Private Evermore [Darth Malipant]

[Srina Talon]

S H I R A Y A - E X P A N S E
| A C E R B I T A S |

Tag: Darth Maliphant
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Her enemy was constant.

The blighted generals of this world were often a mystery just as much as they succumbed to madness. The claylike ground beneath her feet was stained red from the iron in the soil. She was standing on the second level of a deep black tower. The stones drew in the burning heat of the sky. Very little vegetation sprouted outside, and that which did was spotted with black. The Shiraya Expanse was filled with enigmatic dangers that they continually encountered. This was merely one of many.

It was a fortress. A collection of muddy huts stood in the shadow of the hulking structure and a few patches of dying crops could be seen in the distance. It seemed that the villagers were trying to grow food despite the soot that spread, like a virus, but this new strain was just as virulent as the last. It was patchy. Silver orbs took in the details. The fact that they tried more than one crop spoke of both their intellect and their desperation.

Nothing could survive, here.

Guards prowled the area in dark uniforms, despite the heat. They hadn't seen her, yet. She slipped between the veil like a shadow and wore the Force like a cloak. It bent waves of light around her form so thoroughly that only the barest distortion could be noted. And only, by the keenest eye. Soldiers were necessary to keep the remaining people left in line. To keep the blighted beasts from rising. These creatures, though afflicted, all the same, could be commanded by none. They had no allegiances save to shred and tear at that which crossed them. Rend flesh from bone.

Where was he?

The sorcerer, the mad man, who polluted these lands? He had not heeded the warning from the Ascendancy about his machinations and now he paid the price. Her speculation was cut short when footsteps heralded the arrival of her target. To remove the caster was to end the blight. Stop it at the source. Olu Delsua of Edendale never smiled. He stood, proud, tall, and somehow handsome while a black infection crept up the side of his neck. Strong. Hawk-nosed. With lips that were drawn into a perpetual grimace of barely contained anger.

He did not take enjoyment in the living. Merely, in raising the dead.

Srina had heard him snap the neck of his first commander for one off-handed comment that sounded vaguely like treason. To think, that he could have been on their side. He was a fool. But fool or not…He was still dangerous, and the Exarch did not like being ignorant of his plans. Delsua liked having an army to command but there were none left moving in this world. Save, perhaps in the Wilds.

Had he infiltrated them?

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She wanted to deny it, spies, that she held. But she could not. The northern air was dry, enough, that she was already thirsty. She moved into the room. Listened. Throughout this war council that spoke of decimating the other providences. She had faithful men and women waiting just out of range. Waiting, for her signal. She needed them to be strong. Everything she did focused only on need, and what she needed most was the lives of those who followed her. Srina had come into her own, but she could not wage war alone. She needed soldiers to fight. Soldiers to die.

More importantly—She needed them to win.

The dreaded Echani moved them, like pieces on a chessboard. One by one. A pawn for a pawn.

A knight for a knight.

Would this evening deliver a King for a Queen?

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​

The attack moved like clockwork. She gave the call. Her people responded. Delsua found the crimson of her blade at this throat without delay, though, he was not so easily bested. They fought through the evening and past the witching-hour. It was a battle of wits, of power, and of weapons, both steel and anything they could get their hands on. They beat each other bloody. Srina, threw blow after blow until her knuckles were skinned, swollen, and raw.

It was not enough. His might in the Force was legendary. Unknown, because of the covering of the Expanse but mighty all the same. Even if he was lost in the black. His insanity did not dim the brightness that had once existed in his mind. A fine warrior, turned creature, and destined for death. He shot insult after insult to which she neither acknowledged nor responded. Rather—She came at him again and again like the winds of a hurricane battering down barricades.

When he threw a wave of power in her direction, hoping to stall her, slow her, she raised her shields in defense. She redirected the energy. Pulled at it. Plucked the design of his attacks apart. Only, she miscalculated. It was slight.

But that was all Delsua needed.

His energy struck the hand that bore the ring that Darth Empyrean had given her. The pain was excruciating, but even that paled in comparison to the sudden nausea, confusion, that was caught up in her wake. The destroyed war room blurred out of sight. Entirely. When she next blinked the surroundings were both familiar and unfamiliar. A ship?

