New Moon Rising: Part One (Completed)

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

It was only the next morning of meeting Pebble that the Lupine’s eyes fluttered open, her brain taking a moment to sort itself out before she remembered. “Pebble!” She squealed almost immediately as she jumped out of her bed and progressed her usual morning routine at a far faster pace than usual. Shower, hair combing, rummaging through the clothes she held in her Mother’s suite which were her own and not Mother’s before she’d settled on a far simpler combination than usual. Then she moved out of the room and into the kitchen, preparing the coffee maker before adding her usual combo of ingredients into one of the large cups before she’d moved over to the room she’d given Scherezade to use, knocking on the doors for her.

“Pebble? You awake? Made some caf. Want to come have breakfast with me?” She called out before returning back to the kitchen, getting some of the food she actually had. It was far simpler than the meal they’d gone to yesterday. Bread, butter, jam. Simple spread. Katrine didn’t quite store food the way she used to now that she had access to Uncle Isley’s credit card and didn’t have to fear of going hungry.

Putting on some bits on the slice, she put it in her mouth as she pulled some blue milk from the fridge, pouring some into two glasses before returning it back where it belonged, settling down to take an actual bite as she waited.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Sleep.

What a strange concept. She’d spent centuries as a pebble, not awake and not exactly lumbering, but when the time had come last night to go to sleep, Scherezade found herself slightly on the frozen end of the spectrum. On one hand, she’d been dreadfully tired. Yesterday had consisted of panic, training, getting tattooed by a spirit, and learning Witch spells. Her mind had been reeling. She needed the rest. But sleeping was more than resting; it was tuning out, going back into the darkness in which she’d spent too much time.

She’d stared at the ceiling for what was probably half the night, er mind wandering, thinking on how much work she still had in front of her. The rest of her family… Was probably asleep. Or dead. She was sure of it, otherwise she’d have sensed them, or one of them would have sensed her. Her grip on the Force wasn’t strong enough yet to cast a net across the ‘verse and find them.

In the meantime, she knew, she would have to work. Work hard. She couldn’t lad on Endelaan being the way she was, weak, untrained, yet grown up. It would cause dislike among the people, Sorceresses and Warriors alike. No, she had to earn her right of return.

At one point, she lost consciousness, the fatigue winning. There were no dreams that night, no images to haunt her sleep. Her eyes snapped open when the knock on the door came and she scrambled out of bed. Awake.

“Yeah,” she called back to Katrine before getting out of bed. But it took longer than she’d anticipated. Her grandmother had apparently not thought it wise to leave knowledge of how some basic things worked, like getting the shower to work, and what came first, shampoo or conditioner. It had taken the better of the hour before Scherezade was out of the room, hair dripping everywhere, and her clothes on the moist side of things.
But she’d did it, and that was what counted.

By the time she sat herself by the breakfast table, her stomach was rumbling.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

A whole hour after she’s arrived into the kitchen, Katrine had eaten through her breakfast and finished her coffee and milk. It felt a little odd that Scherezade was taking this long to come to breakfast but after a while thinking about it, she remembered that Pebble had been a pebble and she’d been an infant when she first saw her, magically becoming a teenager so maybe, just maybe, it made actual sense. Possibly. Katrine didn’t know for sure, she didn’t actually go from baby to teenager, she had to go about it the long way so it wasn’t something she could relate to.

When she finally did show up, the blonde smiled, getting up from the table to bring more food since she’d eaten most of it. “Eat,” she ordered, putting a knife in front of her. “We don’t have too much here since I don’t stock food like my life depends on it. We’ll go to town for lunch,” Kat explained before she also put the coffee and blue milk in front of Pebble as well. “I don’t know how you take your caf or if you drink it, for that matter. My Mother let me have it since I was fourteen, said there was nothing wrong with me drinking it” so Katrine didn’t quite know when it was it actually normal for a person to start drinking it.

