Private Light and Witchfire

[Thea Nyko]

Thea gave a small, approving nod. "Crabs in a bucket," she echoed. "Yeah… that fits a little too well."

Her gaze lingered on a group nearby—someone laughing, someone else arguing, a vendor handing off food to a kid who looked like they hadn't eaten properly in days. Even here, buried in noise and pressure, life still happened.

"That's the part people miss," she said quietly. "They look at a place like this and only see rot. But the Force doesn't disappear—it adapts. People still find ways to create, to connect, to survive." A faint, conflicted smile touched her lips. "It's… stubborn. Kind of admirable, like you said."

Lavania

 

[Lavania]

Thea Nyko

"It is." She said it with a nod as her staff tapped again to let her navigate. "Though we should make a plan there are some who are starting to notice and unless we are planning to fight and likely make a statement we should keep moving and look like we belong... or have a goal. Maybe go and help out or we can work on some of the outreach and exploration." She said it offering a smile as her hand went to her hair to push it over her shoulder. "I am good either way though, but I would want to try going back and around with some of the refugees, you never know when you might find one who is raw talent that can be shaped and brought home."

 

[Thea Nyko]

Thea subtly adjusted her pace as she caught the shift around them—the longer glances, the quiet nudges between onlookers, the way attention started sticking instead of sliding past. Two Dathomirian women, one visibly armed with a jeweled staff and the other carrying herself like a Jedi, tended to attract interest in places where curiosity often came with blasters.

"Good point," she admitted quietly. "I'd rather not turn this into a street sermon followed by a firefight."

She let her hood settle a little lower again, posture easing into something less openly alert. Not weaker—just less likely to invite a challenge. Around them, Nar Shaddaa churned onward, always watching for vulnerability, wealth, or spectacle.

"Looking like we belong is easy enough," Thea continued. "Everyone here acts like they're headed somewhere important, even when they're barely holding themselves together."

Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully at the mention of refugees. "That's probably the better path," she said after a moment. "Outreach draws less heat. And people talk when someone helps them without demanding something back."

Lavania

 

[Lavania]

Thea Nyko

She gave a bow of her head to just that as a plan. The Refuge sectors were always something to be filled. She tapped the ground to send out a pulse that she could follow while navigating and the crowds shifted, the people thinned in some areas but more of them were giving way to the more thuggish looking but she could smell them and was moving around. Her head turning through hallways more when she began to guide down a longer one. "It is not much but the ones inside will likely help or talk. I don't know if taking any with us to help would be good, Dathomir can always use settlers to cultivate the lands."

 

[Thea Nyko]

Thea followed as the crowds gradually changed around them. The frantic energy of the upper levels gave way to something rougher. Fewer merchants. Fewer tourists. More hard faces. More people who watched instead of looked.

When the woman mentioned settlers, Thea grew thoughtful. "The galaxy seems convinced it's either a death world or a nest of monsters. Most never stop long enough to realize there are communities, families, farms. Not like the Nightsister clan is helping in that regard."

Lavania

 

[Lavania]

Thea Nyko

"They have their purpose as all things do. One must see the nightsisters to understand the witches. At least the ones who would take the time to learn." SHe said it while she was going through and navigating around a pair of guards. THey moved like they were going to impede and she allowed herself to keep walking which gave them pause. Blindness did help in some cases as she didn't have to pause to look at their faces in case it would give people pause. Her staff opening a door as there were morre people around the pair that she could look at and tapped to let the force and magics vibrat the world around her to show her.

 

[Thea Nyko]

Thea glanced toward the guards as they hesitated, the corner of her mouth lifting when the woman simply continued forward. "I'm starting to think the blindness is an advantage here," she murmured. "Half the people on Nar Shaddaa probably aren't used to someone refusing to be intimidated by their facial expressions."

She followed through the doorway, her attention immediately shifting to the people gathered inside. The atmosphere was different here. Less predatory than the corridors outside, but heavy with exhaustion. Refugees, displaced workers, families who had nowhere else to go.

At the woman's words about the Nightsisters, Thea's expression became thoughtful. "That's the problem, isn't it?" she said quietly. "People see the Nightsisters and decide they've learned everything there is to know about Dathomir."

She shook her head. "They don't understand that seeing one clan doesn't mean understanding an entire people. Some Nightsisters have done terrible things. So have Jedi. So have Sith. So have Mandalorians, Hutts, Imperials..." She gave a small shrug. "The galaxy is very fond of judging entire cultures by their worst representatives."

Lavania

 

[Lavania]

Thea Nyko

"It is easier to do that and it makes sense as much as an individual is known it is not entirely. People are easy, a person is loud, angry, emotional and want you to remember their names. THe people can be good, evil, hedonistic or any number of things." SHe said it while she was looking at her but still walked. ":And the blindness serrved many things at the time. For other people it does help to not see their faces as a lot more give intent with their words." Her staff tapped a door as she stopped and was able to feel what was beyond it and full of the people. Allowing her senses to expand outwards with a smaller look towards her. "And among the clans it at least makes some things easier to deal with."