Private Salt in the wound

[Sakadi Marathi Sinvala]

The devastating blast of Force energy struck it's mark, overpowering the witch as the Sephi hoped it would. The telekinetic assault had drawn on all her reserves, leaving her physically exhausted to a point where standing alone was a battle. But that inner battle was not one she would reveal to her opponent.

The Jedi stood motionless, but did not appear tired nor beaten. Finally, she had been given a chance to put the many acting lessons she received to good use. Her eyes narrowed in a slight glare aimed toward the crone. Sakadi was not one to take lives, but was ready to go to great lengths if the withered crone persisted.

For a moment, no word was said and no sounds was made. The conflict ended here, all three participants knew as much. The witch vanished in the shadows as the dust settled, and the Jedi would let her. For she herself had no strength left to pursue the master of the Dark side.

Instead of focusing on what she couldn't do, however, the Sephi would focus on what she could. That was why, as soon as the danger subsided, her attention shifted to the Sith. Or what was left of her. The woman was an empty shell, a husk of her former self. It didn't take a mind reader to discern that much. Perhaps that was why the Force had guided her here. To protect and nurse the woman back to health. But that brought her nothing but mixed feelings.

Sakadi knelt down beside the now passed out Sith, her trembling knees hitting the rocky soil harder than she had intended. First, she would rest. Meditate and regain a bit of her strength. Enough to fend off any attackers, should the witch send more of her minions after the broken woman. Only after the Force restored some of her vitality, would the Jedi focus on the matter at hand.

Her first action was to gently take the woman's wrist and check for a stable pulse. A part of her didn't want to help the weakened Sith. What if she nursed her back to health, only for her to follow another nefarious path that would lead to death and destruction, like the practitioners of the Dark side always did? Was she ready to place her faith in the Force's will and help this woman?

Sakadi took a deep breath. The future is unpredictable and ever-changing. Focus on the here and now. She reiterated the old Jedi wisdom, and found a stable pulse moments after. Relief washed over her, knowing that she wouldn't have to pull any complicated tricks to keep the Sith alive. What came next, was removing the restrictive armor, starting with the shattered helmet. After all, she wouldn't be able to treat any wounds with the black armor plating in the way.

Carefully, the Jedi Master took hold of the helmet; a mistake she wouldn't forget anytime soon.

Amur​

 

[Amur]

When the Jedi knelt down to check the the condition of the Sith she would find herself looking at the armored shell of a woman, the outside exterior that was for most all they would ever gaze at, and all they would ever know. This was the image that the Sith wanted everyone to see, the image that she wanted to be. Powerful and formidable, to have anything that made her weak to the guile manipulations, or attachments that had existed to hurt her in the past. But this shell was like all shells, a hollow case to hold within a vulnerable weak object which was the prison of her mind, the scars of her body, and all the pain she had carried with her with each and every enduring step. The Jedi was now doing something very risky, trying to crack the shell, to pierce the defenses that both it's subject and this outsider were protected by, and to risk seeing the gooey viscous yolk that would pour out.

When the Jedi grabbed the helmet, years upon years of emotional associations, brooding and hateful self destructive meditations would now begin to flow to her as the collective aftershock would begin to manifest and move her in a fit of psychometry. She might feel her vision haze her body begin to ache, and her mind sudden feel an intrusion of thoughts and memories shoot into her mind, suddenly the world of Ryloth disappeared as she was now overcome by a black void where collective images would hazily come to form.

Eyes shot open and now arms would begin to wiggle and move only to find them constricted to a chair, synthetic rope and cord used to bind her to the chair. An elevated heartbeat was racing, the rope's sickly appalling taste in her mouth as she looked around what was once the host of the best vacation she had to a new unknown hell and in front of her was a man. Someone who's mind conjured up associations and words of comfort, advice, safety and a wisdom that she let guide her every action after he entered her life. Someone who would do her wrong.

But why was he smiling? Why had his face contorted from it's usual caring expression to a grin of pure malice? Questions kept building and building and building demanding answers... Answers she wished she never heard as she heard her life unravel in front of her terrified eyes. Someone who was the sun of her world was now mocking her, telling her that their relationship was a farce, every word didn't matter, every expression of love just a thing to keep her hooked on him like a drug. And with it there was one sentence that stuck out to the Corellian's mind that would occasionally whisper into the recesses of her mind when she was alone. One that came after a gagged cry.

"Mmhhhyyphm?!" (Why)

"Simple really! I have a type, everyone does really. Some lust after Echani, or Zeltrons, some search for a dom, some search for a younger or older partner. That's not what I search for, really it's not your looks or any of that that has drawn me to you. You're rather boring and average in that regard. No I go a little deeper. See underneath all of that in that little piece of gray matter that plucks away that's where I find my type. He explained so trivially it was like someone describing what pet they preferred.

