knew now that if she wanted to bring buildings down, weapons were not the best way to go about it. Progress!

Either way, she tossed her regular combat boots on, as well as the red cloak that she'd received from Katrine. For the actual clothes, she went through the closets both on Kat's ship and in her own before going off on a small shopping spree to get the red dress she'd been wanting for days. It set the brown color of her hair off ad made it look glossy as she let it loose down to her lower back.

A quick glance in the mirror showed that she'd achieved her purpose; all lady-like on the outside, and all warrior-like beneath. No one would see her combat boots anyway unless she raised her skirts, and the only reason she'd have for doing that was to get to her Czerka knife that was inside one of them. The same knife she had almost killed Dath Metus with.

Aside for appearances and grandma-warnings, Scherezade was bubbling with excitement. She (sort of) knew who Srina Talon was, and not just because she'd helped her on Monastry. They'd also met at another place with Scherezade's aunt, Asteria, and all of that put together meant pretty much that this was the first time anyone in the CIS wanted to see Scherezade. Without wanting to harm her. Officially, anyway.

Frak. She hadn't realized she was running late. For all her grandmother had shoved into her head, Scherezade's feel of time was the same as it was when she was a baby; she simply did not feel it. She could tell what five minutes or an hour were, but unless she was glued to the screen looking at the seconds tick by, things took as long as they did, and the time that passed while they did so was of little consequence. And she knew she was really going to have to fix that.

Using the Force, the girl moved her legs fast. Very fast. If anyone would have seen her as she made her way from the docks to the lobby in which she was supposed to meet [member="Srina Talon"], they would see a red-brown blur at best.

Her entrance to the otherwise completely still scene shook things up. She came to a half but three feet away from the Echani. Her dress and cloak were still in place, but her hair was a mess, and her cheeks were flushed. The speed of her movement had also made anything that wasn't glued or stapled down to the ground move and shake. Within a heartbeat, Scherezade used the Force to settle everything down as it was meant to be.

"Hello," she greeted the white haired woman, giving her a ear to ear grin that screamed the innocence of youth, "thank you for inviting me! I haven't been to Geonosis yet."

 

[Srina Talon]

Location: Geonosis - Golbah City - [Capital Building-Lounge]
Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

Mercurial orbs flickered to the doorway before they returned back to the rolling waters of the quiet fountain. Aside from that one, small movement, the apprentice held still as stone as she awaited the approaching tornado that was no doubt Scherezade. She had been expecting no one else and she didn’t know a single person among the Confederacy who would broadcast their presence in such a way. It was youthful, exuberant, and foolish. Indeed, it was most definitely, the deWinter child in a nutshell.

A small wind stirred her snowy locks when the girl arrived, almost skidding to a stop, looking for all the world like a properly dressed tumbleweed. Srina looked her over slowly, from the top of her head to the tips of toes that she could not see. Silver eyes were cold, calculating while maintaining the unearthly allure that most Echani seemed to cultivate as easily as they breathed. They were a brutal species as a whole. They were just as bloodthirsty as the Mandalorians and just as war-driven as the everyday human. Her people were simply better at hiding it with poise and aristocracy.

Her grace, her innate eloquence, completely hid the fact that she had literally held the heart of an enemy in her hands.

Slowly, she inclined her head in greeting, although she did not bow. Srina would not bend the knee before child that didn’t seem to know posterior from elbow. “Your Highness.”

“Welcome to Golbah City. This is one of many buildings that the Confederacy uses to conduct official business. The Viceroyalty, the Vicelord, and diplomats from all over the system come here to break bread and make administrative decisions. It is also a safe haven for any political refugees.”

Srina was neither cruel nor was she friendly. Her words were simply that—Words. She was not one to hold ulterior motives and instead sought to educate the young scion. There was no wasted breath with every movement, every gesture, entirely deliberate. The slender woman fell into motion the way water rolled downstream and while shimmersilk rolled about her ankles as she began to lead the way through the area. “Thank you for coming. Though, I must admit, had you not…I would have simply found you myself. We have much to discuss.”

She brought the brown-haired beauty to a lounge that seemed to have been emptied, save, for the protocol droid that seated them. The area was lovely, posh, and seemed to most commonly be used to entertain fairly sophisticated individuals. Srina sat down neatly at the interior of a small round booth, like a flower enfolding, and ordered a cup of hot tea. She also ordered a light salad and a side featuring star fruit, a recent import, which the Supreme Commander of the Alliance had surprised her with. They had recently accepted Alderaan into the fold and with it reaped the benefit of growing items long out of the Confederacy’s reach.

