Private March of the Sithspawn

[Kal]

Considering the shapeshifter's perspective for a long moment, Kal eventually arrived at the conclusion that leaving him with such an impression was undesirable, especially if this group ended up becoming valuable or otherwise interesting.

<An inaccurate assessment, but I doubt you would believe words alone.> His meaning was soon revealed as the Shadow opened parts of his mind to the other being, gentle trickles of desires and past events rather than anything resembling full access. There was very little materialism to be found in what he showed; Kal collected the occasional trinket, but wealth had little appeal to him - he was not opposed to stealing from some, but never without purpose.

He had ruined lives, but never undeservingly - reports written without words; children missing from the streets of Denon; a gaunt face in a mugshot, eyes filled with despair as vanishing assets left him unable to pay the usual bribes.

It was clear Kal considered himself entirely justified in every way, but Kai might not agree.

Musical laughter echoing soundlessly through their minds, the Shadow tilted his head. <How typically mortal of you. This sort of thing is commonplace among my kind, as common as shaking hands with yours, but when on Coruscant...>

Arlo Renard​

 

[Arlo Renard]

When Kal opened his mind to him, something in Kai stirred. His eyelids fluttered, lowering to half-mast as the ghost of a smile curled the corners of his mouth. He drifted off into a pleasant haze, like an infant at its mother's breast.

Kai was getting a little better at controlling his hunger for thoughts and memories, but it was easy to fall into temptation. This was much more than the vague glimpses Kal had shared with him before—plenty enough to whet his appetite. He should have shut down the connection before it could provoke him further, but instead he latched on to the opening and pressed his maw to it, determined to draw forth sustenance.

Even if it hadn't descended into chaos, Kal would've failed to prove his moral superiority. He had only projected parts of his memories, like a sinner confessing only the most easily justified of their sins—though perhaps a better comparison would be to a gangster. Career criminals all seemed to say the same thing once they got caught: I never hurt nobody that was innocent.

<How typically mortal of you. This sort of thing is commonplace among my kind, as common as shaking hands with yours, but when on Coruscant...>

“Do as the Coruscanti do,” Claudia finished for him. Unaware of what Kai was doing, she fished around for her personal datapad. “Uh, let’s see… I have my personal bank account... Do you have one, Kai?... Kai?...”

Kal​

 

[Kal]

When Shadows gathered, memories flowed freely - but Kai was not a Shadow, he was a parasite.

Shadowy form swirling angrily, Kal recoiled from the sudden assault. <How dare you.> Body folding in on itself into a swirling mass of seething energy, the Shadow's training kicked in, his secrets quickly squirrelled away in the furthest reaches of his mind - but they were not the target, everything was. That just made it worse.

For a little while longer, Claudia might remain ignorant of what was happening.

That ignorance would surely meet an unpleasant end as Kal began his counterattack, an outpouring of pain and hate and torment released with abandon from personal experiences, borrowed memories, and the most twisted figments of his imagination. Nails being peeled off a hand, then the final memories of a starvation victim, then a heartbroken suicide.

If he wanted memories, he would have them.

Arlo Renard​

 

[Arlo Renard]

Receiving the mental equivalent of a bad taste in his mouth, Kai flinched, then shook his head as if to clear it. His fangs retracted and he staggered back into the shadows of his own mind, ashamed of himself.

But his actions had enraged Kal, who sought to inflict psychic violence upon him in retaliation. The doppelganger simply stood there as hateful memories of suffering and despair were lobbed at him like throwing knives. He bowed his head and compressed his lips, looking as if he were about to burst into tears—not because Kal was trying to hurt him, but out of sheer frustration and loathing.

“What the hell is going on?” Claudia demanded, hovering between them. Unaware of what Kai had done, she was bewildered by the flashes of foreign memories she was picking up as collateral. “What are you doing? Stop!”

Kai didn’t dare open his mind again, not even for basic telepathy. His lips parted, and with his pitifully weak, underused rasp of a voice, he whispered, “I messed up.”

Kal​

 

[Kal]

It was not in the nature of the Shadows to attack on instinct alone and so Kal had not even entertained the possibility that the trespasses upon his memories were a product of poor impulse control more than maliciousness.

Even so, that was the impression he got from the youth's behaviour, strange as it was.

At least that conclusively answered what he was, unless Kal had missed something.

Counterattack ceasing as quickly as it had started, the swirling form that was Kal flickered back into its normal state, a vaguely masculine form. Noting Claudia's distress, Kal seemed a bit sheepish. <Apologies for the inconvenience, your companion launched a mental assault and I responded in kind. I am not used to unprotected minds in such situations.>

Kai would hear none of this, not least due to closing his mind; it would be difficult to ignore the Shadow's pale white eyes boring into him, its light revealing little in the way of its owner's emotion.

Arlo Renard​

 

[Arlo Renard]

<Apologies for the inconvenience, your companion launched a mental assault and I responded in kind. I am not used to unprotected minds in such situations.>

Claudia side-eyed Kai without turning her head to face him. The doppelganger had retreated to the shadows of the garden. The large, glossy green leaves of rainforest plants obscured him, but she could see his lower body, his white hair, and parts of his face not hidden by foliage.

This was the first time she could recall ever seeing his psychic vampirism in effect. She’d known what he was all along, but actually witnessing him feed was… disturbing.

What was the protocol for when your friend decided to eat someone’s brain? Should she be angry with Kai? Should she pity him? If she were being honest, she felt a little of both.

“Apology accepted,” she muttered. She wasn’t going to say sorry on Kai’s behalf, no matter how much he sulked. He’d have to do that himself. “You’re okay, right?” Kal seemed fine, but then she was no expert on Shadows. “Not hurt or anything?”

She hoped this hadn’t just ruined the money deal.

Kal​

 

[Kal]

<I am unharmed, yes.> Tilting his head sideways as if contemplation, the Shadow was quickly returning to his unbothered self, though it was difficult to tell if it was genuine or not. <My kind regularly engage in mental exercises to solidify our memories. It makes tampering, especially the unintentional kind, difficult to say the least.>

A necessity, really, for in the absence of flesh and bone, the mind was all there was.

To have it compromised would be akin to a human having their eye gouged out with a rusty spoon.

As if sensing her trepidation and its source, Kal pre-empted a potential question. <I am not inclined to blame you for your companion's lack of self-control, of course. That said, he really should consider practising his restraint.>

There were plenty of entities out there that would stop at nothing to annihilate body and soul anyone who attempted to slither into their mind - Kal called some of them friend. Kai's behaviour was as dangerous as it was rude.

Arlo Renard​

 

[Arlo Renard]

“Good,” Claudia said, relieved. “I’m glad you’re okay...”

Kai remained hidden in the bushes as she gave Kal her bank account information, solidifying the deal. The doppelganger stood perfectly still, his body cold to the touch. His eyes watered, tears streaming down his eerily placid face while he gnawed absently on a clenched fist.

He felt awful. Ashamed, guilty, self-loathing—and hungry. His appetite had been awoken, but not sated.

<I am not inclined to blame you for your companion's lack of self-control, of course. That said, he really should consider practising his restraint.>

<I’ve been trying,> Kai replied, his telepathy very faint. <I am trying.>

Under the circumstances, Claudia thought it best to just leave Kai alone. But against her own judgement she turned around… and saw nothing. Kai had vanished. Whether he had gone to hunt or to hide, only he knew.

“I hope he’s okay, too,” she said softly.

Kal​