Private Friends and Foes

[Arlo Renard]

Kai was not in a good place.

The mission on Asog, where he had hoped to redeem himself, had been a failure. His relationship with Iris Arani remained strained, and coming home to the Reef had proven less than comforting. Claudia was glad to see him, but he could tell just by looking at her that her condition had worsened. She tired easily, though she did her best to explain all that had happened during his absence. The exact details remained vague, but Damsy Callat had apparently been driven into exile. Something to do with Syreni.

It didn't quite feel like his world was crumbling, but his desire for justice was inflamed once more. He would find Arcturus Dinn and deal with him properly this time.

But tracking his quarry across the galaxy ultimately led him not to Arcturus, but to an associate of his. Kai made his way to Dxun, where he believed Arcturus had traveled recently. The jungle was filled with many creatures, and the moon carried the weighty history of its Sith past, but the presence he sensed up ahead was different. Corrupted, but not an ancient evil. It reminded him of... of himself. Himself, and many of the Sithspawn denizens of the Reef...

Melydia Gold​

 

[Melydia Gold]

TAG: Arlo Renard

Of all the places Melydia had been, all the biomes she'd visited, she so often had felt herself drawn to the forests. Life upon life could be found there, each being, each plant, adding something new to the organic equation. There was always something new to discover, just as there was always something new to create.

Dxun had perhaps been the world Melydia was most drawn to. There was an ancient power in the world's roots. She and Kal had uncovered a taste of it, once. Though as fascinating as the ancients were, Melydia so often forgot about the lost secrets in favor of forging new friends.

And so Dxun would see her favorite pastime (or perhaps her only pastime) continued. The insectoid was once more absolutely enthralled in her noble-to-her task of meeting new friends, fixing those who were broken. Reuniting with Arcturus Dinn had brought a new joy to her creation, a new mobility that had previously been lost.

In the moment, her focus was poured over a young Maalraas, one much smaller than its littermates. Its size had suggested it wouldn't last long in the wild, at least until the insectoid met it. But laying her eyes upon the small creature, she couldn't help but feel a bit of a kindred soul toward it.

She could fix it.

 

[Arlo Renard]

Rather than approach the corrupted presence directly, Kai kept his distance. He stretched out an arm and grappled up to the tree branches, perching there and observing the scene from above. For now he was cautious—and admittedly curious about this being who seemed so similar to himself. Was it a sentient Sithspawn?

If so, he at least owed it an offer of help, a chance at redemption.

The figure he spotted below looked female, with some insectoid features. She was bent over a litter of Maalraas, but he couldn’t tell what she was doing with it. Probably not eat them. Maybe cull the population before they had a chance to mature into the fearsome predators they were known as?...

Melydia Gold​

 

[Melydia Gold]

TAG: Arlo Renard

A series of clicks arose from Melydia's throat, the verbal stimulation meant to draw the young's attention to herself, a hand also reaching out for it to sniff. "Come here little friend," she cooed to it. "We seek to help, not harm." Flecks of gold shown ever so slightly in eyes of amber, the effect mirroring in the eyes of the Maalraas for just a moment. It was unsurprisingly that such a young creature would fear her initially. She just had to show it that she was a friend, not predator.

The young creature was shakey on its oversized paws, still new to the world of mobility. Melydia was patient, watching it move as best it could, before scooping the creature up in her arms when she was sure it had intended to make its way to her. "There you go. See? We're not so scary," she told the young one, her free hand taking up one of its paws, shaking it like she would a humanoid's. If strength is what it was lacking, then strength she would give it, a little piece of herself flowing into the young creature, encouraging its cells to grow and multiply, oblivious to any audience she may have.

"We'll get you fixed up, yes we will. We'll help you, little friend."

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai watched and listened as she spoke to the creature. Then, the Maalras runt suddenly began to grow and strengthen at an accelerated rate. The doppelganger stared, bewildered by what he was seeing, before he let go of the branch and dropped down to the ground.

<What are you doing to that pup?>

Melydia Gold​

 

[Melydia Gold]

TAG: Arlo Renard

Melydia jumped at the voice, suddenly aware of the new presence in her temporary haven. Her wings fluttered, turning her being around to face the newcomer, the rest of her body curling into a crouch around the pup, protective.

"We are helping them," she responded slowly. Her head tilted to the side as she studied the stranger, trying to ascertain whether or not they were friend material or someone to protect friends from. "What would you do to them, future-friend?"

 

[Arlo Renard]

<Helping them?>

Kai took a half-step forward, trying to get a better look at the enlarged pup without scaring the insectoid. <What was wrong with them to begin with?> he asked. <Why’d you mess with it?>

Melydia Gold​

 

[Melydia Gold]

TAG: Arlo Renard

"Yes, yes, it's what we do. We help."

