Private Hello Master

[Alina Tremiru]

She braced herself as best she could. Lightning had been it's own experience back when she was much younger. Painful throughout her whole body in a way she hadn't been prepared for, but at least now she had some idea on what might be waiting for her on the other end of this experience. The sudden draining feeling almost brought her to her knees as the red haze fogged over her mind. Anima, the living part of the Force that the Sangnir needed, pulled from her. Even just a little was enough to reinforce the hunger she'd long learned to temper and restrain.

That was where what Alina had expected and what else she experienced diverged. The hunger for Anima was tangible for her. The smell of the blood of Force Sensitives especially, she knew it. It made her hungry as a well cooked steak presented before her would. But this new emptiness, it wasn't just Anima. The Force in it's entirety, the gnawing feeling of something missing, it wouldn't fade. She knew that already.

Her red eyes fell on the test subjects as they entered the room, filled with that primal hunger she'd thought she'd mastered. She still did. The hunger burned in the back of her mind, the desire to fill that void, but she contained it well enough to at least listen to what Taeli commanded. Then she didn't hesitate. She raised her hand, feeling for that source. Like the blood in their veins she could feel it within them. Not solid, but still there. She pulled on it, reached for that thread as a crackle of orange reached forward to connect her to the first.

It wasn't easy. Wrestling the proper control, to pull something so foreign into her. But she pulled, pulled with all her might to fill the new void within her. She could feel it. Not just that void but the Maw of her heart, satiate on the sensation. She stepped closer, brought her hands to the cheeks of the first as the orange crackle of energy continued to drain it all. She needed all. Fear, panic, radiated out of her victim. More than just the normal fear of death. She wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but the fear made it that much easier to feast. And feast she did, until the body was dead.

Until the body petrified and began to crumble. Alina let out a sigh. She wasn't satisfied. Not even close. Her gaze shifted to the other as she reached her hand out and tugged on the crackle of orange again. Fear radiated outwards, and this time she leaned into it. Panicked screams, horror, she feasted through it all until their body slumped like the first, fading into petrification. And yet, it still wasn't enough. Alina sighed again, frowned as she looked towards her master.

"Does this hunger lessen at all with time?"

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

There was complete and utter dispassion on her face as she watched Alina drain the life from the two captive Mandalorians. Well, maybe not completely dispassion. There was also a malicious sense of satisfaction as two more of the culture she so despised, that had stolen something so precious from her, crumble into dust. The man was on his knees, staring at the two ash piles, his pain a sweet nectar empowering the dark side around them.

"It can be sated... for a time. Like all power connected to the dark side of the Force, you must master it, control it, or it will control you. You will have to prove that you have the strength and will to dominate it."

There was a note of, perhaps not pity, but certainly a desire for Alina to understand the burden she had acquired.

"But onto the other part of the lesson," Taeli continued, turning her attention to the third captive. "Consume Essence, the ability to empower yourself or your powers by absorbing the emotions of others around you or that have lingered in places touched by many. You must reach out with your senses, your power, and latch onto the emotions around you. Much like what you feel within yourself, draw them into your pool of strength."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

A challenge that would never end until she failed or died. And given how much the realm of death had sucked, she wasn't about to experience it again. Thus, she wouldn't fail either. Her gaze turned to the remaining survivor. Which had her smile, just a little. Realization. So that was the purpose. Make them watch those they cared about die so their emotions would be that much stronger. Helpless rage and sorrow.

She could feel it already just radiating off them as they stared at her.

Alina stepped closer, taking a hand to touch his cheek just as she'd done with the other she killed. Increase his hate. Pull his emotions out further. "They were delicious." The spike of emotion came, and with it Alina focused on them. It was.. Odd, trying to focus on the emotions of others. Controlling her own was something she'd still have to figure out for the time being. But if there was anything to make of the experience of herself, perhaps..

She focused on them. Pulled on them as she pulled on her own. Hatred, disgust. She felt them, invited them. Took them in to make them her own. That was the goal here, right? To make their emotions her own. It wasn't an easy process, but little by little she could feel them empowering her.

And overwhelming her. How could they not? She was still trying to learn how best to keep herself under control while accepting everything. Another layer to it all was a bit much. She cleared her throat, let her hand fall away to stand. Closed her eyes to better focus.

".. That's difficult. Very difficult."

Taeli Raaf

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"I would not expect mastery on the first attempt," she replied, nodding her agreement with what her apprentice said. When one was still mastering themselves, controlling their own emotions, trying to subsume the emotions of another would be incredibly difficult. However, she was pleased to see that she had at least made some progress in that regard.

"Consider it something to work on in your spare time," she continued, making a gesture with her hand. There would be the crack of bone and the man would go limp as she broke his neck. There would be a final flash of emotion; fear of death, anger that he would not be able to avenge his loved ones, guilt. A twist of her hand and those emotions would linger, forming into a barely visible ripple in the air of dark side energies. "But there's something I want to test, considering your awakened abilities."

The other part of her instructions to her attendants were arriving as they wheeled in several carts loaded down with alchemical and sorcerous materials and substances. They quickly removed the body and the ash piles before leaving the two Sith alone once again. Taeli gestured for Alina to take a seat at the mobile workstation. Taeli suspected, given her family heritage as painful as it was, that Alina would recognize the building blocks for creating a Sith familiar.

"I have a theory, and we're going to see if that theory is accurate," she said, settling herself into another provided chair. "We both know your family has an inherited affinity for sorcery and alchemy, but you did not. I suspect that your unique ability for suppression dampened that affinity previously, but now with your full potential awakening, I think you might have that affinity after all. Let us see if you can construct a familiar for yourself."

It was the most basic construction for a burgeoning Sith alchemist or sorcerer, a base requirement for even being considered to the Sorzus Academy on Ziost.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

There was much to work on in her spare time. Alina pulled back from the last rush of emotion. Fear of death. Her expression soured as she shook such an emotion from her head. Not that she could. It was something she'd have to get used to after so long in the Nether. Though she couldn't think about it long. Instead, her eyes widened as she saw the materials arrive. She recognized them, even before Taeli spoke. She knew just what this was.

An old emotion crept in the back of her mind. Frustration. Towards herself, towards her family.

"Then I'll begin."

She knew the process. She'd spent years in her futile attempts to make it happen. To create her own familiar, to use any of the spells her sisters could. Anything to show she was in fact a Tremiru. She used those emotions. That annoyance, frustration and hate, everything she felt she used as she pulled on the Force to weave life into a creature. Her creature. Her familiar. The Force shifted, pooled under her guidance.

Not just the Force. Anima pooled as she forced life into her creation. The almost batlike creature fluttered up shortly after, circling around her. And for a moment, Alina smiled. The near childlike smile of her absolute wonderment that she had finally created something that her family could. IT didn't matter how long it'd taken. She'd done it.

Taeli Raaf