New Moon Rising: Part Two

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

The Nightlands seemed so quiet from the Altar of Spirits. Katrine sat at the very edge, her feet hanging over the edge as she studied the valley ahead. She could feel all the spirits here, even as their fires burnt brightly at their pillars. You are troubled, the spirit pried as she felt him beside her, looking at her from the spirit realm. "I'm confused, Katrine admitted. She didn't know what she was confused about because she felt it hadn't happened yet and yet, she was. You are beginning to see through the veil. Doashim concluded, making her look at him. Even when they weren't physically in this realm, Katrine could see them now. His glowing red eyes were looking down at her, reading her mind as she was beginning to understand.

"There is a veil?" She wondered at his words, seeing the beast nod. We see through. So shall you when you are ready. Now, though, you are only at the beginning of your journey, Lylek finally said, tapping against her shoulder as he did. Katrine sighed as she resumed watching the valley below. What do you see? Doashim interrupted, taking her gaze away from nature again. "I hear a sound coming. It's not here yet but I do. Two in fact, one is soft and reminds me of home. Another is of pain," Katrine confessed. When she heard the softer voice, she could smell her favorite food, feel as though she was touching the grass with her fingertips back on Dathomir and being licked by Nadie. It was a swell of emotions rushing through her, memories all at once making her think the voice coming was good. Was it the living? Was it now? Was it the past or future? Katrine didn't know the answer to any of those questions but she knew she felt safe with the distant voice.

The other was different. It made her feel like she was about to smell blood in her noise which in return associated with pain. None of that actually came with the sound she was hearing but as she looked up at Doashim, she felt it at the moment, releasing a scream just as the loud roar ripped through her ears. Katrine leaned back, falling to the ground as her abdomen burned from the pain as blood seeped into the white top. She kept screaming, feeling the burning sensation of the blade.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Katrine knew it wasn't real and yet, it felt every bit real as Doashim roared. It felt like forever, and all too real. And then suddenly it ended. Even her screaming as she blinked and reached for her abdomen. Her top seemed dry. It was dry when she looked at it, just as there was no wound beneath it. She looked up at the spirits, they were all still there. Jart and Lylek were quiet. It needed to be done. For the Mandragora, the spirit told her.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

There was nothing around the area of the Altar of Spirits that held any interest to Scherezade deWinter. This was not a hunting ground, and there was nothing to hold her interest. She walked around, kicking the ground, waiting for Katrine to finish doing whatever it was that she was doing as the Nightmother. At least, she thought she was doing related to that. Scherezade still depended on Katrine and her ship and she was hoping to be able to convince Katrine to go somewhere that wasn't Ryloth. Maybe go on an adventure on Nar Shadaa or something. Anything.

And then she heard the scream.

Scherezade didn't need more prompt than that. She moved swiftly, making her way to where Katrine was on the ground, not screaming anymore. Scherezade's knives were already drawn, ready to stab whoever and whatever, but there was... Nothing. No one.

"Please tell me there is something I can stab," she said after an awkward silence, "you don't scream like that for fun. I hope."


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

She blinked rapidly at Doashim's word before an image passed through her mind of the Shaman slicing through his flesh to obtain ichor from his veins. Just as the vision was leaving her eyes, she heard Scherezade's voice, realizing she was beside her. Sapphire gaze turned, seeing her Ward holding knives in her hand.

Pebble wanted to stab something. She didn't scream like that for fun? "Uhh? I don't know? I don't think so?" It was kinda confusing. Did someone scream like that for fun? The question pretty much had Katrine staring at the younger girl for a long while, trying to figure out the answer to it in her memories. It was escaping her though for some reason, the sensation of the pain still there even when it wasn't there.

The thought made her look of at Doashim again. He was here but she knew he wasn't here either, he was elsewhere too and she could almost see him there too. "I screamed because Muad cut Doashim's flesh. He needed ichor for some kind of ritual. The spirit permitted but my connection to him makes me feel like it like it's happening to me. You can put the knives down," she finally came to her senses enough to tell her, before sighing. It was a whole otherworldly experience for her. She'd felt emotional pain and lived through it, she'd had her flesh damaged by the spirits as part of her claiming but this had felt completely different.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"Can't the spirits give you some time to chill out?" Scherezade asked with a blink, "you don't have to feel and see everything they are. That's just rude. And in invasion of privacy. And there's more fun stuff you could be doing that doesn't include you screaming on the ground like you're getting gutted."