"See what you are is simple. You're a slut. Not the normal kind you think of when I say that, no no no no. I'm not that shallow. See you're damaged goods, still haven't figured out where you got your damage, but it radiates off of you. You are desperate, you think you're nothing and you tried to pass yourself off like that. You're secretly looking for someone to validate you and whisper all those lovely lies of how special you are, and how I understand you, how much you matter. Such massive lies, yet you eat it up like the glutton you are, and you practically wrapped yourself around my finger without me having to do a thing. It was fun! However the fun dies off sweetheart, after a while I tire of the parasite I let leech off of me for comfort and I must move on. You outlasted your welcome dear..."

Everything died away from the vision only to be absorbed by the sheer pain it brought. Then with it suddenly the pain of her heart being crushed and mangled by the strings she let tie around herself were replaced by something new. The void was now replaced by a brilliant burning orange as the entire room was engulfed in flame, skin raged away, nerves calling out in their singing death throes and an instinct took over. Thoughts disappeared, there was only one thing driving her. Survive. Underneath this there was something flowing inside her. White hot, something that caused her head to feel like a spike was being driven up to the core of brain from her spine. It empowered her as body now forced her self up, pieces of synthetic material now emitting a putrid smell as they weaken and burned in the flame and weakened their hold on the broken woman. She managed to get and without a thought her feet propelled her as slammed through an old fashion glass window. Shards cut her and the brilliant fire contrasting it's heat with searing cold. There was an impact, and then a blur until she found herself drowning in an icy darkness. The haze continued until faintly the body washed up on shore, eyes meekly closing barely registering a black boot stepping down near her.

Sakadi's view of the vision would recede into blackness briefly until she it slammed back into position in the form of someone walking down a hall in a Sith temple. At the end of the great chamber was a masked Sith in robes waiting for her. The body was now clasped in obsidian colored armor, sans for her head which remain exposed. Sensations of pain were constant in her body. Nerves that were constantly jammed on, joints that found themselves lacking cartilage causing them to grind against each other. Each step was a new nightmare. Yet it felt right, it felt good. Walking up to the robed Sith she could almost feel the smile underneath his mask, as Skylar introduced herself to the master and bowed. taking a meditative kneeling position in front of him. Red crimson came to life from his lightsaber. The blade brought over Skylar's head.

"You came before us a shattered husk, your body was weak, pathetic. Yet you had the power within to refuse your fate. To control the force rather then let it guide you to your death. You continue to refuse even now. You could have eased that pain within you, but you let it fester, you let it enhance your connection to the dark side. Even as overseers noted how you managed to defeat apprentices and knights who didn't have to fight with your limitations." The Sith would then move his saber down to over her left shoulder, crimson plasma burning away next to her ear. The Sith would then move it towards her head in what would be a decapitating move, though the darkside would call out from her and force the blade to push up and go over her head instead before falling to hover over her other shoulder. A pleased nod came from the sith as he extinguished his blade.

"Rise Knight Targrin" With that call the kneeling Sith apprentice would rise a knight. The robed Sith would extend out a helmet. The new knight grabbed it and would put the helmet on as a sealing hiss would emanate. The Sith looked back.

"Skyler died back on Carlac. I am now Amur."

A blink would whisk the temple away. Now it fixated on something different. The industrial world of Chad. A woman was tending to her elbow, as she could feel it cry out in pain as the bones briefly had had dislodged from the joint. Looking at the woman words came up in association. Kind, sweet, innocent, intriguing. Curiosity brimming until suddenly a piercing question was asked.

"Why are you in so much pain? I can see it, all of it. There's ways to fix it."

Amur would answer telling Kalanda she had "...Fell in love with a lie...". Her mind was now fixating back to being burned on Carlac, even as the Witch tried to be a beacon for her. Still the pain and shame just wrapped around her like binding wire. Ensnaring her with an anger that was demanding to lash out. A moment of concern suddenly came out for the fate of the witch and with that she uttered something like a plea.

"I'm not sure it's safe for you to be near me right now. You should go..." Though with it came a promise to watch over her if she came back into Sith territory.

The memory faded away as the industrial haze and yellow atmosphere disappeared and was replaced by a turbo lift. A screaming beast had grabbed onto her and one of it's claws deep within her side before tossing her like it was nothing. The witch from the earlier vision was back, and had briefly repelled. The witch was now trying her best to care for her, but a heavy fear was now laced into the Sith's head. The fear of dying, and the fear she wouldn't be able to tell the witch how she truly felt. Memories of them being together floating in her mind before seeing a Star Weird coming down to try and Slice Kalanda's throat. The dying Sith quickly raised her arm and sent a current of lightning that killed it. Her limb dropping to the ground. Her vision was blurring and fading but she still there was a need to tell her atleast one final set of words in case it was to be her last.

"I... love you..."

The vision seemed to begin to welter and die off, as the turbo lift faded and now there was nothing but the dark to encapsulate the Jedi forced along this ride of memories. Then she could hear something. Whispers. They were faint, indistinguishable, yet the Jedi could perhaps register a feeling of guilt begin to manifest in her by proxy. The whispers, were the machinations of Amur's mind, a live retelling of what played in her head at the worst moment of her entire life. They grew louder and louder. Quick fervent whispers that trudged along in a manic song.