The droid placed a menu before Scherezade, waiting expectantly, but remaining rather silent aside from recounting daily specials.

“Order what you please. We will have a long day ahead of us and the heat is unmerciful. If you do not have enough to eat and drink you will most definitely fall ill.”

The words were again, simply an advisement, but Srina was certain that the human would need to eat eventually. She wasn’t sure when they would find time with it next for the excursions she had planned. Scherezade needed to see the entirety of the city, front to back, rich and poor, before Srina would feel as if the girl was more adequately prepared. It would involve a lot of walking, possibly baking to a crisp, under the Genosian sun.

Once the royal placed her order Srina would begin to speak, turning first back toward their meeting on Monastery, when she’d nearly been disemboweled. “Your wounds from the Saber Cat have healed correctly I take it?”

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Break bread. Katrine had used similar wording every time Scherezade almost killed someone. Kat's words of choice were s/he sits at the same table as my uncle, but still. The words smelled the same. Scherezade scratched the tip of her nose, opting for the moment not to say anything to that. Those were sentences used by people who did not know what it was like to be poisoned at your own wedding. Not that she knew, but she held the memories of it. Memories she had never wanted to ask for. Memories of her grandmother, falling on the ground as the poison took her body. Her grandfather, using the Force to save her a breath before she died. Her mother, aged four, crying and screaming and kicking, and trying to kill the Mandalorian who'd done it. The images were sharp, clear. Unwanted.

Srina thanked her next for coming, noting that she would have found her otherwise. It was an odd statement to make. Scherezade had made herself as easy as possible to find through her actions over the last few months. A small part of it was because she was clueless about stealth and cloaking and all of that. The main part, though... Was hope. Hope, that perhaps her brother, or parents, or anyone from her family was alive or awake, anything but dead, and would be able to find her. Only Asteria had found her thus, but perhaps there were more. Asteria herself didn't know who else was walking around, though she'd noted that Scherezade's mother had been around for a little while.

Still, she followed the Echani to the lounge, her fingers working quietly to tame her hair as they walked, for it was one of those very rare few instances in which she felt self conscious about her appearance. Perhaps it was Srina's effect, the way she had stood there and looked at her. Even Asteria hadn't done this, and Asteria was a lady through and through. Or at least, she hadn't let Scherezade be so aware of the fact she was doing it.

The lounge was another one of those heavily posh places. Her grandmother would've looked down on it and find all the faults. Her mother would have made herself as comfortable there as she would on an old couch in her dorms. She... Suddenly felt very aware that they were there alone and that this was not the social call she'd initially thought it was. The girl ordered a simply burger from the droid, with a side dish of bantha wings and extra fries. Simple food.

And now was the time for actual conversation. Small talk.

Scherezade was lost in it.Various bits of information jumped to her mind, all courtesy of grandma deWinter, but her own brain made a swirl of them. She was out of her water now and neither knife nor Force abilities would do something about it. Not something good, anyway.

"They have, and I even managed to retrieve the cat. I'm going to skin it and make something from its fur," she answered with an honest smile. She didn't add that she'd later tried experimenting with acid while wearing a crop top and she was still healing from what that wreck on her skin, but there was no need to elaborate on it. A few more experiments and she would have her new weapon down, "but umm," she added, "look, I know there's all these rules of etiquette and such, but I really prefer it if you'd just call me Scherezade and not Your Highness. At least, when Lady deWinter or Lord Tacitus aren't around."

It was another thing. Both Asteria and Tactius didn't want her to hide who or what she was. But she... Well. She didn't fell very royal in any way. She'd never even been to her planet since waking up from the pebble. But not all stories were for now. Or ever. Whether [member="Srina Talon"] was to be trusted with such information remained to be seen.

 

[Srina Talon]

Location: Geonosis - Golbah City - [Capital Building-Lounge]
Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

Srina nodded her head slowly when the young teen before her confirmed that the timely application of Dark Transfer had kept her from further injury. It was a notion that she would file away for later, realizing the potential of the ability, and the apparent efficacy. A singular brow rose at the notion of the spitfire teenager actually skinning something herself, however, she refrained from commentary. For someone that seemed to loathe the Mandalorians so much, she certainly seemed to embody the best and worst of their characteristics. Ruthlessness, for one. “Just remember…There is more than one way to skin a cat.”

