Pawns of War

[Jairdain]

In his passing through her, besides the connection, he may have even picked up on some her skills. The price she paid for doing it was unknown to her fully.

Her focus was directly on him and for a moment was entirely serious. What she felt with that gaze was the same man that had captured her. Yes maybe he had taken some of her vitality. Using the dark side like she had also was a drain, but Jairdain would recover.

Krest asked where she learned how to bring him back, she stopped with her gaze and took a drink of her tea before saying one word. It was a true word though, but nothing else dealing with the answer.

"Voss."

After that, she set her cup down and leaned forward slightly.
​
"Just remember the connection. It goes beyond even the Force. Like what I have with Lykos. We are forever bonded."

[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"Yes, we are. And I'm perfectly fine with that." Ferus smiled wide at [member="Jairdain"] , his red eyes gazing over her once again. His mind was silent, a trick he had learned, but he was thinking. With a small chuckle he finished his tea and stood up, stepping right over to her. "Come, I'm recently alive and I'd like to hit the city. Call it a date if you'd like to." As he spoke he would extend a red hand to her, a smile still lingering on his lips.

 

[Jairdain]

His simple acceptance of their connection and indication he was fine with it caught Jairdain by surprise. She would have expected him to an issue with the fact she could effect him from anywhere in the galaxy. Generally speaking it wouldn't be something she would do.

"You are? I'm glad, I rather like the idea myself."

After finishing the tea, Krest stood up and moved to her side. Extending a hand he said he wanted to go to town, inviting her on a date. To his people here, as king he was dead. They would simply think he was another Zabrak that looked uncannily like their dead king.

Accepting his hand, Jairdain did not fear him. That one way connection was one part of it.

"It'll be nice to go out and hit the city with you."

[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"The first night of the rest of our lives. And the only night my people won't recognize me as King. I fully intend to reclaim my throne after all." Despite the hardness of his life as both a Sith and an Iridonian his hand was gentle in it's grasp of her own. With a gentle tug he would pull her to her feet and bring her back out to the speeder she had brought them here on. "You know, I don't think I've ever been this hungry."

 

[Jairdain]

Tilting her head slightly as Krest spoke and said he planned to retake his throne, she then nodded.

"Are you wanting help with that, Krest? Did you know I lived here even before you died? When I was sith, this was first home I had when I gained my freedom."

This was also the home where his brainwashing had started failing. Remembering exactly what he had done to her, even if she didn't fear him, she was still wary.

He pulled her to her feet in a very gentle way and guided her to the speeder she had used earlier. He mentioned he was more hungry than he had ever been and she chuckled slightly.

"Might be a drawback of having been brought back with an empty stomach."

[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"Good. So, uh. Show me where you normally eat." Ferus scratched his chin as he spoke, glancing ahead at the savanna like road they were gliding over. There was an odd calmness to the sight, from the patches of tan grass to the creatures that traveled freely. It was the wild at it's most pure, and what he loved about it. Other then that, he spent his time in the castle and off world, never really spending time in the city. Never had the chance to.

"I'm not really sure what there actually is."

 

[Jairdain]

She couldn't help but laugh a little when Krest asked for her to show him where she normally ate. Pointing back to her home, she turned back to Krest before answering. That smile still left on her face from the laughter.

"At home. You know I am rather a good cook. I'm still alive at least."

Feeling a change in Krest, Jairdain looked at him through the Force. He was oddly at peace and she wondered if her touch on him had rubbed off that much.

"I guess we'll learn together won't we."

[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"It's amazing how your blindness doesn't seem to ever hinder you." It was only a simple remark about how handy [member="Jairdain"] had proven to be even deprived of the Force when she was a prisoner, but Ferus was genuinely impressed. He had broken many Jedi in his time, even more Sith, but never had he seen one already handicapped resist and thrive as well as she had. Perhaps it was because of their connection, as new as it was, that brought his attention to all this, or perhaps now that he was back from the dead he could see things he couldn't before.

On the horizon one of the large cities of Iridonia began to come into view. A sprawling metropolis, clearly influenced by Coruscant and other city planets. But unlike the worlds that seemed to be of mostly metal and wire the plantlife and greenery of Iridonia was still ever present. A smirk spread across the Zabrak's face as he gently reached for the hand of the woman with him.