Look at all she does for you. you like you're little willing slave? How are you going to hurt her now. That's all you do ever do. You're nothing, you're just a sack of flesh that leeches off others like a parasite. It be easier for her if you were just dead. But you can't bear to hurt her do you? Yet you cause it anyways!

LOOK AT WHAT SHE DID TO HERSELF
THIS WAS DONE FOR YOU​

The whisper turned into SCREAMS, THAT RIPPED INTO THE FLESH OF AMUR'S MIND, HANDS TUGGING AND RIPPING AND CLAWING AT HER HEAD TEARING IT APART BIT BY BIT AND THEN JABBING A KNIFE INTO WHAT REMAINED. HER ENTIRE BODY FEELING LIKE IT WAS BEING RAKED OVER WITH SAND THAT TORE AWAY AT HER, AS IT FELT LIKE THE HANDS WERE RIDING UP HER BODY BEFORE CLASPING AROUND HER NECK.

She was in a medical bay looking at the concerned eyes of her love as, caring more about Amur then she was about her own self as Amur's eyes remained permanently fixated on her arm. A blackened husk with a green substance that occasionally leaked, similar to the Ichor of Dathomir. Thoughts kept raging of Kalanda shooting fire out of her hands even as it burned and tormented her love. The chorus was now one giant cacophony of noise that wouldn't stop as she desperately wished to just retreat, to disappear from the universe and make everything just stop. The pain was overwhelming and then she felt it.

She felt her throat get pressed on and her windpipe get clasped shut. Breath eluded her as the voices screamed at her and overwhelmed her mind. The Sith struggled for air and nearly tried to cry out for air before she finally managed to dispel the Force away from her neck. Oxygen came flowing in as silently the revelation had hit her. She had just force choked herself.

The Sith was broken, shame over how useless she was now eating away at her. She couldn't do anything right. She was just a burden, just a parasite. She couldn't do anything. She wanted to be strong, to try and ease the pain inside Kala as she watched this unfold but she couldn't. She couldn't be the one to smile and lie. With it came the two most painful words she ever spoke in her life. After muttering these words she would turn and walk away like the coward she truly was.

"I'm sorry"

The vision would recede. Sakadi would find now she was back on Ryloth, touching a shattered helmet again. The Sith still passed out and at her mercy. What she would decide to do with this new found snap shot of the Sith's life was up to her. Atleast it was over.

Sakadi Marathi Sinvala

 

[Sakadi Marathi Sinvala]

She had replenished enough of her strength to move, but not enough to shield her thoughts and mind. She had been too tired to even consider what memories and emotions could be lurking in the Sith's mask. Her psychometry had never been strong enough to discern more than feelings, but with an object so strongly tied to one's dark past, even her mastery would suffice.

The Jedi Master blacked out before her fortress of a mind could react. Events unfolded before her eyes like a movie she herself played the lead in. Sensations, emotions, thoughts... For a moment, she was Amur. The broken woman, she who experienced one traumatic event after the other. The echoes of the Force took her to a burning warehouse, a cold river, a Sith Temple... There was no end to it. Each memory filled with pain, sorrow, regret and anger. Until the appearance of what the century-old Sakadi assumed to be Amur's significant other. A sense of familiarity and relief washed over her as the name came to mind. Kalanda.

The appearance of Kalanda the Witch was what brought a warmth to the observing Jedi. She allowed the feelings of the Sith in, letting them flow over her conscious and guiding them back to the broken helmet. But underneath the joy, she could feel the insecurity. The inner fears that the Witch so desperately tried to make disappear, but it was to no avail. The Jedi Master's ears lowered in nervous anticipation. She knew what was next. Fear lead to anger. Anger to hate and hate... To suffering.

The deep fear made place for anger. A violent and destructive storm, but one that miraculously died away for a brief moment, out of concern for the Witch. An anger that let itself be replaced by love. A deep concern for another. The truth of their fragile love flowed into her, as the Sith desperately fought against her resurfaced and unconquerable fear to protect all she lived for from the Starweird. Then, the vision faded.

For the first time in her life, the Jedi who brought dawn could hear the whispers of the dark. The hate for oneself, the freezing cold that made the mind suffer, and the lack of light at the end of the tunnel. All that accompanied her in this darkness, were the whispers who tore at her soul and poisoned her blood. They grew closer... Too close to her own heart. Like a disease that spread between beings, the cold hand of the Dark side curled its emaciated fingers around her heart. Not that of Amur. hers. Cold shivers moved down her spine as it became increasingly difficult to breathe. For a brief moment, the Jedi Master had lost control over her own reality. She could not tell whether it was Amur's self-hate that crushed her windpipe, or the long shadows cast by her own heart.

No.​

Her own memories were different. Her own emotions were different. The shame of the Sith flowed over her mind, the whispers attempting to latch on to her soul. But a being like her, a champion of the light, was not so easily conquered. A single thought moved through her mind. A focal point for her power, one that would direct the flow and discern what was real and whatnot. Like the sun, her soul burned bright. Melting the icy grip of the Dark side around her heart, with a single sentence.