A joke. Or, in the head of the Echani warrior, what passed for a joke. She was getting better due to her exposure to a variety of social settings, however, it still came across a little dry sometimes. The auburn haired girl requested that she be referred to without honorifics and the pale-skinned woman nodded her head. She could respect that. Nothing irritated her more than when she was referred to as Lady Talon. She had proven, through blood and meatier chunks, that she was in fact not a noble of any kind.

“If you wish it, Scherezade.”, she responded quietly, offering the waiter droid a pale smile when their food arrived, that was neither bright nor dull. It simply existed as a pleasantry. “Lord Tacitus and I have an understanding. If I can address him by name, surely, I can address you the same way.”

If she were being honest she would have admitted that she could care less what either individual thought of her manners. She wasn’t valued within the Confederacy for her etiquette. Srina was blunt. Driven, focused, and committed. She had an iron will that spanned an age and a particular skill set that left little more that mottled remains in her wake. She was Echani. Bloodily aristocratic. The slender woman picked up her eating utensil and took a few bites, picking through the greenery as she usually did, before turning to the star fruit.

“I suppose it’s time to cut to the chase, then. You are an irregularity.”

It was a strange, almost, disheartening thing to say and hear. Realizing it, she paused, to take a sip of water before settling back in the booth. “You exist within the Confederacy, within the Mandragora, by the will of Katrine Van-Derveld. You are exquisitely reckless. Filled with opinion and hate for the one who leads us due to the circumstances of his birth…”

“That ends here.”

Srina had no way of knowing that Scherezade’s distaste for Mandalorians stemmed from multiple sources, or, she would have suggested that she shore up her mind. Memories running rampant though her, influencing her, was a good way to wind up dead. “I do not say this as a threat. It is simply a matter of fact. You nearly died on Haseria. I don’t even think you’re aware of how close you came to that end.”

“I can say this—because were it not for Katrine…I would have killed you.”

Her words were cold, however, they were not cruel. There was no malice in her aura and no wish to do her harm in the present. It was simply fact. Silver eyes fell to the young girl, piercing, yet entirely still and smooth as the surface of an undisturbed lake. Like glass. “You shouldn’t put yourself in that position. Especially, when you’re not sure you can win. Half of our battles simply revolve around staying alive. Perhaps, not always winning outright, but playing the long game to ensure overall victory.”

“You are a Princess. You are more than a little girl flirting with danger and floating rocks. It’s high time that you begin to think and act like one. The first way to do that, is to learn about the world around you, and to understand immediate consequences. You should have been strung out in the arena by your ankles where the beasts of Petranaki devoured you bit by bit. Yet…Here we are.”

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

At first, she had beamed at the words. You are an irregularity. Exquisitely reckless. Yup, that actually described her almost accurately to a fault. But then came the comment about the leader, which was an outright lie, and then came the rest of it. She bit down on her jaw to keep herself from bursting into the white haired woman's words. The coldness of the words was not what brought a reaction from her though - it was the endless barrage of assumptions, misconceptions, and pretending to know what she was speaking of.

"And here we are," Scherezade echoed, her eyes narrowing. She had left her food alone the moment [member="Srina Talon"] started speaking, and she was sure as frak not going to go back to it now, "so let's get some misconceptions out of the way, if you please."

Leaning back in her chair, the young Sithling began to gather her thoughts so she would be able to properly argue back. Srina might have been wrong, but she was also better at this whole words business than Scherezade was at the moment. Her tongue was hardly a weapon in such cases, and she doubted that pulling her weapons out to settle the matter would work in her favor, considering the guards and the simple game of numbers.

"I don't give two karks about the leader of the Confederacy," she began, "can't even remember his name right now. My loyalty is not to him or to the Confederacy, it is to Katrine Van-Derveld, and if you people ever betray her, you'll have me to deal with, and I'll be a whole lot worse than I've been so far." she paused, "oh right! Darth Metus! I did not attack Darth Metus as the leader of the Confederacy - I saw Mandalorian armor and I attacked without ever seeing his face or knowing who it was that I was stabbing. I'm pretty sure I still haven't seen his face."

The smallest of grins crept to her face then. She didn't have many memories of that night. She remembered arriving on the planet, and then waking up much later, in pain and in agony.

"But there is something you forget," she resumed, "you were in that room when I stabbed him. He was in the room. I've not been told what the exact count was for others who were there and I don't have much memories of that night, courtesy of the Lightning and a severe concussion, but there were at least a few more, and many of them Masters of the Force. And still I made it all the way to Darth Metus with nothing more than a single Czerka knife in my hand, and despite his Mandalorian armor, I got it between his ribs and into his heart."