She glanced down at the pup in her grasp, a hand lightly scratching behind it's ears fondly. This touch wasn't meant to encourage growth, the insectoid not wanting to overwhelm the young pup's body. "They were very small and very weak so we helped them grow stronger. Would you not do the same for your friends?"

 

[Arlo Renard]

Kai peered at the pup while she scratched it behind the ears. As the insectoid spoke, his gaze flicked up to her.

<Not with alchemy,> he replied, with an almost resigned sigh. <Alchemy doesn’t help anybody in the long run.> Meeting her eyes, he asked, <Is that what you’re doing? Altering them with Sith alchemy?>

It might seem strange that he couldn’t sense it for himself, but Sense was an area Kai struggled with. He was painfully unaware of his surroundings and of the nature of other beings. Whether it was the Dark Side clouding his mind, or his being young and inexperienced, or some other cause altogether, he couldn’t say for certain whether the Maalraas pup had been truly corrupted by her influence.

Melydia Gold​

 

[Melydia Gold]

TAG: Arlo Renard

Her head tilted to the side, confused. "Alchemy helps a great deal," she refuted with the same resolution one might have if they'd been told adding two and two would somehow equal five.

"Well, we are Sith, we've been told. And alchemy does fix our friends best so..." her voice trailed off, the beginnings of concern etching themselves into her forehead. Others had said her methods of helping friends had been bad once, perhaps this one was of that same order. "You're not going to hurt our friend, our you? It is not this one's fault that they were small."

 

[Arlo Renard]

<So would taking care of them the old-fashioned way.> His thought-speak was accompanied by images of a puppy—belonging to a different species, but no less wild—being painstakingly nursed back to health. It would remain small, but with time and effort, it would live a full life regardless of its size. <There’s nothing wrong with being small.>

The rest of what she said drew an incredulous snort from Kai. It was no shocking revelation—they were on Dxun, and she was mutating the native species with alchemy. Of course she had some connection to the Sith. What he found ludicrous was the manner in which she claimed the label. She was a Sith because she’d been told she was a Sith?

<No, I’m not going to hurt them. It’s just an animal. It has no morality.> He raised an eyebrow. <But you need to stop doing this sort of thing. You’re messing with nature, a system far beyond your control, and you’re doing it because you think being small is a bad thing?>

Melydia Gold​

 

[Melydia Gold]

TAG: Arlo Renard

Her being went rigid as images accompanied the words. The closest she'd previously experienced such a feat was probably Kal 's projection of emotions. The recovery process the images suggested had its place, certainly. But Dxun was also a harsh world, where time and effort were so often in such short supply. From Korriban to Dxun and beyond, all Melydia had known were harsh worlds.

The rest of the being's almost-words were just as confusing. What did morrels have to do with her friend's survival? Whatever tension that might've been eased by the confirmation of her friend's safety was dashed away the declarations and accusations that followed. "We were small once, before another fixed us. We would not have our friends suffer as we did." A full body shudder took her being, as if clearing her mind of whatever sour memories of the before times like one would a children's sketching device.

"Nature is as the Hive demands. We will not leave our friends behind."

 

[Arlo Renard]

"Nature is as the Hive demands. We will not leave our friends behind."

<Yeah, no, the "Hive" has no say around here.> Kai sighed and spread his hands. <Little bug lady, if you don't stop mutating the animals, I'm gonna have to call PETA. The GSPCA will come and take your animals away, and you'll go to jail for conducting unethical, unauthorized experiments on the wildlife of Dxun.> He paused to let his words sink in, then added, <You will not find any friends in jail.>

Melydia Gold​

 

[Melydia Gold]

TAG: Arlo Renard

She blinked once, twice, comprehension never quite dawning on the insectoid. As far as she knew, as far as she cared, the Hive had say anywhere. "Who is PETA?" she asked, brow furrowing deeper as the figure continued. "We find friends everywhere, why would a jail stop us?" Not to mention calling her fixing unethical hardly made sense to Melydia.

"We think you are confused, strange one. Did one of the stinging ones get you? Their poke makes many friends act funny for a spell."

 

[Arlo Renard]

<Never mind about PETA, I think a friend of mine told me they were actually bad. So we'll just go with the GSPCA - the Galactic Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.> Taking out his comlink, Kai called them. "Hi, it's Kai. I found another one. Yeah, there's this bug lady here in the jungles of Dxun, mutating the local wildlife. Nah, don't worry, I'll take care of her if it comes to that. You just get down here and collect the poor animals."

Hanging up, he put his comlink away.

"We find friends everywhere, why would a jail stop us?"

<Well, because jail for Force Users means a magma cell or a universal energy cage, which is like solitary confinement. You'd be by yourself.> He shrugged. <If you'd agree to stop doing alchemy and quit being a Sith, maybe this wouldn't be happening to you. But you snooze, you lose.> Holding up a pair of stun cuffs, he added, <Please come quietly.>

Melydia Gold​