Her hands moved quickly, the knives sheathing back into their usual space and looked at Katrine. She didn't seem like her usual bubbly self.

"Maybe we need to find a way for you to be able to block the spirits," she said, and then thought about it, "or maybe block this Muad person instead. He sounds like a shmuck."

Of course, violence was always the natural path for Scherezade. She preferred to stab and kill her way through a crowd than walk around it. That was but one of the reasons she required much training. Much more training.





[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Time to chill out? Katrine blinked at the question, confused. She didn't have to feel and see everything they were? Apparently, it was rude and an invasion of privacy. "When you bond with someone, whether they're alive or dead, you feel what they are always," she revealed. "There are levels of claiming. Some claiming are just for the property but true claims are eternal. Hawks take those very seriously." And the fact was, the spirits had claimed Katrine on the day she had ascended. She belonged to them. She herself had claimed none and she could still yet in order for the connection between them to truly work, the spirit needed to mark her and claim her. She belonged to them.

"I didn't expect it. They were just explaining it to me. I'm starting to see through the veil of time but it's completely vague still." The ability was growing though, without question, even when it was oh so slow.

Find a way for her to block the spirits? Katrine narrowed her eyes as she watched her Ward. Her head shook almost immediately after. "No, no", she only managed in before Pebble suggested she block the Muad person because he sounded like a shmuck. It made her giggle. "Pretty boy had permission from Doashim to cut him. He's preparing something form the Mandragora and required his ichor to make it work, same as blood magic would require our blood to make it work." She wasn't upset with him. In fact, Katrine wasn't upset at all. She just hadn't expected the pain.

Wait, there were here with a purpose. "Oh, I gotta teach you some spells!" Katrine declared happily as she looked at Pebble intently, thinking it over. "Want to write a spell with me? You need experience in that as well." She had already decided they were going to do it, in fact, she already had a spell in mind when she summoned the empty parchment with the writing tool she had left to the side earlier, extending her hand to take possession of it. "We're in the Nightlands and the Nightlands are a good place to learn Night Sight," she informed her as she unscrolled the parchment.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade said nothing as Katrine set to defending the pain and the screaming she had been made to go through. It was a bloody stupid thing it was, permissions or not. She did note the mention of claiming, and her mind stored it in a safe drawer somewhere inside her memories. As for the rest of it... Scherezade truly hoped that some day Katrine would come to agree with her. Spending a lifetime screaming and being curled up on the ground because the spirits decided to do this or that didn't seem like any way to spend it.

And then came the mention of... Writing spells? Scherezade scanned her mind, trying to find any information about it. It came back empty.

"How do I summon-" she suddenly realized what Kat was holding, "is that real parchment?!" She knew it was old and ancient stuff. Maybe Katrine had found a way to make new ones? Grandma deWinter had a lot of it, but she had a small room in which a bunch of things that were not supposed to exist - existed.

The young Sithling sat down by her Witch. "How does spell writing work?" she asked, "do we just make the words up as we go along? Do we rap battle it out?"


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

A question formed out of Pebble's mouth but it stayed unfinished as she realized what Katrine was holding, answering the new question with a nod. "Of course it is," her surprised response came. "Um, we make parchment on Dathomir still, it's really not that hard once you get the skill down. And get plenty of material when I'm hunting." Katrine didn't believe in wasting the animals she killed to feed. There were plenty of uses to the whole thing that she made sure to use it. Most of the ones she had were on her ship, with which she traveled back on but she was making new ones to not waste skin these days. It was a wonder though how she made the time.

Next question was how it worked and if they would make words up as they went or would they rap battle. That made her laugh, head bobbing for a few moments as she imagined how that would play out. "There's no one way to write a spell. Sometimes, you do have to make up one in the heat of the moment, other times you can prepare it but in reality, writing spells come from inside you. Some are more attuned to doing it, others never write a single spell their whole life." As far as Katrine knew, her Mother had written exactly one spell her entire life, and she'd taught her that one while Katrine had gone to make a Galactic Basic version of that very spell. Nona came up with a great many spells from what Katrine knew though a lot of Witches had contributed to the Book of Law, Book of Shadows and Book of Dathomir by the time it was Katrine's time to study them. In fact, the only book she hadn't studied was the Book of Shadows which meant she was still curious about it.