“I’m missing like half of the ingredients I usually put it into it but we have the blue milk,” she went on, leaving the table again to bring some melted chocolate, sugar, juice, piling it all up on the table. “Maybe I should do some shopping,” she realized when she examined everything she’d offered. “We’ll train after you eat,” the Lupine finally added as if she hadn’t just been talking about food the entire time.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade beamed when Katrine said they’ train after the food. Which meant, now was time for food. She had no idea how she took her coffee; she’d never had any coffee. Only mother’s milk, and whatever it was that they had even the night before. But the smell was delicious. She scanned her mind, looking to see if she knew how her grandmother or mother took it. Grandmother… Drank only ice cold water in wine glasses. Nothing else. Scherezade thought that was odd, and couldn’t grasp why someone would limit their taste buds like that when there was so much the ‘verse had to offer. Her mother, however…

“Five sugar, a drop of vanilla, and extra cream. Or milk. Blue milk,” she emphasized that last bit, grinning from ear to ear. It sounded sweet. Too sweet. But it was a place to start, especially when she didn’t know how exactly each of those things tasted on its own.

In front of her were bread, butter, jam. This time though, she took each jar in her hands, inhaling deeply to get the aroma of what it was she would be using. And then quickly, most of the butter went on her bread, the jam pretty much untouched. Bread and butter. There was a saying about that, somewhere.

“Are we going to do more spells?” she asked between bites, “do I need my own grimoire? Is it even safe to try Force things here when we don’t know how great my grasp on things is going to be?”

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

When Pebble spoke, it was to list five sugars, vanilla, extra cream and blue milk. She nodded to the combination. “I usually take mine in a tall cup, third of it hot calf, third chocolate and third low-fat milk and if there’s any room left, a splash of bitter juice,” Katrine informed her with a smile. That was to say the combination Pebble had listed was nothing odd to her, maybe less so than her own preference but she didn’t have most of the right ingredients here. Chocolate was a little off in taste, there was no low-fat milk.

The teenager proceeded to focus on the butter and jam, smelling each before focusing on the butter, once again reminding the Lupine of her previous thoughts about her being a babe just yesterday and yet, the very thought seemed oh so magical to her… thought the Witch who traveled back in time and was now living in the past…

Between her bites, Pebble had asked about spells, the grimoire, and safety of using the Force. “I was thinking we could do powers now,” she began answering in the order the questions came, “and you don’t need a grimoire but it will be easier to write down your spells and then when you create your own someday, it will definitely be helpful.” It was completely optional but useful if done. Even Nona had a family magical tome even though she was the keeper of their clan’s spellbook which is where Katrine got her idea from.

As for the last question, she smiled before she answered. “We can go outside but I was thinking we start light, get you some less dangerous but still handy powers so there is no actual risk of burning the place down.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Once Katrine started speaking, Scherezade resumed her eating, taking small bites and chewing them to a mushy pulp before swallowing. It was a slow process, and there was a lot of bread and butter for her to take, but she proceeded to do so anyway, not stopping until she had at least four separate slices down. There was no point in smacking the down into a sandwich. That was too much bread, with too little in between.

“Am I going to need a lightsaber?” she asked after Katrine said they’d start light. She’d never held a lightsaber, nor did she remember seeing one with her eyes. But of course, she knew what it was. Every Force user in the family had one, even if they didn’t use it much. But then she remembered that her own bodily control was somewhat lacking, “or maybe we should hold off with that, at least for a little while.

Finishing the last piece of bread, she proceeded to take the coffee and take a sip from it. Her entire face shrank like a child tasting lemon for the first time. “How the dosh does my mom drink this stuff? This is way too sweet, I think I might get diabetes if I take another sip. Can I have another one, this time without the sugar? Just the cream, please.”

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Lightsaber? Katrine looked at her funny. “No, we’re learning powers. That’s a whole other thing. I have one, my Father gave it to me but my maternal family taught me more to use swords. My Nona believes in an order in learning. First a Witch learns how to use a sword and then progresses to a lightsaber. We kinda never got around to it but my Father presented me with one anyway. It’s kinda simple.” She was technically supposed to get one on Dathomir already but with how things were these days, her promotion wasn’t complete, she’d received her markings and the Elders had chanted the protection spells since it was more of a priority for them.