There is no Emotion. There is Peace.​

"I'm sorry"​

As she wrestled back control over her mind, the vision receded. She was alone again. Alone with the resting Sith, in what remained of the Floating Rock Gardens. She had been given much, much to think about. But no time to do so. Sakadi still feared the return of the crone. No, before she could think, she had to bring the Sith to safety.

Evening, many miles north of the garden.

The Sephi rested her back against one of the rough rock formations. It had taken far too long to find anything burnable here on Ryloth, but she finally had enough to get a nice campfire going. The Sith was still asleep, resting on the single bedroll that she had carried with her on her way to the gardens. She had dropped her backpack the minute she felt the disturbance in the Force, but luckily it had still been there when she returned.

Calmly, she rummaged through her backpack until she found what she was looking for. An instant soup package, and her water bottle. There was little she could do mess up with instant soup, right? Her glance shifted to the Sith. Should she make enough for two, in case the woman woke up? What would even happen when she woke up?

The Jedi Master did her best to leave the Sith be as much as she could, but had taken a few precaution. Sakadi had thrown away every piece of armor the Sith had. Her weaponry was hidden from the woman's sight, placed in Sakadi's backpack for safekeeping. But perhaps the most effective precaution she had taken, was the subtle illusion Sakadi had planted in Amur's mind.

While the Sith was not tied up or restricted by anything, to her it would appear as if she was. An illusion that would fade away on its own when she regained her true purpose and strength of will. The Sephi truly wondered if the Sith would be able to break such a seal, after witnessing the events of her life firsthand.

Her attention was drawn back to the water bottle, which she poured into the clean pan that was part of her equipment. All that was left was adding the powder and boiling it above the campfire. The fire she still had to start...

Getting tired of her own forgetfulness, Sakadi conjured a spark of energy through the Force. One that lit the dried branches of wood on fire in a single, impressive burst.

Just as she carefully positioned the pan above the source of heat, she noticed the Sith stirring in her sleep. Through the Force, she could sense the Sith's mind opening up to take in where she was. Was she finally awake?

Tranquil and calm as ever, Sakadi continued with what she was doing. She showed no hostility nor caution, but no concern yet either. But what she did do, was speak.

"Are you finally awake?" Her gentle voice began, waiting for an answer before she continued. "I must say, I have never in my life met anyone who hates herself as much as you do, Skylar. And that is not a compliment."​

Amur

 

[Amur]

The Sith was rewarded with the best thing once could be granted in a situation like this. Silence. Her unconscious was complete and succinct in it's ability to completely black out both the world and mind. There was no thoughts, there was no memories, there was no comprehension of existence. There was just the immediate lightning speed blitz of being encapsulated in nothingness. Complete reductive destruction was blissful in an odd sense even if it's subject would be unaware of it's pleasure. There was just a blank patch that lasted only an instant. Then came the creepings of idle light. There was an idle noise of campfire burning away that felt like it was merely the beginning of dream. Then sleepy eyes began to finally lift open and take in the stimuli. She was on Ryloth, perhaps there was a fire and...

A voice intruded her mind again. Immediately the Sith went to move only to find her arm catch slack on something. Looking down she saw her arm was now restrained to her ankle with cuffs. Immediately a sense of panic began to take hold before her mind processed the fact that she could see her undersuit. Looking around she quickly scanned her body only to find out that yes she was stripped bare of her armor. Only now did the sensation of air moving around her head become clear, looking around she saw the campfire, the pan, and one wielding it. The Jedi.

"What did you do?!" The sith demanded out of the Jedi her voice laced with ice. Amur would try to reach out with her right arm out of instinct only to be reminded of the Cuffs. Meanwhile the Jedi responded with what could be best described from the perspective of a Sith as an almost passive aggressive amount of indifference and calm in her continued telepathy. Getting admonished by a Jedi was nothing new for her but then she heard two syllables that set her on fire. Skyler.

How. Did. She. Know? She hadn't heard that name in years, and never referring directly to herself in the now. A very attentive eye was now being placed on the Jedi by Amur. What was her game?

"You... How do you know that? No one has called me that in years... What is going on Jedi?" Her stare narrowing at the Sephi. Waiting to see how the Jedi would answer.

Sakadi Marathi Sinvala

 

[Sakadi Marathi Sinvala]

A puzzled look crossed the Sephi's face, her eyes darting to the pan and back to the Sith. "I made a campfire... and now I'm making soup?" Sakadi didn't understand why the Sith would ask. She was doing it in plain sight after all.

The mention of her original name did stir up something within Amur. Her gaze sharpened and with that, all the captive's attention was on her. "Calm down a little. If I had any ill intentions you would've certainly been in a worse condition." Sakadi's lilac eyes settled on the Sith, studying her for a moment. "Although that would be quite a challenge." Her attention shifted back to the pan on the campfire. Bubbles were rising in the fluid now, which lightened the mood of the Jedi.