"You have to know your goal, you have to reach into the Force and concentrate. The spells won't always rhyme, most of them aren't even lyrics so it's not necessary. The words are a tool to guide you." There was a song that helped enhance certain attributes on a person but that wasn't what they were learning today. "What we're learning first though is Night sight. Basically, it'll let you see clearly in the dark. So, I wanna see if you focus, what you can come up," Katrine instructed before she remembered one tiny detail she should have mentioned. "Spells can be short or long but I try to keep them as short as possible so I can use them quickly when I really need them." That was pretty much it, the advice she could give her. Katrine had every intention of helping her with the spell but she really did want to see what she could come up with on her own.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"Yeah but how do you call it from nowhere," Scherezade asked about the parchment, "as well as the tools to use it," she added as an after thought. It was a neat trick. She wanted to be able to store things like that as well. It'd definitely make it easier to walk around with all the weapons she usually had about her body on her.

She listened carefully as Katrine explained about the spell writing. A worry was growing in the back of her mind. Sure, she knew her goal, an the reason to keep it short was very obvious once you thought about it. And the goal was Night Sight. Being able to see in the night, as the name suggested.

"Okay, two questions," Scherezade began, scratching her head, "Why do we need Night Sight if we can sense things through the Force? And if we're cut from the Force, we can't cast spells anyway. I'm trying to imagine a scenario in which one would work and the other wouldn't."

As for the second... That was more complicated. The young Sithling sat down by the Nightmother and gave her a very focused look. "Second..." she said after a short pause, "you want me to create something? Create? Me? Kat, I'm not much good at creating anything. I'm good at coming up with knives and slaughtering. It's kinda the opposite."


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

How did she call the parchment and the tools to use it? Katrine let out a tiny smile. "That's just telekinesis," she explained quickly. There was no special spell or power to call for them, just simple telekinesis. Though she supposed when she didn't explain, Pebble could have assumed something else but all Kat had really done was bring the material earlier and left it to the side since she didn't need them immediately. "Though a spell for parchment to magically appear when necessary might not be too bad of an idea," The didn't actually need a spell for every but of them could be fun. Like for painting. Nono painted by himself but Nona didn't. She'd just come up with a spell on the spot to do it. And why was she suddenly thinking about house painting? Life was too short for that. Especially hers, 70 years average was nothing for a Dathomirian.

Katrine's train of thoughts was distracted as Pebble said she had two questions. First was why she needed Night Sight if she could sense through the Force. If they were cut from the Force, they couldn't cast spells. She was trying to imagine a scenario in which it would work. "Ever used a flashlight? Must you use a flashlight even if you use the Force? Must you use a pillow to smother someone if there's a perfectly good spell to do it and it leaves no DNA? Must you come close to a person to cut them if you can use telekinesis to do it for you and avoid getting in close proximity if it's not necessary or if you can't?" Katrine returned questions almost immediately. Each of them made sense to her.

The second question was more Pebble pointing out that Katrine wanted her to create something like she was suggesting they braid their hair or something because she was with knives and slaughtering. "I'm good at catching wild animals and eating them while they're still warm. It's not all I am though. You shouldn't limit yourself before you've tried," Katrine suggested. After a moment, she smiled. "Try it." Katrine wasn't asking her to write a whole spellbook but she wanted to try, wanted to have that option if it happened, if she needed it.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"Never used a flash light," Scherezade replied and stuck her tongue out. It was true though; many apparently mundane things were things she'd never had the chance to play with, to toy with. She'd never even played with a doll or tried to color between the lines. Some experiences had been barred from her for eternity. Most of these experiences had to do with the process of growing up. But she had no intention of dawdling on that now. They were here to learn, and she was going to do the best she could.

But then Katrine gave the example of being good with catching wild animals and eating them raw. The example had gone right over her head. Scherezade sighed. "That's not what I meant," she chewed her lower lip, "for you, it's one of the thing you do. For me, damage is all I do. I don't know finesse. I suck at diplomacy. I don't know how to create anything. I only destroy." And that was the truth of it. She had seen people around her, time and time again, create things. Even the Darksiders among them. The only thing she had created, was a creation that was meant to destroy in a horrible way.