She didn't have time to analyze anything but the sword that came flying at her neck.

Srina moved on pure reflex, skill, and returned the swipe with a jab of her own. One step. One breath. One movement that slid fluidly into the next. She could hear the sounds of blasters being raised but couldn't take her eyes from her target. Delsua died here, now. Before his plague could catch anywhere else. Before, he could escape. All she needed was a singular moment in which he let his guard down. Just one. Their surroundings seemed to give her that edge.

When finally, at last, her lightsaber found purchase she watched him fall. Watched, but did not stop. Sith-born words spilled from her lips and black fire poured from her outstretched hand. Sterilizing. Nothing could be left. Nothing, not a cell, not a piece of hair, rot, or bone. He was not human. Not anything, but a mindless waste. Not anymore.

When frozen silver eyes snapped away from her quarry to the startled attendants and soldiers that seemed extremely shocked with the fight that spilled onto the bridge they nearly seemed to crawl from their skins when she removed a silver mask and her face became clear.

"…Lady Talon?"

It occurred to her then.

The attack back on Edendale had brought her and her target here. To him. To Darth Empyrean and his prized, treasured flagship.

She was on the Acerbitas.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Where destruction and flame turned his bridge to Ash, where men stood and retreated from the show of power only capable from a select few in the Galaxy - there sat, comfortable and unmoving, the Sith Lord Darth Maliphant. Darksteel eyes looked upon the duel with a touch of scorn - but only through able to be felt by Srina. Not at her, of course, but the burn victim and his remains that now lay upon his deck.

"Srina.", he said gently.

He stood, black cape flowing behind his equally black armor as he found a spot next to her. His hand reached to touch the small of her back, and his gaze fell upon the corpse before them.

"And who have you brought before me today?"

Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

S H I R A Y A - E X P A N S E
| A C E R B I T A S |

Tag: Darth Empyrean
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Her expression was set in stone. Hard, and unyielding. Silver orbs gave away nothing. No whisper of the pain that radiated through her arm nor the exhaustion that ravaged her nerves. It had been quite some time since she'd dueled anyone worthy of putting up more than the barest fight. Weak. Pathetic, insects. Olu Delsua was nothing short of unique. A skilled, powerful force-user in life, but corrupted, taken by the likes of the Unmaker and the Blight—He was made small. Weak, for his passions.

His hatred.

She could feel Darth Empyrean . His presence chased away the battle fervor her mind cleared. carefully, constructing a path that might explain how they'd found themselves on the bridge of the Acerbitas. She hadn't been thinking of anything but staying alive. She hadn't parted the veil and pulled them through the star-laden corridor. Nor, did she believe herself capable. Not alone. It was too far.

Her focus remained solely on the ash that stained the otherwise spotless floor.

Not out of fear of reprisal for the scorch mark, but, out of the barest suspicion that her hellfire was still not enough. Her typically spotless appearance was marred by soot and blood, both her own and that of her enemies. There were bruises beyond her armor from the sheer kinetic force of the invisible blows that Delsua had levied in her direction. He called her name. Her head snapped toward Darth Empyrean sharply. A little too, sharp. As if her mind was still elsewhere. Perhaps it was.

Her hand tightened on the hilt of her lightsaber.

"Did you bring me here?"

Her question held a sense of urgency, though, she completely glossed over his. Long white hair moved behind her in loose waved while her presence in the force slowly began to settle. Ebb and flow. It came and went as if she were breathing it. In and out. She could feel Maliphant. She could taste his power like the strong, heady flavor of dark red wine. But...

She had not brought herself to him. He, it seemed, had not summoned her.

"When did we meet the first time?"

 

[Darth Empyrean]

"I did not.", he answered her cooly.

His eyes danced over her features, concern growing in the slight creases of his brow. The metal orbs were inhuman, but seemed to carry a touch of emotion with them even then. He could tell she was exhausted, battle worn, adrenaline racing.

"We met on the Technicolor Beat. When I had no name, no reputation, no power. I gave you a sword of my design and let you depart. Since, you have always carried a piece of me with you.", he offered.

"Are you alright?", he asked, in a lower tone, so those around them could not hear.

Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

S H I R A Y A - E X P A N S E
| A C E R B I T A S |

Tag: Darth Empyrean
_________________________________________________________​

No.

Of course, he hadn't. She wasn't sure where the spring of disappointment came from but she buried it deeply. It didn't serve any purpose. The Echani-born warrior could not shake the tepid sense of something being amiss, nor, could she immediately remove herself from the battlefield. There were too many ways to be lied to. Deceived. "Name the sword.", she returned, tersely, but in a tone that matched his. It was quiet enough that no one else would overhear but it was clear that she hadn't wound down. Her muscles were coiled like some great feline. Ready.

The question about her state was met with an almost confused expression. Why would he ask that?

The steady tap of blood dripping from crimson painted fingers was a stark reminder. Her head cocked to the side a little and she blinked, bending, with newfound understanding. It was hard to answer, more than that, harder to let her guard down. The fact that she wanted it to be him was just the sort of mortal need the Unmaker would play with. A want, no matter how innocent, was a string for it to pull. The entity that had brought down an entire nation overnight hadn't pressed its name into her mind overnight. No, it was more than that. A constant.

And exceedingly intent on leading her into the jaws of death.

To what end?

Srina didn't rightfully know. Not for certain. She'd heard rumors, motes of truth, but she felt it more than anything.

The ticking of an invisible clock.

"I may...", she breathed, pausing, to wet-dry, cracked lips. "Require the use of your med bay."

Something was indeed amiss. Though, it had been for quite some time. He knew her better than most. Would know the way that she avoided questions, refused, to look him in his mechanical eyes, that everything was deeply, incredibly, wrong. She just didn't understand it.

Not yet.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

"Noana.", he offered back quietly.

He exhaled heavy, as thought an unsaid settling of the issue. He couldn't know what she had dealt with, didn't understand how long this battle had gone - but he knew anyone that could push Srina to such a degree was dangerous. He nodded at her request for a med Bay, and snapped his finger.

Cybele, the AI of the ship, chirped and acknowledged. Preparations were in order, but before they departed he would send another message - for the Sith on board to collect the corpse and bring it to containment. Every Ash, ounce, and piece left that is.

When they arrived at the med Bay, doctors and droids did what they had to. Sewing, antibiotics, drip feeds for nutrients and water - even synthetic blood to help replace what she had lost. The entire time Maliphant stood watching - his black armor contrasting the white sterility of the room. Eventually, when the doctors were settled and the room was cleared he would find a seat next to her bed and cross his legs.

"Tell me what happened, Srina."

Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

S H I R A Y A - E X P A N S E
| A C E R B I T A S |

Tag: Darth Empyrean
_________________________________________________________​

Noana.

Srina visibly began to retract her claws and slowly but surely the tight grip on her lightsaber hilt lessened. Some of the fierceness in her gaze lessened, dulling, though that wasn't to say she became complacent. Simply, not combat-ready. She appreciated, silently, that he took the threat seriously even if the danger was an unspoken one. He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't leave a trail of destruction through his ship unprovoked. "His name was…Olu Delsua."

Her voice was soft. Raw, from breathing in dust. Throat dry.

"He was a good man. Proud, but angry."

Upset with the universe and the atrocities that befallen his people. They grew stronger; but it never seemed to be enough. The Unmaker whispered in his ear of promise and the ultimate power he might wield if he would only submit. For a long time, he refused.

Winters grew were longer. Droughts are more prevalent. The iron in the soil ruined crops.

A desperate man did what desperate men do. He broke, bent, and this was the result. Power, as promised. But filled with madness. Touched, by things that should not walk this world and spreading faster than any virus by mere virtue of things unspoken. A whisper in the breeze. Full of deception, lies, and cunning so swift that even the most intelligent beings were caught unaware.

She let the medics and doctors do what needed to be done. Retract the layers of her armor, the body suit, and reveal the surprisingly delicate form underneath. The dried blood on her scalp left her white hair with a pink tinge. There were deep bruises, mottled, and still blooming in places she hadn't even realized she'd been hit. A good patient, a good solider, she obeyed.