And besides, Katrine had something remarkable at her grasp, which could easily counter lightsabers and didn’t require actually being carried like a regular sword so she kinda liked that more than an ordinary lightsaber. “If you wanna train, I can let you borrow mine, I’m not using it but if you wanted a full on training with it, we’ll have to find you someone,” she pointed out. Uncle Isley had two from what her Mother had said, so he was obviously better at it. And didn’t she once see that one General wielding it even though she felt no Force presence within her? That was kinda cool to Katrine, the way she could use it when she wasn’t Force sensitive.

Pebble had finished her food and tried her caf, quickly rejecting it for being too sweet before she asked for another cup. “Sure,” the Witch only said before she’d gone back to the machine and set it up for another dosage, settling the cup to take in the liquid. “Isn’t it fun though? Figuring out what you like?” She wondered as the machine finished, picking up the cup and bringing it over to Scherezade, bringing the cream closer to the girl to let her decide how much she wanted .

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade nodded. She could borrow Katrine’s lightsaber. It wasn’t for now though. She carefully filed the information away in her mind so she’d know she had it when the time was right. Right now, even the butter knife was potentially dangerous in her hands. More to herself than to others though, if she was really honest about it. They’d also need to find someone to teach her. She wasn’t completely sure how much lightsaber training she’d actually need, seeing as weapons were something she believed she could generally forgo if she had control of the Force, and everything right now was about prioritizing anyway.

Katrine asked about it being fun, figuring out what she liked. Scherezade just stared at her for a few moments.

“It’s not,” she finally answered after a long pause, “I mean, it probably would have been, if I’d grown up naturally. Figured out which toys I liked, figured out what clothes I liked, and so on. But I didn’t get to do all that. Last time I wasn't a pebble, I was a baby. And now I’m needing to figure things out while sifting through my grandmother’s information in my head, and I don’t know what I like or what’s an echo of a memory of hers or anything like that. It feels mostly ridiculous, not fun.”

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Her question had caused Pebble to stare at her before giving a negative reply to it. According to the teenager, it wasn’t fun jumping through figuring it everything out and functioning on information given to her by her grandmother without knowing yet what she liked and didn’t. “I can’t imagine what it’s like. I had seventeen years of behind a child,” she pointed out then, taking her seat opposite from Pebble as a small sigh escaped her lips.

“I only had to grow up fast after that, figure things out. Like credits… I didn’t know they were as important as they were when I first arrived. It all felt like this big game in my head. My parents didn’t really prepare me for anything.” It was hard thinking about it like that, now, after being alone for three years but realistically thinking, it was completely true. Her Mother was far too young in her understanding, too free. Katrine couldn’t remember a time when credits were important in her presence ever. On Dathomir, they had everything they needed, on Figaro Favoura VII, it mattered who they were and nothing else, on Coruscant it was about fun, at least for as long as Coruscant was even an option. None of them knew now but something bad was to befall to the favored planet which had hurt her Mother more than it had hurt her but it was understandable considering her Mother’s upbringing there with her Grandpa Seth.

That, however, wouldn’t happen for several decades though so it wasn’t something Katrine should have been thinking about now.

She stood up then. “Finish up your coffee, I’ll get some things from my room, meet me in the cargo bay when you’re done,” the blonde quickly said before she’d leave Scherezade in the kitchen, skipping into her room to pick up her spellbook while her head through options before she picked up her knife, returning shortly after. It was a simple enough plan, teaching Pebble things that she could need at any point and some that weren’t quite life-saving but could still be useful.

With everything she needed, Kat made her way to the cargo bay.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade didn’t have the time to reply to what Katrine said before she darted off, telling her to meet her in the cargo bay.

Apparently, Katrine had to learn things as well. Scherezade muled slightly over it, noting that she herself had very little clue as to what exactly credits were. Well, she knew what they were, but what and how were two different things. Her grandmother had been poor as a child, but she’d made a name and a financial matter for herself long before she was a legal adult, and everyone that came after that seemed to have it ready for them.