Still. She was told to try. Scherezade sighed and began to gather the Force around her, letting it rise from her skin. "Darkness, Darkness, heed my words," she gave the first attempt, "Darkness, darkness, my sight hold." Nothing happened. She waved her hands around as if she was holding an invisible wand. Nope, still nothing.

Time for a second attempt. "Stupid darkness, let me see, keep nothing away from me," And again with the hands, this time without waiting. Something happened this time though. She was't sure what it was, but it seemed... Her vision? Scherezade looked around, bewildered. Ryloth was still Ryloth. But was she seeing... Differently? "Kat, what does Night Vision actually look like?" she asked, still looking around. Were things turning into shades of pink and purple?


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Never used a flashlight.​

It was a simple thought, too simple even but Katrine knew it was true even before Pebble had struck her tongue out. "Life is full of firsts," the blonde retorted back with ease. "First kill, first blood, first spell, first ship, first friend among the rancors, first ghost, first lightsaber, first water containment...," she kept listing firsts, most of them here before she'd started list a couple of Pebble's.

Scherezade seemed to think that while spell creation was just one of the thing Katrine did, Pebble could only inflict damage without knowing finesse. She kept going, about how she was bad about diplomacy and didn't know how to create anything. She could only destroy. It made her smile, realizing Pebble didn't know all that much about her at all. "That's the only thing you can do now but I can promise you, it's not the only thing you can do right now," she told her, somehow suspecting Pebble would argue her point so she continued, "as a child, I knew how to destroy. I knew how to wave weapons without caring if I'd poke anyone's eyes. Once I did, they took the sword away. I also knew how to find things like explosives. I'd killed my first pet because I'd wanted to give Bunny a purpose. I don't go to Dathomir a lot because I still remember the way they used to look at me. Fear, disgust, confusion. Born among them, born of their own and yet nothing like them. Even before I could change, they feared me. My Father no doubt played a part in this, as they knew what I was to become." Katrine didn't always know she would be writing spells one day. She used what she was given, watched her Nona come up with spells and was captivated with how easy it seemed. Pebble believing she could do nothing but destroy was where she was now but Katrine refused to believe it was all she would ever be. There was so much of life ahead of her still.

Her Ward still listened, reaching out to the Force and beginning to form words. The words weren't bad at all, she realized but they didn't seem to execute right. Another attempt provided different words, which made Kat cover her mouth as she tried to suppress a giggle before she heard the question. What did it actually look like? "It's nothing spectacular. You better your vision and the dark, though dark, clears up. I supposed it's like being in a dim light room in the beginning. It's still dark but you're seeing things better. You're supposed to see clearly eventually, as if day but still obviously night. But it might take a bit more practice and possibly a slight adjustment in your focus and words."

The Lupine wondered as she watched her. "You might want to stop waving your hands. There's no real need for that," Katrine suggested with a smile as she glanced up at her side. Jart rested at her side, peak leaning over her shoulder as he watched the girl before glancing over at Katrine, expression half confused. It was almost as if... her head turned back to the teenager. She could see her but it was almost like Jart was struggling in trying to. If she concentrated hard enough, she could see what he was seeing but it was confusing her.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"Life is only full of firsts when you get to live it in a more or less linear way," Scherezade commented, not bothering with hiding the bitterness from her voice regarding the matter, "I didn't get to be a child, and now here I am as some weird butt version of an adult." Which was why she was going to kill her grandmother, the woman who had stolen any option to have a more or less reasonable life. "And those Dathomirians sound like a bunch of should-be-dead Witches. Not to mention that they let the Mandalorians freely use the territory under false pretensions of autonomy."

Scherezae forced her attention back to the matter at hand. She stopped waving her hands and went over Katrine's words in her mind. She was supposed to see clearly, like with a dim light. The thing was, it wasn't dark enough where they stood. She could see things just fine even without a spell.

"What if I added a little ting or something to the spell? To know it went off properly without wondering?" she thought out loud.

"Give me a sound and give me the night, let me see it all tonight," Scherezade said. The felt the Force gathering around her in a way that was absent before, and there it was - a very faint ping that she suspected only she could hear. Things looked almost the same now, but again different like earlier, but somehow clearer? She had no words to give the sensations and what she was feeling. "Kat?" Scherezade almost whispered, "I think I just wrote my first successful spell."



