Live In My House, I'll Be Your Shelter

[Ashin Varanin]

"Stick with me, kid," said Ashin in a bad impression of a noir holodrama, "and we'll go places." She wrapped a robe around herself and cinched it tight, then gave Spencer a kiss and headed back into the main hold. She stopped and faced the young Padawan -- no, she was worthy of being considered a Knight now.

"All right, here it comes. Some people feel cold, some people feel depressed, some people feel tired. This is me draining away your life energies, including your Force powers, I suppose. A taste should do it -- should give you enough of a sense of the power to try it yourself."

A stream of golden light connected her outstretched palm with the centre of Spencer's chest, and that golden stream blazed. "Delicious," Ashin murmured. "There's so much to you, Spencer. Born of the Force indeed. I could just keep going...but you can never, ever reveal your true nature to Samoth or anyone like him. A being of pure hunger would become obsessed with consuming you."

She subjugated her hunger and the golden light faded. "Now you try."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer felt as if her life was being sucked right from her soul. She struggled to remain standing as she felt the gold lightly fly from her. Her stomach turned and her face turned pale. So this is what Ashin wanted to protect her from. The draining stopped and Spencer gasped for air, she looked towards Ashin who seemed to have enjoyed what she tasted. Spencer was indeed made by the will of the Force – which makes sense why she would be so tasty.

“That was horrible…I’m assuming this Reyven would want to devour every bit of me?”

Standing straight again she regained some of her focus and remembered what it was like to be missing that piece of her. She wanted it back; she wanted to feel whole again. Her hand outstretched and looked at Ashin; despite their feelings she wanted what was taken from her. The gold light, like before extended outward. Though instead of just a stream the light turned into fibers. It was how she viewed the force and Spencer watched as the threads snaked through the distance between her and Ashin and burrowed into the woman’s chest.

The sudden rush of the force filled her; she was drawing what was taken. Quickly she cut the connection after a moment in fear that she would either harm Ashin or she would lose control of it.

“So…that is the hunger you speak of….”

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Holy feth, she did it -- she really did it -- does she understand the commitment- Ashin stumbled back, clutching at the neck of her robe, but rather than resist she let it happen.

Trusting Spencer.

She relaxed, heart pounding, as the girl stopped the Force Drain. "And that...that is the genuine article. You can resist it, I suppose, as a Lightsider, but there's no real technique that'll stop it. The best way I know to counter it is to do what you just did: Return the favor. Now that you've tasted it, it's part of you. You've got the self-control to keep that hunger down, but it'll never quite leave."

The last trembling past, and she grinned, cinching the robe a little tighter. "And yes, you are delicious. Anyone who has a powerful relationship with that technique won't be able to resist, once they get a taste. You'll have to use this technique to defend yourself. You'll be...well, Spencer, the price of learning will be darkness. But you knew that already, because you're ready. You're an adult. You've come so much farther than I ever foresaw."

Her eyes gleamed. "There's a technique I know a little. It's a little systematized, and a little odd, but we could...see the future. Your future."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer looked at Ashin, it hurt every ounce of her being to know she had done something like to the woman. Nodding she understood what Ashin had meant. The girl was made from the force by the force, in essence she was along with her brother a literal embodiment of the force. Spencer moved closer to her lover and placed a hand on her cheek. Wondering if it would help, she focused the force along her palm. A soft warm light emitted healing the woman. Even if it didn't help, at least the thought was genuine.

"Ashin despite my connection with the force, I'm not much of a seer. Also I'm afraid to see my future... Beyond what I knew with the jedi I never thought I'd have much of one. "

She thought about it a bit longer. Curiosity set in and she peered over at Ashin.

" Show me"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Robe draped around her, Ashin sat cross-legged on the bed, and pulled Spencer down to face her. "Meditate with me, then," she said, "and we'll see what we can see."

After long and quiet minutes, Ashin murmured the instructions. Aing-Tii flow-walking involved relaxing one's connections to the present, to the here and now. Her lineage for this technique came from Velok, who had learned it on a covert expedition to the Kathol Outback with a group of Jedi. The technique had proven too difficult for the Whiphid, to his frustration; only after the Aing-Tii left did he manage to learn it from one of the other expedition members, Benna Kol-Rekali. And thus, she had learned the technique thirdhand.

It still worked well enough, of course, but there was so much she didn't know.