There was, of course, Shine. Her mother’s diamond company. Did it still exist in this galaxy? She would have to check. Technically, she knew she wasn’t exactly poor. But she had no clue as to how she would acquire financial resources that would have otherwise been available to her. It was going to be a period of belt tightening, and relying on whatever Katrine was willing to toss her way.

But she would deal with this. The good thing was that Scherezade herself had no working knowledge of poverty, so all she had to do was avoid making poor choices, and she’d be fine. There were always ways to make a buck.

She took another sip from her coffee and put it down, unfinished. This coffee thing wasn’t great after all. Maybe she just wasn’t a person for it, or she still had to mess with it until she find the correct levels or types.

Either way, it wasn’t long until Scherezade appeared in the cargo bay, wearing clothes given to her by Katrine, ready for her lessons of the day.


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

By the time Scherezade had joined her, Katrine had been standing beside her speeder, flipping through her spellbook. There described little notes, word by word as Nona had told her long ago when she described her powers. While she had perfect memory of those words she was somehow compelled to write it down still, to store it if not for her than for whatever came in the future. Just like the family tome was passed down, Katrine looked at her own spellbook in the same manner, knowing full well that she would one day pass her own book to her offspring when she had one. Even if the concept was theoretical in her mind, it was still there since her training had began with that very premise - her first scroll would be passed down to her firstborn and such things. Legacy was important with her family.

Her eyes moved up when she senses Pebble, even before she had seen her, a small smile creeping to her face.

"We're gonna start with some mental abilities," Katrine informed her almost immediately as she put the book down. "I think empathy will be easier to get on with," she suggested, still looking at the teenager as if she was anticipating some sort of reaction from her, whether good or bad. Everyone reacted different to learning and more so even to learning specific powers. Sometimes, they didn't like the idea of mental powers at all but as Nona said, your mind has to be on on par with what you can actively do with the Force.

Putting her spell book down next to the knife on the speeder's seating, Katrine began. "It's always focus and concentrate, everything begins like that," she reminded the teenager, "and thinking on what you wish to achieve, this doesn't change whether you're chanting or using a power." It was probably going to be the last time the blonde was going to make that little introduction, she'd merely wanted to give a reminder that Magic and Force worked ultimately the same way. "But focus on me now, focus not just on me but reading me. I need you to sense my emotions, to scrape beyond the surface to what I'm feeling."

And though she held a smile on her face, Katrine forced herself to think of what she didn't think about - about her family, about Avarisa, about the Force restraint she had receieved as a child when her Mother had no other way of calming her down duing her mental tantrums. It had brought more than just one feeling in her mind - sadness, fear, anger, and all of it bubling inside her head at once which meant keeping the smile on her face became a little harder but she was still forcing her to, not to give away the change. Katrine didn't do this because she wanted to make it difficult for Pebble but because she had to do it, just as she remembered being put through it herself. It's important not to make it completely easy. I don't expect you to read all of them but you need to be able to read through some of it, she could remember Nona telling her when she'd suceeded reading through two of her emotions, clouded by the both of them before she'd read the others. Of course, Nona had made it even harder on her, thinking of things that had frightened the little girl in some way even though she hadn't had been able to read exactly what she had been thinkng about, only how it made her feel.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade almost paused when she saw Kat smiling. Kat was almost always smiling around her, and she'd smiled a lot the day before, but when you were about to embark on a training mission and the trainer was smiling, you knew you had a reason to be seriously worried.

The worst of the worst came to mind as those fractions of a second passed, and Scherezade had managed, in her mind, to screw up, get herself killed, get brought back to life, and have Kat be dissatisfied with her training, all of that, at least two dozen times.

"Oh," was the only response she had when Kat mentioned though that they'd start with mental abilities. Mental abilities were a good place to start. You might accidentally turn someone into a mental pile of moosh, but you wouldn't accidentally blow the place up while you were doing it.

Instructions on how to do it came, and Pebble nodded. Theoretically, it sounded easy enough. There was no reason for her not to be able to grasp it.