Every word was very deliberate by now, spoke to the point, with a tiny touch of dramatic flare. She couldn't help it. It was stronger than her. She was doing her very best not to show that she relished on the thought of her near success, just as she hadn't wanted to show the horror of her failure that night.

"And it took how many of you to get me away from there? And how much healing to get his heart to beat again? As far as I understand it, the answer is N is greater than 1. In short, I may have failed to kill him. But for all his posh and importance, you failed to protect him in the first place."

Scherezade took a sip from her water. Despite her theatrics, there was little cruelty behind her meaning, even if it may have come out that way. It was an overview of events that happened, from the point of view of someone who had nearly killed the very thing that she had always been told would forever try to kill her.

"Me being a Princess means absolutely nothing," she said after a pause for breath, "I receive no discounts for it within the CIS or anywhere else. If you had not looked me up, you would never know I might have this or other title. If you're trying to move me or convince me, that angle is pretty much the last one to ever work. It'd be better if you threatened to dip me in a tank of three day old bacta feces. Now, we could banter about this back and forth all day if you really want to, because this is a very watered down version of what I can say on the matter. But-" and now came the real deal.

Scherezade sighed and pressed her lips together for a moment, "you are absolutely right in your assumption that I lack in training. I've only existed as an adult for what, a month or two now? And Katrine had her hands full long before she found me. So yes, my training is lacking, and that's a very very sore spot. Because I'm never going to play the safe game you think is somehow giving you the upper hand in battles. I'm never going to sit back and relax. I'm going to hone myself and the best frakking sorta-human weapon this 'verse has ever seen, and when the CIS enemies come at us, as long as Katrine is here, I will be both the weapon and the shield, and I will always go all in, even as others within the Confederacy cower behind their presumed walls of safety. And I would love it if you could work with me, Srina Talon. I truly would."

 

[Srina Talon]

Location: Geonosis - Golbah City - [Capital Building-Lounge]
Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

Srina felt a touch of very, very deeply buried dark amusement. Whether [member="Scherezade deWinter"] wanted to be perceived as a royal or not, she was every inch, by her tone and over assumptions alone, a Princess. The white-haired woman gave the brunette teen her full attention, though, she still nibbled on her starfruit through the barrage of words that followed. She went on, and on, at great length about her loyalties without even seeming to realize that her wild actions had narrowly avoided what equated to a disaster. Even more than that, she either still did not understand, or, she simply didn’t care.

The Echani could not be sure which it was. Juvenile youth or willful ignorance.

“You require clarification, Scherezade.”

The sentence was plainly put at the end of the diatribe. Srina reached for the napkin that she had unwound from about her utensils to rest delicately in her lap, before placing it neatly, over her barely touched lunch. Suddenly, her appetite had entirely disappeared. How could someone like the Nightmother have such an unenlightened ward? It was mind-boggling. More than that, it was disconcerting, since she often seemed to move on her own during Confederate ventures.

“What you did not know before, you know now, and you should also know that Darth Metus is family to Katrine. I heard her among the chaos, even if you were half-deaf in your rage, and the woman you hold in such high regard ALSO bid you to stop. You did not.”, Srina began softly, able to recount the details of Haseria with startling clarity. The grin that the girl across the table from her wore was ill placed and spoke of a possible psychosis. Only someone that was a little unsettled could smile in the face of committing high treason without purpose. She had tried to strike down a man that protected them all, foolishly, without realizing he wasn’t an enemy in the slightest. ”If there is one thing Katrine does not take lightly, or for granted, it is those she cares for. Your loyalty to the Nightmother was never in question. Yet, you must understand, the Nightmother leads the Mandragora, which exists within the Confederacy. I am not of the Mandragora, and yet, I still bare the mark of the Jart. I still fight when Katrine comes to call despite the fact that she is not my Master. We are all connected, little one.”

“—And if you think my duty is to protect the Vicelord I’m afraid that you are sorely mistaken. I am merely one who would avenge him, because he holds my loyalty, in the way you favor Katrine. It did not take many of us to remove you. It took one. Me. I gave you to the Nightmother, versus taking your head, like I should have. The lightning that hit you was accidental.”

Srina had no patience for the drama that the youngling seemed so prone to enjoy. Her expression was blank, words monotone, and stated with a simple fact. It had been her words to Katrine that had snapped the Nightmother into action. Darth Metus had restarted his own heart by draining the life from Mirvak. The little girl, full of fire, and promise seemed to think she could keep getting by on being lucky.