"Ah! The water's boiling. Now, would you like some soup? I think you could use it." Regardless of Amur's answer, Sakadi would prepare a bowl for her. The Jedi Master wasn't ignorant but she rarely, if ever, listened. Most questions she asked were rhetoric to her, whether her conversation partner knew or not. "So, Skyler... What brought you to Ryloth?" Carefully, the Sephi took hold of the pan. Pouring hot water in a bowl was easier than, let's say, wield a glowing stick of death, but it wouldn't be the first time she messed this up. "It's not like sulking in the gardens is going to solve your complicated problems with Kalanda, is it? She conveyed with a neutral tone. It was a well-educated guess. She wasn't sure if that was why Amur was here, but she had seen fragments of the Sith's memories and she had felt her emotions. Therefore, it felt like a pretty good guess.

Sakadi didn't expect much of an answer. Maybe a curt 'no' or 'have you been following me!?', but nothing out of the ordinary. That was why, once Amur responded, the Jedi Master would continue on conveying her thoughts. "So that leads us straight to my second question. Who was the witch who tried to kill you?"

Amur​

 

[Amur]

The surrealness of existing​

The Sith was hoping for something a bit more... direct in an answer. Instead she was given an answer that was technically correct but painfully not what she meant. The Jedi seeming to be ignoring the fact that she restrained the Sith and was holding her against her will as she made... Soup. This was just humiliating, as if the rest of this day wasn't already just one big humiliating stab at her. Though she did have a point about what she could of done if she had any ill intentions, even though it had to contain a karking dig at her as if to rub in how pathetic she was. Still two questions asked and she was given nothing to go on. Except for the fact that she couldn't quite shake the feeling that this Jedi was playing with her and it was quite obvious she was trying to reach some kind of point. Though what exactly it was remained unknown to her. Oh dear force this better not be some misguided attempt to try to do some conversion therapy.

Yet the Jedi seemed to be distracted by the soup than actually telling her what was going on, much to her frustration. Amur would just give a simple "No" as her reply. Yet she had the feeling as she responded that the Jedi was going to ignore her. So as the Jedi fixated on the Soup the Sith studied. It was... painful to watch as the Sith realized that the Sephi was using a pan to boil water and cook soup in. Anyone who knew anything about cooking knows you use a pot to cook soup and liquid foods in. Pans were often too wide and flat making pouring and stirring unnecessarily difficult, plus the single long handle made it difficult to wield it smoothly and have it remain stabilized as it moved around. It seemed... odd. Yet looking at the pan, the sith could that while simple in design and not flashy, nothing like ancient cast iron that some cooks still swore by, still it was of decent quality. Her brain was finding a wonderful way to distract herself from the giant Rancor by the campfire though the Jedi would try again to get her to talk.

Amur would give a visible eye roll at the Sephi asking her what she was doing on Ryloth. There was an answer she could give, the one that she was sure the Sephi wanted her to think about, and wanted to hear but given the fact that she was now a captive and all of her question got lackluster answers she decided to return the favor. Truth was the Sith wasn't in any mood for the cute game this Sephi wanted to play.

"A ship brought me to Ryloth." The sith answered simply. The Sith had now decided to not give this Jedi a straight answer until she would finally get one back. It only seemed fair. Still she noted the Jedi trying to pour the pan... Her mind was mentally screaming at the Jedi that she should have used a pot, and then something snapped in her head. She looked around and something unnatural finally stuck out of the surrondings. A packet wrapper. Instant soup? Wait... that normally requires hot water, and for it to stew with a cover for a few minutes, both to cook and cool, not just brought to boil then immediately poured... She didn't know how to cook at all.

Looking over Sakadi the Sith then noticed some other things, her clothes were neat and clean even if basic in the traditional Jedi manner, her hair looked soft and smooth, obviously well taken care of, even her skin didn't match the normal for a warrior. It practically sheened. Her posture was straight and proper even as her hand wavered from awkwardly and clumsily trying to force a pan to do something it was never quite meant to do. There was one simple deduction from this: This was someone who had the mind or need to look presentable at all times, but didn't ever need to look after their basic needs. Pampered perhaps? Something that you saw a lot with people that grew up upper class, and Amur knew a lot of people like that when she grew up and lived That Life.

The Jedi then brought up Kalanda... There was a dead silence from the Sith. She knew. Something ticked over in Amur's head especially as the way she brought up the word complicated. That was personal and something she never told anybody. Now she was looking at the second person today with the clairvoyance to somehow know. Now she wanted answers, this wasn't funny. She felt her hand try to move only to be stopped by the cuffs again. A loud audible sigh came from the Sith which the Jedi interpreted as an answer to her question, as she immediately followed up with asking about the Hag. She had a strong hunch but not something she wanted to share with this Jedi. No, the way this was going the Jedi was likely expecting every answer she was giving. It was typically Jedi passive aggressiveness and Sith annoyance. This was... normal... well as normal as having a Jedi and a Sith at a campfire and not trying to actively burn eachother to death with the campfire could be. She wasn't inclined to just open her heart out for this stranger who knew too much, or divulge anything till she knew more about why. But asking right now, well the Jedi would just deflect she had too much of a guard and expectation. No. She needed to throw her off. The Sith blinked as if she was in deep contemplation at the Jedi's question before finally answering question.