The smile remained on Katrine's face, and Scherezade had to find a way through it. To read what was going on beneath the surface.

In her mind, she imagined herself turning into the very mist she'd conjured the night before. Not a tangible one; her trainer would easily be able to see her now. But more like on a layer, between the Force and reality. A way to shape her imagination so that she could bring things from the intangible realms, and make them true.

Katrine's smile served as a wall. A nearly impregnable wall. Solid... Not stone. Stone had gaps. This was hard concrete, perfect in almost every way. But there had to be a weak point somewhere. A window, an opening, something that would allow the girl through.

Holding the wall in her mind, Scherezade transformed her imaginary self into... Well, into herself. She was standing in front of that wall now, feeling its pulse and beat, the life essence of Katrine Van-Derveld, felt through the Force. In her imagination, her hands spread against the wall now, feeling the warmth it omitted.

Everything but the smile was still closed off to her.

Back in her imagination, Scherezade now pressed her cheek against the wall, the equivalent of a mental hug. She wondered of Katrine could feel any of that, if she had a clue what the girl was doing. And as she let the thoughts deepen, she felt it.

Voices. No, not actual voices. Not words that she could make out. A swirl, letters mixing, syllables coming out at a random order, but so feint and so distant, until... There. Something, she'd found it. And there were not so happy emotions spinning around it.

"Is 'avarisa' a word or a name?" she asked, using her real mouth and real voice.



[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Her smile stood though the tinniest tremble formed at one corner of her lips and she knew she couldn't keep this up for long. Katrine wasn't built for lies nor had she even taught how. She was taught of honesty, thought to keep her mind open to the world and even more so, the Force. Her true defense was pushing thoughts far from her mind. It was how she kept focus. The spirits that now kept her company made it easier but willingly thinking about her past and those who had influenced her in some way, they were gonna cause tiny cracks.

Though Scherezade needn't have known ever, Katrine Van-Derveld was not born of sane mind nor had she grown up with one. She had not become this calm by sheer accident. She was anything but growing up. Mental distabilities, an imaginary friend that wasn't that at all and sat at her side throughout most of her life with only medication keep her at bay. And her emotional turmoils were plenty growing up that if Katrine would think about it, would find reason in her Mother's action. Though Curupira Hawk was not of sane mind either, their mental cracks were very different. Whereas the redhead was a sheer orb of happiness, Katrine was not. Whereas her father was madness embodied, Katrine was not. She was somewhere in between, a mix of many things combined into a single purple haired short child.

Yet, ridding herself of Avarisa had set her on a different path, one she couldn't have even imagined herself. Not only that but it had altered the course of her future in ways she couldn't yet fully grasp. Perhaps even, returned her to the path she had been born to take but was unable due to her unique skill of being connected to the spirits, something her ancestor had taken, so much that it had nearly destroyed who Katrine really was.

Now she had been thinking of Avarisa as well, alongside her family and her Mother's actions of subduing the wild child she had been but holding up a tall fence with a smile with all the inner strength she could muster in herself. Katrine had no intention of seeing Pebble fail in that but it had to be done. Not everyone would lay their emotions in the palm of their hand the way the Lupine did most of the time and the teenager needed to understand that from the get-go.

She'd first felt an odd sensation, akin to something she had felt as a child, all by herself as her haunting spirit had still been connecting with her. It was almost like it now though there were no feelings that followed those times - no concern, not warning in her mind. As a child, Katrine didn't understand those feelings because she had, unfortunately, trusted Avarisa but now, she could think about it logically enough to comprehend that they might not have come from her, in the same way, she'd become aware of things when the spirits wanted her to. Perhaps, it had been someone else all along, someone trying to protect her from the evil one intending to corrupt her.

Then Scherezade had spoken. Is 'avarisa' a word or a name?' The question had come. The facade of a smile had fallen immediately at it, a realization of her mind being so loud, enough to form a word rather just send out feelings. Though Avarisa wasn't her biggest fear, as she had come to see on Dagobah, in the cave. She, herself, still corrupted and controlled by Avarisa, decades later, that was her biggest fear and nightmare. She feared nothing else. And yet, she was free.