Srina would seem small in the hospital bed. As if it were made for someone much larger than she. The soft cotton wrap that she had been given only accentuated the illusion, truly, making it hard to compare her to the fighter that had first arrived. Nothing about her seemed frightening or particularly powerful. Just a mere slip of a girl, wounded, and nursing more than a few worries.

If only it were that simple.

"When everything went wrong…When the Confederacy fell…It was the work of a vile creature called the Unmaker. It brings blight—Power in exchange for insanity and servitude. I can't pretend to know what it wants…Only that it is not yet done.", she murmured, lightly, as if speaking of it so brazenly might bring it here. Her eyes closed. "It does not like me."

Rather, it did seem to like her. Too much.

"It trades in lies. Takes the face of the things you love…", a heavy sigh that hitched a little escaped her. Not out of fear, no. Merely a side effect of her injuries. "And uses their likeness to betray you. It seeds in the mind...Knowing...Most cannot fight what they cannot see."

Srina grew silent for a long moment. Flashes of the fight still rose and fell in her memory like the tide. She accepted a glass of water from an attendant droid and sipped at it slowly before leaning back on the pillows. It felt too soft, comparatively speaking, and she felt…Out of place. "I did not intend to bring him here. I am sorry, Maliphant."

 

[Darth Empyrean]

"Don't apologize.", he said rather directly. There was a small hint of authority in his voice- a sterness offset by his compassion. A hand resting on hers as he said it.

"I am glad you were able to stop him. My ship is replaceable - you are not. We're not so able, then I would have shifted the tides of your duel myself - no matter where it took place."

A soft declaration, but one he felt fully. He knew through the rings she struggled - but the distance, the nebula, they distanced their ability to sense one another. We're she truly close to defeat he would've know - would've intruded. There would be none that would take her from him - that much was a promise unto himself, and to her.

"I will have his remains tested, checked. To see if anything remains of his spirit, or this Unmaker."

"In the meantime, you should shower. Eat. Drink. You've fought a long and arduous battle and you deserve some rest, my love."

Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

S H I R A Y A - E X P A N S E
| A C E R B I T A S |

Tag: Darth Empyrean
_________________________________________________________​

His hand touched her skin and she turned slender digits instinctively to catch his. Her ring was unblemished despite the blow it had taken. The rest of her hadn't been so lucky. He felt warm, though, the chill of metallic eyes was still an unfamiliar difference. He managed very well with it but there was something unsettling about not being able to see the truth of him any longer. His eyes were one of the first things she noted. One of the first things she could remember. Intelligent; Behind a hazy cocktail of recreationals on the Technicolor Beat.

Indomitable.

"It was the change of scenery."

The admission was pale, bland, and tasted of ash in her mouth. It took a lot for Srina Talon to admit that she was outclassed on the battlefield. The white-haired woman wasn't so certain of victory had they not been ripped from one point to the next. She still felt a little shell-shocked. As if she'd been nuked on hi-power in an auto-chef but for some reason remained frozen in the middle. "Had we remained on his terms the outcome very well may have required intervention. Or, retreat."

Retreat, she spoke it as if it were a curse.

Delsua had reinforcements. Resources. He knew every tile of the fortress, every angle, whereas she was merely an interloper. Placing them both somewhere new was enough to give her the edge she needed to put him down.

Maliphant was correct. She did, struggle. Simply not always for the reasons one might assume.

"Thank you.", her voice carried, still a little husky from exertion, but lovely as ever. The body was likely only that. A body. A vessel that had been used up and done away with. Srina... Just wanted to be certain. Everyone capable of being manipulated on the ship was at risk of exposure. Which meant; Everyone, but the droids. "When the analysis is complete...Space what is left."

Rest?

Her head slowly shook. The small, momentary term, my love, drew her silence for a moment.

It had been quite some time since she'd heard that.

"...I cannot."

She would acquiesce to sustenance because it was necessary, however, she needed to return. At the very least she needed to get a message to those she had left behind. Her abilities had difficulties piercing the nebula; Just as much as comms. The few times she managed to breach it was when speaking to Maliphant. Two points, connecting. "Delsua is dead, but, he is not the source. Just a piece of the whole."

"I must find the strength, the path, and return."

 

[Darth Empyrean]

"Then find it - but after you find some joy with me.", he said with a quiet smile, both hands cradling her one as they spoke.