[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Her comment got a comment, with Pebble reminding her again that she hadn't lived her life like a normal person, with the tone plenty obvious as she spoke. She went on, reminding her she didn't get a chance to be a child and now she was some weird butt version of an adult. Katrine sighed, even as Scherezade commented the Dathomirians. "You're not some weird butt version an adult, Pebble, you're you. A teenager with less mileage in your feet, with fewer experiences than an average person. You're still you, and you're still learning. It may be a game of catch up but you're here and you're living. When I was seventeen, I did all kind of stuff I probably shouldn't have." She kinda thought that was what teenager did. "I mean, me as a teenager was completely irresponsible, easily ooh, shiny by just about anything. My Nona, she was already a Clan Mother at seventeen and even before that. So in that sense, even I'm playing the game of catching up." Katrine knew the story well enough though she also knew that there were things that Nona omitted from her story. Whether Nona was aware that she knew or not, Katrine didn't know but the young Lupine could tell there were gaps in the storytelling but Nona was so adamant on not sharing that not even she could drag it out of her.

The comment of Dathomir remained in the air. Katrine didn't address it all, she didn't have the energy to either argue for or against; with her feelings mixed after she'd thought about her childhood. The memories became a little more vivid as she did and she just didn't want to keep talking about it at all.

Instead, Pebble wondered if she added a little ting to her spell to know if it went off. Katrine had wanted to tell her it wasn't necessary. They were in the Nightlands, it might been clear enough to see but in reality, it was still an eternal night and her vision would become clearer but she let Pebble do it instead, hearing her voice her new spell, feeling the Force at work but saying nothing for a bit. Scherezade called to her instead, no louder than a whisper. Katrine was already looking at her and waiting when she heard her she'd just written her first successful spell. It made her smile. "See. You did it!" It was a proud moment and exactly what she wanted Pebble to see. She was more than damage and destruction. If the child of Ket Van-Derveld and Curupira Hawk, who both strived on Chaos throughout their youth could be more than just damage and chaos, than so could Pebble. Easily so.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She'd done it. Scherezade nodded apprehensively. She had created a spell that would grant her night vision. It meant she would be better able to see at night, and her enemies would be visible to her when she killed them. Katrine was wrong. Scherezade was an instrument of destruction. Even the things she learned that did not outright destroy were things that would enable her to destroy with greater things. It didn't matter that she had a shorter mileage, and it didn't matter that Katrine had gone through it too. For all she knew, she herself was still at the ooh shiny phase.

"When my grandmother and mother were seventeen, they were already Sith Sorceresses," she said, "my grandmother had the Sith Government on Coruscant by the balls, my mother was the Queen of Endelaan. Both of those things, they had built from nothing. Grandmother had been a slave on Tatooine, mother had some good education but went to a backwater planet that didn't care about anything other than her proving she was worthy, even if the path there could have killed her at every turn."

The men in her line had similiar stories. But it seemed that when she talked about these things with Katrine, it was the women of the family who took the front seat. For a moment, the Sithling wondered why. The argument for woman to woman went out the window, since those things didn't matter. And she had more in common with the men of her family than the women, at least in terms of being a warrior and somewhat into science.

"And I'm neither of them," she said after a pause, "they were both leaders. So were my father and both of my grandfathers. But I'm not. I can shishabab an enemy on my knife, but I can't convince a handful of people to come kill enemies with me. I'm just a weapon, and not a very good one at that."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Katrine listened to the teenager as she went back talking about her grandmother at mother, what each of them were at seventeen, both of them Sith Soceresses. Her grandmother, whom Katrine had actually met, and to be fair, didn't really like considering how rude she'd been when she'd usurped her time yet, she couldn't fully hate because she had been the one to lead her to Scherezade, for which Katrine was grateful. Pebble kept talking about what each of the generations did at their ages, built from nothing, going back as far as talking about their origins and beginnings.

She'd mentioned her Nona, who'd become a Clan Mother far too young, after losing her Mother when she'd been in her early teens. Katrine, however, couldn't say the same about her Mother. "I don't have that problem. My Nona may be Clan mother and had been since her Mother died but my Mother was raised not to care any of those things. She didn't have to become a Clan Mother, she didn't have to rush to become a Sorceress. She loved her freedom. I think she loves it even more now." Thinking about it, Katrine was well aware that Curupira wasn't the best role model, especially when compared to Satara Hawk. At least her Aunt Kytarra was the Clan's Seer so her madness had a good excuse in Kat's eyes. "It's less of a pressure on my end," she added.