"A name," she responded after a few moments. "It belongs to my ancestor, from times long forgotten in my family," Katrine added with a little more clarification. "The only person I know that was ever banished from the Mandragora because she had wanted to corrupt the religion from within and reshape it as she saw fit." The spirits had recognized her almost immediately on her first day, mentioned her before they had even spoken of anything else. They had always known and yet, they themselves had been calling her to come to them, even if she hadn't known.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Ancestors. Scherezade could write volumes upon volumes upon their meddlesome and tiresome ways. Even before her grandmother, one of the great-great-greatm grandmothers of hers had done horrible things to her family. She loathed them. Loathed them all. Her grandmother and all those who had come before her.

She could feel it now. Not from herself, but from Katrine.

"She did something to you," Scherezade said quietly, her voice taking on a hue of cold, freezing, hard anger. In her mind, she was still connected to the wall of Katrine Van-Derveld, but parts of it, just a tiny few, weren't as stony as before. She couldn't make sense of them logically, put events together, but she could almost smell the feelings that came of it. "She... took something? Ruined something? Not to the Mandagora. To you. It's like I almost know what and how, but it's still so blurry. And if she's anything like my own ancestors, death must be swift, and as final as it can be. "

But knowing something had to be done was not the same as doing it. Scherezade closed some of the distance between her and Katrine. Her face, which had seemed so naive up until now, took on a tone of seriousness, the kind that came when a person swore oaths or spoke words that changed the future.

"If she is in any way similar to my own ancestors," she somewhat repeated before adding, "I will help you find a way to remove her. I will swear with blood upon it. The dead and the long forgotten ought to remain dead and long forgotten. They've had their chance. Now is our time."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

She did something to you.​

It stung, being told what was fact inside her mind but one she hadn't voiced fully. Not ever. Not truly. Avarisa had done something for long, a long continuous something of which Mother had only felt traces of. Pebble had gone off, as if she was trying to get a better read on her now, trying to comprehend what it was that she was sensing.

Katrine stayed quiet, something that was very uncharacteristic for the blonde.

Did she take something or ruin something? Katrine continued to watch the teenager as she tried to explain it to herself, what exactly she was reading from her before she'd gone on to speak of what Avarisa's death should be like. Finally offering to help her remove her, willing to swear with blood on it. She smiled faintly then.

"Avarisa has been dead for centuries, Pebble," she finally told her, "I was born with a gift that opens me to spirits. She abused that gift and she stayed with me for years." Katrine didn't dare say bond because though Avarisa had latched on her and refused to let go, with her on evil intentions, a bond held sacred meaning to her. "My mother couldn't see her but she could feel something wrong but she had me on medication since I was little but once I had none of my prescription three years ago, she came back to me and reared her ugly head. Trained me, made me stronger but weaker at the same time with the intention of taking my body for her own gain. To live a new life and continue her old plan." Saying it out loud felt like it had happened to someone else, not her, even though she could still remember the way it had felt.

It was ancient history though and that was how she wanted to regard it as. "I freed myself from her. By smashing her bones, I destroyed her connection to this realm. She can't touch me anymore." The feeling was empowering, turning bones into ash.

With a deep inhale, Katrine forced herself to inhale a deep breathe, her fingers running through her eyes even though she knew she hadn't actually been crying. The feeling was there though. A smile came to her. "Thank you," Kat said, her head tilting as she watched the girl, remembering suddenly something she had long forgotten with so much happening to lately. "I have something for you," she quickly said as she left Scherezade where she was, moving into the back of the cargo bay to open up a few of the boxes there before she found what she was looking for, wrapped neatly in a dark velvet cloth. With it, she returned to the teenager and, extending her hand to her.