"I'll set Cybele on contacting local holocommunications masts within the nebula - and given some luck, we can send a message in the next day or so. The Acerbitas is the most advanced ship in the galaxy; I have no doubt it'll be done soon."

As though to reassure her, the female super AI chirped up in agreement over a nearby speaker before going quiet once more.

"See?", he assured.

"So rest. As for the remains, they shall be destroyed following critical specifications. Worry not, Srina."

Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

S H I R A Y A - E X P A N S E
| A C E R B I T A S |

Tag: Darth Empyrean
_________________________________________________________​

Joy?

The word felt foreign. Strange. In truth, she couldn't remember the last time she'd thought of anything but war. Tactics and strategies. The missing father of her lost unborn child had arrived, mysteriously, from whence he had disappeared. That had been fraught with more emotion than she knew what to do with. Some part of her had shut down. Protective or broken; she didn't know. "Stay with me...", she requested, pulling her gaze up from their slowly entwining fingers. It was a small request. But for her? It was a mountain.

She believed in his word. If he claimed that the Acerbitas could contact those she had left behind in the Expanse - Srina knew he would see it done. Her shoulders began to relax, slowly, and she leaned back for a moment. Cybele was a welcome sound. Another piece of familiarity that grounded her. Maliphant always seemed to have an answer to every problem. He made it seem so simple.

Her fingers turned and she laced them together fully.

"What did I interrupt? I didn't intend for you to drop everything on my behalf..."

She couldn't imagine he was just cruising through space without cause. Certainly, he had a direction. A task of some sort that required completion. She wasn't even certain how far she was from the Expanse. It felt like a different universe. The hum of distant machines. I subtle feeling of artificial gravity. It was almost peaceful. "How have you been?"

His eyes... Would she ever adjust to that?

 

[Darth Empyrean]

"Always.", he offered back. A small kiss on her forehead, a gentle smile, a soft expression contrasted by inhuman, dark eyes.

"We are traveling back to Odavessa currently - the Eternal Doctrine is expanding, I'm often tasked with securing its influence.", he said after a moment.

"With how powerful the Kainite remains, or even the Maw, it's all I can do to ensure the Sith aren't victims of poor authority again."

A thumb rubbed circles in the back of her hand as he offered another smile;

"I've been fine, Srina. The galaxy can't harm me more than it has - and as long as I have you, I am untouchable, immune to its efforts to sour my mood. I've been scarred, crucified, burned and maimed - but it doesn't matter, so long as I know i do it for something. Someone."

"You, my dear."

Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

S H I R A Y A - E X P A N S E
| A C E R B I T A S |

Tag: Darth Empyrean
_________________________________________________________​

There was a sensation of warmth that flooded through her. It quieted her nerves. Silenced the constant clamoring of battle plans and tactical data that rang in the back of her mind like great bass drums. Did he know that? Was he aware that such a simple gesture, plain, and unthinking could have such an effect? Perhaps, he knew. Every movement to an Echani held meaning. She could feel the truth of him when he orbited her bedside. It was in the way he watched her. In the way he held her hand, as if, that might tether her.

A wan smile slipped across sleepless features at the mention of the plight of the Sith.

Eternal, indeed.

It seemed that no matter who wore the mantle of dark, truly, practitioners were only ever one step from oblivion. No matter who held the seat. No matter who sat upon the throne. It was only a matter of time. "You care for them like wayward children.", Srina surmised, offering another pale smile. She did not begrudge him his projects despite her feelings toward the state of the religion. They both had something they had pledged themselves to in addition to one another. "You have me.", she reassured, softly. Uncertain if it was required.

Still, it felt right.

For the life of her, Srina could never figure out why it was that he chased her so. There were plenty of Sith-minded individuals in the galaxy that were not half as difficult as she was. At the mention of how he had been changed, harmed, she lifted her free and reached for his face. The pads of delicate fingers were a little unsteady until they found his jaw. They followed that line, carefully, until her palm could cup his cheek. "It matters to me."

"Every bruise. Every burn. Every scar. You needn't suffer on my behalf, Maliphant. You as you are...You are enough."