"I want to try something with this bond. Focus on me, see if you can see what I see."

 

[Jairdain]

At his comment, Jairdain shrug slightly. She didn't remember a time in her life prior to them meeting when she didn't have the Force to see with.

"I see life and emotions through the Force. Sadly it doesn't grant me the fine details of physical color nor can I read or see holograms. Everything has emotions, even simple ones. The grains of sand, leafs on trees...all of it I can see through the Force. However, even without that my other senses are heightened. Hearing specifically if you want to know."

Her time with him as a prisoner had been lonely and almost silent. It had helped in his corruption. Locked up, alone, with silence and nothing but darkness in its own way chipped away at her sanity. It left her open to crave his or anybody's company. Yet at that time she had resisted him. After she corrupted and she was free, Jairdain had gotten used to being alone and had built her home on Iridonia. Where Krest was king, yet she was alone. When she wasn't on Commenor or with the Jedi, she was here.

Krest reached for her hand, but she didn't resist. At least for the time, they weren't enemies. Somehow, Jairdain didn't feel they would be. Wanting to test out this bond, he wanted her focus on him and through their connection to look and find out if she could see what he did.

Instead of using that focus through the Force, she followed it through their connection. To her it almost felt like she was invading him and she wondered if Krest had that feeling. A small almost bitter smile crossed her face as he had once invaded her mind in a similar manner. However, he did this willingly. So she attempted now to look through his eyes.

What she saw she could not explain. Like two visions, hers and his. They overlapped each other and melded in her mind. A sight she was seeing for the first time and probably the last. It took her breath away for a moment, but she maintained the connection.

"Can you do the same or just me?"

[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"I very much doubt I can without you purposely making me my dear. This bond you crafted is awfully one sided." It was a gentle tease, but one with a deeper meaning all together. Positive or negative even Krest wasn't sure, but he continued to hold [member="Jairdain"] 's hand in it's gentle grasp. "You'll have to make it up to me sometime." The grasp was an odd comfort, but not one the Zabrak planned to shy away from.

Soon enough the pair would arrive to the bustling main city of the planet Malidris. Rebuilt after the collapse of the plague it's original style similar to Coruscant had a new aesthetic in line with the ancient cities before hyperspace. First stop, and really the only one that came to mind, was market square. Stalls of fresh produce lined the busy street, vendors shouting out to sell their wares. The speeder came to a stop in one of the various parking locations close to this square and Krest was the first out.

"It's good to be home."

 

[Jairdain]

"We will have to further explore exactly and to what extent this connection has between us."

It was already shown Jairdain had a form of control of his actions. She could use his eyes and look through them, but hadn't tested it without them being in physical contact. Krest kept a hold of her hand as they travelled into town and took some form of comfort from it. Not giving it too much thought or what it might mean, Jairdain kept their hands together. He said she would have to make up for the one sided connection sometime and she just chuckled.

"And why do you think I would want to? I mean maybe this is a form of pay back from when you had control of me. Just think on this though, we will never be fully alone anymore. No matter where our paths go after tonight, we are connected for life."

Her other hand rose and ​instead of going to her head, it hovered over her heart for a moment before she lowered it.

"Yes, it is nice to be home."

[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"It will be nice to have company." It was his only comment on [member="Jairdain"] 's rebuttal on making up the one sided bond she had made. Not a subject he was at all use to talking about now that he had brought it up. His gaze traveled over the various stalls, his vision filled with the fresh produce from the nearby farmlands and meats from the various creatures found around Iridonia.

"I uh, have no idea what I'm doing."

 

[Jairdain]

"You have a good point there. No matter what happens to either of us, captive or free, we won't be alone. You know I have the feeling this does go more than one way, that somehow you'll be aware of some things around me."

With that thought, she suddenly had a furious blush, luckily it was night and it would be seen in the light. The emotion of it might be not be as easy to hide though.

When he admitted he had no idea what he was doing, she shook her head and lightly punched his shoulder playfully.

"You really should have spent more time among your people. Humph, not know how to go about being in a market."

Jairdain was known here having spent time on the planet off and on for a few years. Since she had been sith and she had been nineteen when Krest captured her. Now a few years later, these people did know her, even if she spent more time on Commenor. Now and then, she returned to Iridonia.

"What do you want to eat?"

[member="Darth Ferus"]