Pebble continued, saying she was none of them, mentioning her father and both grandfathers, stating they were all leaders when she wasn't. She could shishabab an enemy but couldn't convince them to kill enemies with her. That she was only a weapon, and not a good one. "My species leads by strength and ability to rip a person to shreads," Katrine pointed out. Lupines were stronger, faster and deadlier than an average human. A pack of wolves was even deadlier than a group of average humans. On top of it, all the ones she knew were Force Users though she could remember asking about it when she was young and there were others who didn't share those gifts. They were all long gone though, there were the only ones left in the galaxy. "Pebble," Katrine said, changing her seated position to have a better look at her Ward. "You don't become a weapon over night or weeks. It takes a long time to become one. As for leading, I don't really lead, I'm the voice and face of the leaders. I'm expected to become a leader as my Father is, the future Lady of Figaro Favoura VII but I'm not a leader myself yet. I hope to be but right now, we're just students in many ways and no matter what anyone says, that's okay. Training and education is important," she told her.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"That's silly," Sherezade replied, "of course you lead. You're not just the Force and Face. If you walked up to the CIS leaders right now and made a suggestion that came from you, from Katrine, you think they would just ignore it? Because they won't. And it's not because you're possessed'ish by three spirits, it's because you're Katrine and you are the leader of the Mandragora. The spirits thing is just a characatistic as far as most people are concerned. I don't know if leading a plant is like leading a bunch of Witches though."

She really didn't. There was little she knew at all about these things. The theory, sure, that was all inide her head. But theory and putting things in practice were two very different things. But there was one thing for sure.

"I can't lead a single person," the Sithling admitted, "but I know how to stick to pointy end in things. If I can't be the Queen of Endelaan, then I will be its sword and shield against outsiders that wish to do it harm."

With a sigh, Scherzade got off the ground. She was a weapon, even if not a very good one. And she was going to work her butt off to become better.

"Show me more," she asked, looking at Katrine.


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Apparently, what she was saying was silly. Pebble was under the impression she did lead and that if she walked up to the CIS leaders and made a suggestion coming from her, they wouldn't ignore it. Though she didn't really know if it was the same as leading a planet. Katrine however had her reservations about that. "Uncle Isley would listen," she commented, sure of that. She was still so young, with so much to learn. She wasn't a military mind or a strategist, just a girl who was born to be what she was and meant to lead a planet someday. "I don't think it is the same," she told her. "I have three spirits behind me, guiding me, helping me. Even if I was about to mess up, they would be there to make sure I didn't." Katrine had faith in the spirits, that was what she was saying. She was still so young but she had them to help her, to guide her. Unlike Avarisa, they were gentle and wise without the intention of taking her and controlling her as she had wanted. They still allowed for her to grow.

Pebble said she couldn't lead a single person but she knew how to stick the pointy end to things. Katrine smiled to that. There was nothing wrong with that. But she did hear her say if she couldn't be Queen, she would be its sword and shield against the outsiders. "That's important too," the Witch insisted with a nod of her head. "A planet needs a leader or two but it needs far more protectors." The girl was stubborn, she was aware of that. Katrine believed she could achieve far more than Scherezade herself believed she could but if right now, she believed she would become a Warrior for her people, Katrine wouldn't argue too much about it, just approve of that. Every planet needed its protectors.

And all those thoughts had Pebble hungry for more knowledge. Katrine nodded and smile. "Then let's work on making your Telekinesis stronger. It's so basic, it's always relevant," Katrine pointed out, as she herself stood off the ground, walking beside the altar and then down the stairs until she'd left the space of the altar. Ahead of it was space they could use, with rocks, boulders and so much they could use. "A more advanced version of it is understanding that size doesn't matter; understanding that you're far stronger in your mind that you are in your physical body. Let's start with that boulder," she pointed to one shape, which was twice the size than both of them. It would be a good start.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade shook her head. Katrine wasn't getting it. The spirits might have guided her and helped her, and sometimes out right put words in her mouth, but the spirits weren't Katrine. They were part of Katrine. And Katrine had about a gazillion other different qualities that made her a leader; the spirits rode on that and made it stronger, but they hadn't created it, and would not be able to quench it. Katrine was a leader by her own right, however you wanted to look at it. The rest was just fluff.

But whatever. They had more important stuff to do than whack Katrine over the head with a book of facts - they had training to do.