"Oh the Hag? No idea, only a guess really. I'd be willing to share that with you over soup, except, I couldn't help but notice a few things. Why oh Why are you trying to use a pan to cook soup? I see you struggling to pour without spilling anything and it's painful. Use a pot next time. It's deep and narrow with two handles, that way you don't have to worry about it sloshing about and spilling when you go to pour or move it. Also the two handles gives you better leverage for pouring. Plus with two handles you can usually tie something around the handles so you can then fix it to something and hang it over the fire so you don't have to hold it over the fire for so long. I'm surprised you haven't burned your hand holding on to that handle close to that heat source the entire time. That's not even acknowledging the fact that all you did was bring your water up to boiling. I haven't read the instructions of that soup packet over there but normally you're supposed to bring the water up to temp and then let it sit there for a few minutes to cook. But it can't even cook if you don't have a cover to trap all that steam evaporating. Usually that's why most noodle and soup cups or packets recommend or require you to cover the container. That soup is likely under cooked, and you don't want to test that right now because it will burn your mouth if you eat it now."

Honest to Force, cooking advice. Genuine, real, cooking advice. That was probably the last thing the Jedi would expect to hear from a Sith. Amur stated this all in a matter to fact, informative tone, as if she wasn't deeply vexed by the fact that Jedi didn't just name drop the greatest pain in her life right now. That didn't stop either. She was going to know press something else on the Jedi.

"Let me guess. Either your parents did all the cooking and never had you do anything around the house, or they hired cooks to do it for them. The latter seems so likely because I see even as you try to hide it under those simple robes they're probably the nicest fitting and cleanest set of Jedi robes I have ever seen in my entire life, you're hair probably smells wonderful from whatever shampoo you likely wash with and it's quite clear whoever you are that you like or needed to groom yourself to a standard above most normal people, especially with that formal posture. Which leads to wonder: Why did a noble become a Jedi?"

Sakadi Marathi Sinvala

 

[Sakadi Marathi Sinvala]

The Jedi Master released a soft but noticeable sigh as she selectively listened to the Sith's tirade. She didn't want to be here. Would not have been here, if it weren't for the call of the Force. It became increasingly apparent to her that, just like herself, Amur was a terrible listener.

After Amur asked her counter-question, Sakadi allowed a brief silence to fall over the camp. The crackling fire was the only possible distraction from the rising tension. "Are you done?" She would finally convey, losing none of her tranquility but still hinting at the weariness of the white-haired woman. She had risked her life to save an ungrateful Sith; her polar opposite in the Force. But that did not mean she was willing to put up with the Sith's critique.

"I know that that's a lie, Skyler. Or 'Amur', if that's how you wish to be called. A Sith who does not know who her enemies are is not one who reaches your level." she stuck to her original question, for she still wanted to know who the hag was. "You push people away because you fear hurting them." The particular person she referred to was obvious as she continued to build upon her original comments and remarks. "I've seen your memories through what remained of your helmet. I didn't mean to pry, so know that your secrets are safe with me." Sakadi placed the pan beside her. She was aware of the fact that this wasn't the right cookware for the task, but it was the only instrument she had brought with her. How the instant soup was supposed to be used, however, was new to her. That was why she half appreciated the not-so-nice commentary.

"Until a moment ago I even considered helping you." Sakadi rose from her position. "But...." The fire abruptly died with a wave of her hand, leaving nothing but smoke and smoldering ashes. "I did not come all the way to Ryloth to save and tend to someone ungrateful. That would be a waste of my time." It was her final statement. With a gentle nudge of the Force, Sakadi summoned the backpack to her hand and began to pack her things. She had no qualms about leaving the Sith behind in the desert, restrained and unarmed. It was perhaps the only benefit to her mixed feelings about helping the Dark side practitioner.

​

Amur​

 

[Amur]

She was even more annoyed that this Jedi didn't flinch. She just wanted to see something. Anything. Anything that could just shake that iron clad neutrality that just incensed her though she couldn't understand why. It was like looking at a statue, a blank figure with no personality behind it. Where was the person in this cast mold of a sephi?

She heard the Jedi 'speak' to her. Accusing her of lying, and then mentioning what she feared. Which shut the Sith right because well, it was true. She wanted to know why she knew until it was finally revealed. Pyschometry. Oh. That... that made sense. Still it, was hard to describe the weird feelings she was having float around her skull. An anger that seemed directed at Sakadi over being trapped which when clawed down a few layers was frustration over the fact that she was just worthless in this situation. The fact that the Jedi now apparently knew some modicum of her memories now leaving her in fear... of what she didn't know.