He was enough for her when he was relatively unknown. When he'd been called a Slave, moreover, when he'd merely been a technological mastermind that sold his wares equally across the verse. Then and now. He was enough. "...They've already taken your eyes from me."

"Don't let them take anything else."

 

[Darth Empyrean]

He simply smiled at that - nodding;

"I wont."

He squeezed her hand to reasure her before pulling it to his lips. Resting her knuckles against the kiss of his lips, he laughed;

"Besides, I must be a father to someone until we have some of our own my dear. What else am I to do with all this fatherly intent? Get a dog?"

Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

S H I R A Y A - E X P A N S E
| A C E R B I T A S |

Tag: Darth Empyrean
_________________________________________________________​

"I mean it.", she intoned firmly, repeating the words, as if he needed to hear it.

He gave of himself for the cause almost as much as she did. Only, in different ways. Delicate fingers pressed against his cheek ever so slightly for emphasis, though, Maliphant seemed to understand. His lips to the back of her hand were...nice. They had been apart for so long that she had almost forgotten. He could be charming enough that even she noticed when he wished it. Children, however, were not something they had actively discussed. He knew that her firstborn had never come to be. That...It pained her.

The notion of getting a dog caused silver eyes to sweep down to the pure white sheets. Suddenly, analyzing every wrinkle.

"I got a droid. Two, actually."

The admission that her rabbits were surrogates for children was likely not a surprise. She still felt uncomfortable, considering, she'd never admitted it to anyone else. The way she had raised her varying creatures on Ryloth before the fall...It was all indicative of trying to nurture something. Trying to be more than an entity that took life rather than provided it. Her ancestors would have been proud of her dedication to the sword; but when it came to carrying the bloodline? In that, she had failed.

Srina sat up slowly and carefully swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She did need a shower. She was sticky despite the aid of staff and personnel trying to help. Nothing would fix it but hot, hot water. Her fingers curled in his while she let go of his cheek and the balls of bare feet touched the cold floor. She didn't bounce back and forth as that would be unbecoming but she was tempted to scoot back in bed where it was warm and comfortable.

"You still...Want children?"

The world was hard, cruel, and unsafe. Did he truly want to bring new life into that miasma?

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Rarely had Maliphant ever hesitated - his arkanian brain made him quick of wit and quicker of intellect. Few had ever led a conversation he was apart of, fewer still could say they bested him in a match of words. As a nameless Slave, he mocked and goaded Sith Lords and Masters of Ren - all just to say he could, and he carried the scars for it; but where they could beat him in duels, they could not beat him in words.

Here, it would seem, he was at a loss. Momentary but noticeable, his hands writhed as though nervous - an emotion the Sith rarely felt and never expressed.

"If you do.", he offered her - averting his gaze.

In his own consideration, he feared the 'why' of it. He had apprentices - some so close they were like children, such as Arcturus Dinn . There was the nagging sensation he simply wanted heirs to the immense dynasty he had built, the eminent Empire of his creation - of unprecedented galactic wealth, of endless stores of Sith Knowledge the likes of lords had never seen. There was the fear this urge was no more than a manipulation of his ambition.

But there was that need - that want to have lived a normal life. Without the multiple identities, without being born a slave, without becoming what he had become - because it was what he needed to survive. To have children was to give them something he once yearned for. Yearned for so deeply that it was all that kept him moving through nights of whips, of assault, of chains so tight they wore through skin.

Despite the cruelty the galaxy knew him for, despite the fear he inspired in any Force User who had heard his name - the alchemist, conqueror, and nameless terrorist Maliphant had needed love. Love as a child he would never receive, the comfort he so desperately tried to offer himself when he watched his mother lynched and hung, the childhood he never spoke of.

Before he had realized where his mind had gone, he realized he had retreated from her - if only briefly. Hands gripped across one another to his biceps, nails digging into the fabric and nearly drawing blood from beneath them. His grip loosened, he relaxed - buried those emotions somewhere deep so that they might be utilized later. Like a Sith Warrior needed - a reserve to call upon.

"I want to marry you, Srina Talon."

Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

S H I R A Y A - E X P A N S E
| A C E R B I T A S |

Tag: Darth Empyrean
_________________________________________________________​

She felt the change in him as easily as one could feel a change in the weather. As if a gray sky had pulled through a cheerful morning, stealing the sun, the warmth, and everything that made it what it was. So did he retreat into his thoughts. Srina had never seen him wring his hands that way. Not in all the time he had spent trying to win her favor, nor, in any span of time between. Maliphant always had an air of confidence that seemed unshakable in any circumstance. At first, Srina was at a loss.

The young woman didn't know what she'd done or said to draw this reaction from him.

If she did?

"Should that not be a decision we make together?"

It was a simple inquiry, though, it held layers of unspoken complication. Her own history was troubled. Srina held deep-seated fears about trying to have children again. She didn't even know for certain if she could still carry to term. The explosion on Kuat had damaged her in ways that bacta could only hope to heal. There was something in the prospect that held the smallest amount of joy, though, it was hidden by a deep-set reservation born of fear. Srina had already placed one daughter in the ground. She could not lose another. "Households, for my people, are traditionally large."

The sensible words were offered instead of speaking of her anxieties. Of the subtle ache of her failure...

"I had more than six siblings and Hríwaeg was always filled with little racing footsteps. My sisters could never sit still."

Srina of course always listened to her parents with the utmost obedience. Even as a youngling there was something woefully wizened about her eyes. Mature, though, she still hid behind her mother's skirts during the new moon. Her words trailed off when she realized he was neither here nor there. Trapped in thoughts that she could scarcely imagine. Maliphant spoke very little of his past, although, she did know of the pain he had suffered. It was the detail she was unaware of. How he felt. How it shaped him; changed him.

How it affected him now.

"Mal...?", her lips parted to wrap around his name, but, all at once, the black-clad Sith Lord collected himself. He compartmentalized as she had done herself a hundred, thousand times over. He rationalized and locked it all away. When he did speak she felt a well of surprise, enough, that elegantly arched eyebrows rose and form wavered when she came to fully stand. "...Is that what has you so far from me, nin mel?"

"The thought of marrying me?"

 

[Darth Empyrean]

"On the contrary, I think it keeps me close.", he offered back.

He reached out and squeezed her hand, reassuring her he was present, grounded, and capable. A smile to sign it, another squeeze, and he spoke;

"Everything we do is together. Do nothing strictly for my sake, do everything with us both in mind."

Srina Talon

 

[Srina Talon]

S H I R A Y A - E X P A N S E
| A C E R B I T A S |

Tag: Darth Empyrean
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Her lips curled softly to one side, perhaps, an involuntary expression of fondness. He could be a little obtuse from time to time though she deeply suspected that it was deliberate. Perhaps, so that Srina might come to some logical conclusion that her lizard brain might have missed. "I was referring to the here and now. I feel you. I can tell when you're with me—And when you're elsewhere. Even if that elsewhere is in your own mind."

The touch to her hand, the subtle squeeze, was taken for the reassurance it was meant to be. His words were a double-edged sword. Were her activities with the Ascendancy for the best of both of them? Was his dedication to the remnants of the Sith?

She couldn't say.

Srina softly took a step away from him and the fluttering of her white hospital gown was nearly ethereal when combined with her natural grace. It was uncanny, to see her move like that. Barefoot, on the cold tile. She kept his hand but headed toward the showers. Not that she expected him to come with her in full armor, but, they could still converse. "Marriage is a complicated, thing."

The pale-skinned woman had never successfully gone through with it.

The only man to seek her hand had disappeared in the wake of their lost child. Since then, she'd done her best not to think of it. Unworthy of such a bond, perhaps. Sweet, gentle things, were not meant for everyone.

Srina was neither sweet nor gentle.

Perhaps, it was just not meant to be.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Maliphant didn't resist her - following her to the showers as they spoke. When they entered, he would find a seat near it - but remain in his armor for the time being, crossing his legs as he let her prepare herself and do whatever she required.

"It is.", he offered back to her.

"In a very true sense, you are one of the only people I've ever truly become close with. The only one I have loved that did not make it a one sided agreement I was not privy to. I trust you beyond complications, love you beyond the unknown - but I know the fear that comes with it. Consider it, don't dwell - I'll be here with you regardless of your thoughts, star of my sky."

Srina Talon