She looked at the boulder. "Yeah, I know the theoretics of it," she smiled, "it's putting it in practice that's been a problem. Like, I can use all twelve of my knives at once and do fancy shmancy things with them, but when I try to lift or move something that's heavier than a person or two, it gets tricky."

She had, in fact, tried to lift her ship with the Force once. The result had been a horrible migraine, and that was the last time she tried the heavier stuff.

But they were training now, so this was where going out of your comfort zone mattered. If she was to have any success, Katrine was here to help guide her to it. Scherezade focused on that boulder. Usually, the young Sithling considered her body to be strong. Stronger than most women, though that was probably due to the difference in sizes. And when she involved the Force, she could achieve huge feats.

But this boulder was having none of that. It stayed right where it was, taunting her with its lack of cooperation. Scherezade tried moving it again.

Still nothing.

Scherezade groaned and closed her eyes, her arms stretched to the stupid thing. She was getting angry at this point. Her natural knack for picking things up was lacking, and now it was lacking despite the fact that Katrine was there to guide her. Sure, the spell writing thing hadn't been an instant success either, but that was spell writing, something that did not have a theoretical aspect of it glued somewhere inside her mind. This whole moving things business was supposed to be much simpler than it was.

She wrapped all her control on the Force over on the stupid boulder, a string of curses that would make a sailor blush escaping her lips as she continued to concentrate.

Move, you krakking stupid thing, move!

And it did.

But totally not in the way she wanted.

The boulder exploded. Scherezade realized what was happening just on time, as the thing broke into sharp-glass pieces that flew in ever direction. She jumped towards Katrine with the full intent of flattening her to the floor and covering her from the oncoming spray of death.


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Their previous subject came to an end as they focused on training. Scherezade understood the theory but practice was a problem. She even said she could wield all twelve of her knives and make them do fancy things but lifting something heavier than a person was the tricky part. Katrine recognized what she'd said. "Because you comprehend the theory of size not mattering but your brain hasn't fully grasped it," she explained. "There are different ways to it. Probably the easiest is not caring for the actual size at all. That bolder is big but in the grand scheme of things, it's actually really small and even insignificant." The blonde suggested. Size mattered not was open to interpretations. Different minds processed it differently. Katrine saw it for how small it really was, even when it wasn't when her eyes gazed on it.

She waited, aware of the fact that her Ward was trying to move the boulder, letting her try. It was a mindset as much as it was a power and there was only so much of the way Katrine could take her before she had to make it on her own.

Her body flinched at the explosion, blinking at it before looking back at Pebble before she'd muttered the Shield spell to protect them. "Allya, ascoltami. Proteggermi da quello che viene a modo mio!" Just as she finished, Pebble jumped over her, to protect her. The shield emerged above them both, fluctuating above them as the remnants of the boulder bounced off it. She remained on the ground, holding up the spell until the unintentional boulder remnants finished coming their way.

Then she'd sat up, pulling Pebble off the ground with her, mind processing. She knew what it had happened because she herself possessed the ability Scherezade had unintentionally just done. "Too much energy," Katrine pointed out as she sat up straight, watching the damage. "You're thinking too hard without getting your head in the right mindset. Take a moment to clear your thoughts and focus on another," she instructed. Combustion was in ways easier but Pebble did need to learn how to get better at telekinesis.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Too much energy. Scherezade nodded, letting Kat pull her up. She understood what too much energy was, but she didn't understand why it was the wrong mindset. Sure, it wasn't what the two had aimed for, but if she could blow things up like that... A gleam made its way to her eyes. They wouldn't work on it now, but she wold work on it later, on her own. Making things go boom... That was going to be very, very useful.

Clear her head, focus on another boulder. Those were the instructions.

Scherezade closed her eyes, forcing the excitement over a successful combustion (she would only later know that was the name of what she had done was) to go down.

The next boulder then; she concentrated all her focus on it before remembering that only a moment ago, Katrine had said that she was using too much energy. Scherezade hated needing to use finesse on anything. She was a head butting kind of a girl, going into maximum drive at every turn.

This... Was an excersize in patience.

She hated being patient.

But with all the Force gathered, she pulled. And pulled. And pulled. She didn't know how long she'd been standing there pulling, but when she opened her eyes, she realized she had managed to pull the boulder towards her until it was a mere foot away.


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]