"This comes from the Sith Academy in the nightlands of Ryloth. It belonged to its Headmaster but he's been dead for so long, only his ghost had remained in this realm. The spirits, spirits trapped inside it consumed him. Only this remained behind," she explained, waiting for Pebble to take it and see what was inside. "I have no use for it and I've thought of giving it to you when you become a Spellweaver but I feel like you might need it sooner rather than later." She had a lightsaber, a gift from her Father, she had never used it. She possessed the power to call upon the old sword formed of ichor which she favored. Maybe this would be of better use to Scherezade.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Dead for centuries. The problem with dead for centuries was that they never actually stayed dead. Those who had such powers as Kat described Avarisa had, they never really died. They only took breaks. Katrine also described how the ghost of that woman had tried to take her over, pamper her so her body would be a host. All nice and chubby for and old woman's tummy. The mere thought brought Boadicea to mind, and with it, a shudder of disgust. Katrine thanked her and said she was freed, but Scherezade wasn't all too certain about that. Freed for the moment, most definitely. But would Avarisa stay away?

More information flashed in front of her mind. Bones. They were a good thether, but not the only kind. For now, Katrine was probably right. But in the future... In the future, Scherezade figured that Avarisa might find a way to try again. And if she really did, if Scherezade wasn't just having paranoid thoughts, then it could in a few years, or even to future offspring of Katrine. And Scherezade would be there, blood sworn or not. Mostly, to remind dead spirits that they were dead, and that they should bugger off and leave the living alone. Just like granny dearest.

Of course, it was also a possibility that nothing would happen and that the story was indeed over. In which case, blood oath or no, it wouldn't matter anyway.

When Katrine mentioned that she had something for her, Scherezade blinked in surprise. Why would she have something for her? Had she somehow bounced something out of place in Katrine's mind? The probability wasn't really likely, since she had just done this special Power for the first time, and she hadn't tried to do something like that in the first place.

But then the gift arrived. Wrapped in velvet. It was the first time her fingers touched that kind of fabric, and the girl held her breath in. It felt so... Lovely. That was the word. She wanted more of it. In different colors.

Snapping her mind back to the present, she listened as Katrine explained that it was from the nightlands of Ryloth and that she had no use for it. She'd even thought of giving it to Scherezade in the future but... But the future moved into the present. And it was a present!

Carefully, as if the contents of the thing were made of the most delicate of crystals, Scherezade unwrapped it.

A lightsaber.

Usually given to one when they make an achievement, or build their own, and until then, one used training sabers to learn how to control them.

But here she was, holding her own lightsaber. Hers. In her hands. Hers.

"I... I..." she stuttered, not even her mind able to form words.

Scherezade looked at Katrine. Despite being taller, it most definetly felt like she was looking up, her eyes wide with shock and awe.

"Thank you."

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

It was super hard waiting for Pebble to actually open up the cloth and see what was inside. Katrine wasn't quite blessed with patience even if she tried.

When she actually did open it, the blonde could feel it with little effort. Her teeth scrapped gently against her lower lips, happy that the teenager had accepted her gift so, with a stutter even as she seemed unsure what to say. Then finally, she'd looked away from the lightsaber and at her, the look on her face making Katrine smile wider as she heard the thank you. "You're very welcome," she responded.

She let it sink in for a while longer, letting Pebble enjoy the moment.

Then it was time to get to work though. "I'll find you a training orb later. Right now, we've got a few more powers to go through," she reminded her, nodding towards her side, quietly reminding her to set it aside for now. Sometimes she broke focus, sure but she was working on getting her back on track whenever she could.

Calling on the Force, she reached out for Pebble's mind next, sending a single thought: 'Telepathy will be next,' she told her through in her mind, her lips not moving. 'Same principle as before but I you need to focus a little more, reach further to send a thought, the Witch instructed, watching her still, waiting. So far, Scherezade was doing great and once again was confirming what Katrine realized already - she would go far, and she would get there without wasting time as long as they kept on track, both of them.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She got to enjoy her little moment with the lightsaber in her hands. Almost as if it was a holy object, she caressed it with the very tips of her fingers, hoping to the Force that she wouldn't leave any fingertips or marks on it. The lightsaber had been a gift. In terms of an object, it was hers. But it still wasn't exactly hers. Not until she knew how to use it, command it, and work with it as though it was an extension of her own arm.