“If this is the watered down version, I believe, I have heard quite enough. Being of royal blood may not mean a thing to you but does not change what or who you are. If it did, you would not allow your Aunt or Kainan to introduce you formally, in any scenario. I do not assume you lack training. I know it because I have seen it. More than once.”, she intoned, completely blowing past the fact that it was a sore spot, because it was irrelevant. Everything she had spoken, the teenager seemed to take the wrong way, or find a reason to fight it. Katrine certainly had her hands full. “You claim that we play it safe…”

The pale-skinned Echani reached up to her shoulder and pulled down the shimmersilk of her gown so that it exposed her collarbone. A scar could be seen, still, not fully healed. It was close thanks to frequent visits to bacta tanks and the use of the Spirit Ichor but the small woman would suffer for her choices for quite some time. “We do not. We take chances when reward outweighs the risk. The reason I don’t return from nearly -every- battle, as you do, with a new mark is because I combine common sense with tactical prowess. You wish to be the shield, the weapon, but at this time…”

“You are not. Because, you do not think. You do not recognize danger for what it is. You could be so much more than you are, but instead, you choose the path of greatest resistance. It boggles the mind.”

As for working with her… The Echani was uncertain. Her training was far from gentle. The girl did not listen or think before launching herself headlong into danger. There was so much she did not know. Ironically enough, that she loathed Mandalorians so, because her fighting style was that of one of their children. Wild, untamed, thoughtless, and blessed were they if they returned to the Manda.

It was a pitiless waste of life.

“I would work with you, Scherezade, but understand that my methods are not kind. You must first know, and acknowledge the value of your own life. If you do not know it, if you cannot take instruction, I will most assuredly kill you...”

That was not what Srina wanted. She brought Scherezade to Geonosis to teach her, hopefully, a lesson in what it was that they fought to protect. To show her what they fought for. The green-eyed teen would be able to do none of it if she could not adequately protect, defend, and fight for herself. Simply being a pin-cushion, or a meat shield was not enough. She would be nothing at all, not even a footnote if she got herself killed. “You have potential, yet, you are woefully uninformed. Geonosis is a perfect place to begin basic tutelage. You must know your limits just as well as the things you have at your disposal. Armor, weapons, tools, credits…”

“It is all here.”

​

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Srina had much to say. Most of it was just more of the same that Scherezade had mentioned earlier. The two were obviously not going to agree on almost everything. She was almost ready to push her plate back, thank her for the invite, and go back to Kat's ship. That short silence was enough for her to draw a map of the halls they had walked through so she'd know exactly how to go away without asking for directions.

And then she said she would work with her.

The down side, of course, was that Srina was sure that if Scherzade couldn't take instruction, she would die at her training. It was a line that had been uttered to the young Sithling too many times by now to have any sort of weight. Everyone thought their students would die. So far, no one had even offered a challenge. But maybe, hopefully, Srina would live up to the promise.

"Weapons?" Scherezade asked, the light in her eyes shining. A moment later two Czerka knives were already on the table, drawn straight out of her boots beneath the table. It was a quick move. It was most of what interested her. She almost stabbed the table with them, but then decided against it, laying them flatly down instead. "These are my current limits," she explained, "I don't know anything about using a lightsaber, but I'm pretty good with getting the pointy end in, and a few basic spells. I have never worn armor, I have no credits, and no tools."

Her limits? "There is very little I wouldn't do."

And that was true. The list of specific things she wouldn't do was a very short one. She was out of her pebble for a handful of months. She had not fallen in love, made friends, or even seen much of the galaxy. She did not now that the list of things she wouldn't do would soon enough grow longer. But the list of things she'd do with grow even longer.

"So how do we begin?"


[member="Srina Talon"]

 

[Srina Talon]

Location: Geonosis - Golbah City - [Capital Building-Lounge]
Tags: [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

Everything she said, with the exception of weaponry, access, and mention of tools of the craft seemed to go over the head of the little princess. Srina was not sure how to get through to the green-eyed deWinter child. She was young, impetuous, and always seemed to have the ideas that were likely to get her killed. Worse than that, she didn’t seem to care of her recklessness forced her to pay the ultimate price, so long as she played the part of the misbegotten anti-hero. A little bringer of chaos.

There was no word for what she was except for possibly being clinically insane.