Then the Sephi went to start leaving. Suddenly her mind was awash by the images of her alone in the middle of nowhere, at night. Desert cold sapping away at her body like it was winter ice. Her body unable to move, she realized that she just pushed the Jedi to abandon her. It would just be her, by herself, in a grand ocean of nothing. The only person she could talk to now preparing to abandon her. It felt like someone just ripped a piece of her out of chest. Something underneath now scrambling as anxiety drove it's painful ice pick into the very center of her brain. Then she thought about it again. Seeing Kala in the hospital bed, begging for her to stay by her side only for her to just turn her back and walk. Her breathing picked up and she softly hyperventilated.

"Wait! Please don't go. I don't want to be alone. She found herself begging feeling incapable of doing anything else. Her voice breaking a little. She felt the black hole in her heart just rip open and expand in size. It felt huge inside her, even as her body felt like it was being crushed.

"I'll tell you what I know of the Hag. Then you can capture me, take me in, whatever. I... I..." The Sith continued trying to offer something to the Jedi, hearing herself saying this was even more crushing. She was going to try and say more before just drifted off, feeling too hurt to even speak. The despair she was feeling was too much. Briefly anger would flare once again as the Sith raised her head only to try and slam it into the ground feeling the side of head cry out as she repeated this a few more times.

"I just can't do anything right.

Sakadi Marathi Sinvala

 

[Sakadi Marathi Sinvala]

"Wait! Please don't go. I don't want to be alone.​

Sakadi froze. With age came wisdom, or so the said. But the Sephi had found that aging brought no great revelations. No wisdom, just... stubborn habits. Habits that allowed her to take most actions without thinking, instead relying on her instincts, experience, the Code and the will of the Force. But right now, none of those were applicable. Her first instincts were to combat the Dark side, and help those in need. But the person in need was a disciple of the Dark side. The Code spoke strongly against it, but the Force hung around her in anticipation. So what was she supposed to do?

Her fist clenched around the fabric of the backpack. What was the last time she hesitated this much? Thinking about it did nothing but bring back painful memories of a more troubled time in her long life. What was it with people forcing her to dig up the past as of late? First Yenna and now the Sith, who put her on the spot. The sharp analysis based on her cooking skills alone was enough to tempt the Jedi to leave. And yet, she didn't have the heart to abandon the broken woman.

The Sephi clenched her jaw, purposely keeping her face turned away from the Sith as she made her decision.

"Stop harming yourself. Have the Witch's minions not injured you enough today?" The Jedi dropped her bag as she fired the sharp remark. "And please, stop worrying about what you can't do" She purposely avoided using the terms 'right or wrong', for she wasn't going to tell the Sith that she made the right choices. She would never tell a Dark side practitioner that he or she had made the right choice.

"Focus on what you can do instead." She said, reigniting the campfire with a slight gesture as she walked around it. She felt her head clear a little as she made her decision. "Now show me your head. Did you injure yourself?" Sakadi continued, kneeling beside the restrained Sith.

​

Amur

 

[Amur]

Her drifted back into the void after she plead. There was now a small sharp pain in the side of her head. It was light almost like a tickle even if it was surreal in how it seemed to stop and have a gap for starting in another spot on her head. As thoughts ate away she felt like she was in space. The vacuum that surrounded her. With her eyes shut she just waited in silence to hear the Jedi's sentence. There was silence, which given the Sephi only spoke in telepathy for some reason would seem to be the default, but the halted rustling of things being moved around created a new tension in the air. It meant that she was actually being listened to and considered.

She got scorn, like mother fed up with her rebellious child who couldn't see the obvious folly's they were committing. For the Sith though there came a deflating sigh of relief as she could finally release the breath she was holding. She heard the fire come back to life and with that was a small inkling of hope even if it was still masked by overwhelming despair. She was just glad that she wouldn't be held at the mercy of wild life and the cold for a little longer.

"Focus on what you can do instead."

The Sith stopped at this simple blunt quandary? What could she do? Her mind wanted to scream nothing. She couldn't make things right with Kalanda, she couldn't kill the witch, even be a good sith in combat... What could she do?

Think dummy Amur thought to herself, lowering her standards of functions. She could move... sort of, she could still think, she could talk. She could breath. She could still live. She could still exist. She still felt that gordian knot eat away at her, and she couldn't do anything about it, except ponder it, live with it and talk about it. Maybe just try to do something and see where it would go.

The Jedi asked about her head and the Sith submitted. Amur rolling her body and rotating her head so now the side she sent into the ground would now face upwards. As she did this she would comment on it. "I think it's probably just a small cut and some bruising, It's likely nothing. I've had worse happen to me." She spoke in a deflated tone, mind trailing back to the multiple close calls she had with death when the NIO invaded mygeeto. A siege that took her arm. Then there was Borosk where a Star Destroyer nearly annihilated her. Or the starweird nest... no best not to think about that one.