A small thought bugged her then. Her mother, her grandmother, and most of the women in the family... They weren't quite skilled with this weapon. Most of them (yeah Liz, Asteria doesn't, so ) had it, but to actually wield it like a Warrior... She didn't know if she even had it in her. Scherezade shook her head, demanding such thoughts to leave her mind. Warrior or Sorceress, right now she was Mandagora, and she was learning and training. She would choose which side of the dichotomy she belonged to later, when she had the full toolbox and could make a logical and sound choice.

Nodding to Katrine who'd motioned for her to set it aside, the girl carefully wrapped the velvet around the hilt again and put it in a safe corner, only realizing now that she hadn't even ignited it. Points down for Warrior path, then.

She was just turning around when the thought entered her mind. No, not thought. This wasn't her voice. This wasn't the kind of self talk you kept to yourself. This was Katrine, and she was in her head.

Telepathy. Another useful skill.

Scherezade formed her thought. It was made of coffee. Strong, delicious, darker than the black ink that resided between planets and objects in the galaxy. It was a thought that could make her smile, as long as it didn't include sugar in it.

Now all she had to do was project it into Katrine's mind. More focus than before.

A balloon. Why was she thinking of a balloon? She'd never even seen one before, but she knew what it was. And in it was her coffee. Her imaginary self was standing outside of the wall again, holding the balloon in her hand. She let it go and whispered to the winds to take it to Katrin, to take it beyond the wall, and it did. She willed the balloon to pop, and it did.

Coffee. She'd sent a thought of coffee to Katrine.

And now for the thought itself. Like speaking, but without using your lips.

Past, present, future.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

No mental block, no stopping her, Katrine simply waited for Pebble to tap into the Force once more and this time send a thought rather than reading up on something from the blonde.

The first thought that had come to her had been a delight, though it wasn't complete coherent thoughts. "Mmm," she commented, filling in the original thought with her own thoughts of coffee, thinking of how delicious it smelled or how it tasted so colorful in the way she had preferred it. For a second, Katrine focused on the given thought.

Except, the next thought was far more coherent and it pushed the thought of coffee as the words reached her mind: Past, present, future, she'd heard and smile. 'Wonderful,' Katrine sent a thought right back. "Now, let's get out of here," Katrine pointed out as she headed to the cargo bay doors, opening up the doors at the panel and walked outside. The next two Katrine wanted to teach Pebble didn't necessarily require them stepping out of the ship but it would allow them far more space to practice.

She didn't immediately speak, concentrating on the Force and sending it to her legs before she'd jumped up, the Force propelling her high that when she landed, it was on top of the Crimson Shadow. From there, she glanced back at Katrine. "Can you figure out how I did that?" She called out from above to Ward. Katrine would tell her if she didn't but she was curious to see if Pebble could figure it out since it was fairly simple when one thought of it.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade squealed in delight when it had worked. The way to use telepathy through the Force was another thing she scrapped off her mental checklist, and she sort of wondered why it wasn't the first thing they'd done, since it was a rather basic yet fundamentally important ability for anyone who had any power over the Force at all. Still, she had learned it before she'd actually absolutely required it, so all was well.

She followed Katrine outside and watched her jump. Her mind quickly set to calculations, realizing that more than mere muscles had been used for that jump, and then came the questions.

"You used the Force to enhance your jump," she answered, "sort of like I do when I'm running or need to get somewhere faster than mere muscle usage allows."

But Scherezade hadn't thought at any point to use it make super jumps.

Well... It seemed easy enough. She jumped a few times in place without the aid of the Force, merely checking out which exactly muscles it were who needed to extra strength. One jump, two jumps, three jumps.

The fourth was a Force Jump, performed perfectly, and with a touch of maneuvering so she'd landed next to Katrine.

"If all powers are this easy to learn, I'm going to be a Sith Master before the week is up," she commented with a wicked grin. Oh, precious child, how little did she know.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]