Srina was very apprehensive about adding more fuel to the fire that was Scherezade. There was nothing she touched that seemed safe. When the little one slapped twin Czerka knives on the table the Echani rose a singular, elegant brow, a fraction of an inch, but otherwise remained silent. She recognized it as either the same blade, or the same type of blade, she had used to pierce Darth Metus. Couth was something else that the young one did not seem to have, and no, had definitely never met. “There is nothing wrong with a simple bladed weapon.”

“Lightsabers are the more elegant option. The cutting power is second to none but there is something beautiful about a traditional vibroblades or sword. I’ve used them for the majority of my life.”

That certainly wasn’t a lie. Echani, much to the chagrin of softer cultures, were basically born with a cold-forged blade in hand. The term ‘Fight from the Cradle’ was scoffed at but that didn’t make it any less true. She held her hand out and one of the Czerka jumped to her outstretched fingertips effortlessly. It was well balanced. “Being good with the pointy end of something requires further elucidation. What do you mean by good?”

Humans. She shook her head slowly at the notion of having never worn armor. It was ludicrous. She could be twice as careless as she usually was AND manage to come out of death-defying scenarios on top. Wouldn’t it be nice to leave a mission on her own two feet every once and awhile? The fact that she had no limits was concerning. Having limits and an appropriate dose of fear would keep her alive long enough to win. “You need to find them. Even if you take small steps—Find a point that you will not cross. That is both a strength and a weakness to be acknowledged.”

Scherezade asked how they ought to begin and the Echani flipped the knife in her hand before setting it back down on the table. Her expression was empty, devoid of all things, but the young teen seated near her would be used to her lack of emotion. She returned to her dinner and began to eat once more. There was much to be done and there wouldn’t be much time and the hour had already passed much quicker than Srina had intended. “First, finish your meal. Drink. Geonosis far warmer and arider than Ryloth. You will need to stay hydrated.”

If she refused, the little one could feel free to pass out from sunstroke, but Srina would rather she did not. Light as she looked, the ivory-clad Sith Apprentice was in no mood to carry a potentially psychotic sack of humanly shaped potatoes through the streets of Golbah City.

"When you are finished we will get you registered within the Confederacy. It will grant you access to credit, ship, and weaponry acquisitions. If you fight for the nation, no matter the reason, you might as well be paid for it."

​

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade looked at her food. Srina had asked questions, questions that she had not yet answered, and she was told to eat before they got her... Registered? That was a thing? Katrine had never mentioned it. It was more of hey let's train ooh let's go to this place and that place and fight and do things. There had never been a registration process thing anywhere. Not to mention that it could give her access to things. So far, Scherezade had operated from hand to mouth, planning on acquiring resources on the short term or using those that the Nightmother offered. This... This was new.

And slightly intimidating, if she admitted it to herself. She didn't know how organization worked. Well, she knew how it theoretically worked, but it never seemed to have been a viable option for her in her handful of weeks of existing. She mostly reacted to things, took little initiative and... And this was the start of something grand. Potentially grand. This was the start of something that would make her better, and in turn, open doors she hadn't even realized existed at all.

The grin on her face ran from ear to ear. She almost moved from her place to hug Srina, and decided against it at the very last second. Instead, she covered the questions again in her head.

"Good means I know how to use it to the results that I need and want?" she tried to explain, "I can attack, defend, skin..." What else was there? How did you define good? "At least, in short range combats. I've yet to learn to work with longer blades, but I've split enough people open with what I already know. I've also been working hard to be able to fight without the aide of the Force, doing all the maneuvers, reacting quickly... It hasn't been progressing as quickly as I want it to though."

There had also been the part about finding steps she would not cross. She wasn't sure how to answer that. Points one would not cross indicated more of a weakness than a strength, as she saw it. How could she obtain her goals if she was not willing to give everything in order to get them? She was alone in the 'verse, and while it was true that her relationship with Katrine was the closest thing she had to a friendship, if it came down to killing her, the young Sithling would probably end up trying to. Little did she knew that she was only a few months away from acquiring the very same weakness she was currently thinking about as redundant, in the form of a good looking Lupine who would share the heart of the slayed Beast with her and make her learn what blushing meant. But when you existed for only a few weeks and your limitations were mostly within your imagination, the limitations were big.

"I think I'd do anything," she finally said quietly, looking at Srina, "I mean. What's the point of having limits if it only lets others abuse them? If I can't cross a certain point, what's to keep my enemies from gathering around that point?"

With that question echoing in her mind, she finished her glass of water and poured another one, still not touching her food. Her adrenaline levels were up an there was no way she would be able to keep it down right now.


[member="Srina Talon"]