They stood together, suddenly, inside what she instantly knew was a Sith meditation sphere. And she saw herself, with Spencer, going about their business with a star chart of some sector beyond Sith space.

"Are they, we, planning an invasion or something totally different? They don't see us...how fascinating."

Ashin's face tightened as she beheld a gigantic set of crystals in the centre of the meditation chamber.

"I'm not sure I like this future. It might be variable...I really don't know."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer tilted her head when she saw herself with Ashin. Her eyes could tell there was a different air about herself.Something had changed, for the bbetter or the worst only time would tell. Hearing Ashin, she snapped out of her mind and glanced over at the woman.

"Its hard to tell. There's so much that could be happening...if only I could read my own mind.. What worries me is that they're alone and well somewhere we don't know. "

A soft chuckle escaped the young woman. The one thing she was scared of proved to not have happened. She was still with Ashin, as a lover she wasn't sure, but as long as she stood by her that proved enough.

"Can we go farther? Or is this all we can grasp at? "

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, future-Spencer's head tilted in a familiar way. The slightly older version of her lover murmured a few words to future-Ashin...

And both future versions turned to look at Ashin and Spencer. Their eyes didn't quite focus on the flow-walkers. "Spencer says now is the time," said future-Ashin. "Now's the time we both remember. Right now, you -- we -- are in a Consular-class vessel in the Temple of Pomojema on Mimban. Omni's invasion is tearing the galaxy apart. You've just finished ensuring that Spencer is immune to pheromones and capable of countering Force Drain."

Future-Spencer winced. "And that'll come in handy," she said, her eyes scanning them blindly. "Here's what you need to know. There's going to be a time when you have to work for it, work to stay together." She looped her arm through future-Ashin's elbow. "Ashin's work is going to force her to grow darker and darker-"

"-but there's a cure coming," said future-Ashin. "Not a cure for your poisons, my poisons, but a cure for the rest of everything. And it'll hurt, and you'll be afraid, Spencer, more afraid than you've ever been. And you'll be scared too, Ashin. It won't come from you, either. I'm not one to be afraid of paradox; I'm tempted to tell you more than you should know about the future. But I'll leave it at what I remember hearing from myself back when I was you, because despite everything, all the new scars, all the new potential for a horrible death, I am happy with how things turned out. Also, I can't tell you more because...things are changing for me, right now. For us. I don't know how much longer we'll have-"

The Sith meditation sphere shook, and the vision faded.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer tilted her head as she listened to her future self and future Ashin. There was something coming pretty soon and she couldn’t think of what could happen. It’s odd how the future them knew that this was going to happen, that they would have to give the advice to the loop of history. Either way, the entire conversation made Spencer go cross-eyed for a few minutes till she could somehow wrap her mind around the thought of time looping as it did this very moment.

The vision faded as she opened her eyes to find she was with Ashin again on the ship. It was as if nothing had happened and they were just here meditating. Looking down at her hands she was still in disbelief of what she heard and what she had just seen. Looking back towards Ashin, she couldn’t say anything because everything was so up in the air. Mostly though she didn’t understand the warnings and the idea of her being scared…well…scared her.

“What did they mean by everything else and what work are you doing that is going to get darker? Are they talking about you being the Empress?”

Concern covered her face as she looked towards Ashin, there was so much that could fall apart in her life, but seeing them together – seeing things somehow work out gave Spencer a bit of comfort even if it was something that could change with a simple pull or strum of the chords of fate

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin grimaced, clutching Spencer's hands. "I'm not sure, but 'the work I do' can only have a few meanings. It might refer to you, I suppose -- helping you achieve your potential. Maybe it's a suggestion that you should train more with other Dark Side Masters. I could arrange for Velok to teach you some things, I suppose."

She lay down and stretched out, staring at the ceiling. "Or it could mean my work with the Red Coterie. Secret societies are dangerous things. Easy way to lose your soul, depending what oaths you take and who's in the brotherhood.

"Or, yes, it could mean my being Empress. There's no way to control the Empire's drive towards violence -- all we can do is divert it, redirect it. By showing mercy to Mandalore and by making the Sith realize that we can only push so far down the Perlemian if we don't respect their neutrality, we focus on prey who can defend themselves -- the Jedi. The Republic. Ideally, that means fewer massacres and more meaningful refinement. But I've allowed a lot of dark things in my name, honey. I really have. I may have to do more, in order to keep my people safe. And they are my people now.

"Here. Close your eyes with me, and let's have...one more rest before we return to our lives."