As Sakadi knelt down beside to examine the Sith's head she would see a thin cut that would trail across the side of Amur's head above her ears for several centimetres. A trail of blood was oozing out but it's pace wasn't alarming. The cut did crisscross with a section of scar tissue from the burns she sustained in the vision she saw. There was also some initial signs of bruising that formed. Nothing life threatening, just unnecessary and idiotic. Still the Sith thought about what to do or say, then she thought about the Jedi's question that she still hadn't answered... well there was nothing she could do. As the Jedi went about any treatment or after any scolding she may have in mind the Sith would speak up.

"You wanted to know about who attacked me... well, I don't know much about who she was, other than the fact she's Kalanda's mother or atleast claims to be. Exactly what she is, and what she is capable of is unknown. This was my first time encountering her. I don't know how much you saw or what you know about Kalanda but I wasn't able to get much out of her about the topic. She was understandably distant about it."

The sith sighed, and then thought back to the Journal that would serve as Kalanda's parting gift to Amur. The sith did read it a few times... but it was always a straining process, even though the entries were short she found she couldn't read them all in one particular sitting. The last six entries were always the most difficult... Still thinking it over even as each memory of each entry felt more like an emotional imprint that was devoid of specific information something came to mind.

"I think... She was trying to groom Kala..." The Sith said thinking allowed as the words filled the air by the campfire.

Sakadi Marathi Sinvala

 

[Sakadi Marathi Sinvala]

"Simply because you had worse happen to you does not mean your minor injuries don't require treatment." Sakadi swiftly replied, as she placed one of her lavender fingers against the cut. "You have to care for yourself if you wish to be happy." She assumed the Sith was the kind of person who had tried to put aside her own issues for far too long. It was often what led to breakdowns like this.

Guided by her breath, Sakadi would draw the Force in, channeling it through her own body and shaping it into healing energy. A purplish glow began to form around her finger, one that accelerated the healing process and closed the cut within seconds. "There you go. That's much better." Sakadi conveyed, studying the Sith's scarring before she pulled her hand back. It was one thing to be burned alive. But survive it? She knew only a handful of people who had done so. But not had been in a worse situation than the restrained Sith before her.

"Ah... So the Witch was after you to get to Kalanda?" The Jedi Master asked, stating it as more of an assumption than a question. "She was strong in the Force.... Wielding the kind of power I did not know could be amassed in one life cycle." She spoke from experience. She was fortunate to be born a Sephi, blessed with a lifespan longer than most other species. She had five decades of experience, and still retained much of her youth. But that lifespan had its downsides.

Sakadi frowned after Amur's statement. "Trying to groom?... What do you mean?.."

Amur​

 

[Amur]

The Jedi spoke to her, but there wasn't much to come from Amur's mouth as she just took in the words. "...If you wish to be happy..." The statement floated around her mind, she never had the word happy enter her vocabulary in such a long time, it felt foreign or even alien in suggestion. With it came a question. Did she deserve to be happy? For many who ask themselves that it was likely simple, easy, practically trivial in affair. Of course they'd want to be happy, who wouldn't want to be? Yet for Amur it felt charged and laced with fire. It reminded her of a brief encounter she had with another Corellian. One who had tried to brighten up her day like a familiar sun. The one insisted that no matter what she was beautiful to her. Yet once again in this situation the question she had asked her in Olys Corellisi came back again.

Pov Minmin senmova bel ech kia Minmin vunti Uhl homoj Minmin ami?​

(Am I still beautiful even when I hurt the people I love?)​

She didn't know the answer, she just felt the toxicity of her shame hang over her and continue to feast upon whatever was left of Amur. It felt rubbed in when the Sephi started to heal her minor cut. Sure it repaired a small part of her but there was something about the entire process that just felt off and wrong to her. Which with only some small thought would be explained away. It just didn't feel the same as when her Kala healed her. When she would pour every bit of love and care into tending her. It just felt like a hollow imitation to her compared to that. Though perhaps there might be a chance to still save Kalanda from the Malice of her mother. If she could contribute to that perhaps that would allow for one small bit of consultation for her torn soul.

Listening to Sakadi's ruminations and observations did some work to enlighten her thoughts on what may be going but for no these were merely a bunch of separate contained ideas floating around desperate for the contextualization that would finally reveal their sinister truth. Her heart plummeted a small bit when Sakadi asked what she meant. She was going to have to explain all the little things that could be brought up... and thereby open herself to feeling some more raw pain. Not that she had much of a choice when she opened this box of ideas up. With a sigh she would begin to speak.

"She was practically gloating to me that I helped make Kala do things she never could..." Amur found herself pausing a brief moment as she prepared to force out the rest of it. "I, I think... She's referring to Kalanda giving into the dark side. Kalanda had left me her journal. In it, well she mentions a training regiment of some kind, and all the fear she had for her mother. The time she was poisoned by her and saw visions of woman pleading for help. She got better and escaped from her. She seemed to have gotten help from the knights obsidian and just became a nightsister instead but..." Amur felt her throat tightened again. She didn't want to talk about this, every fiber of her being was wanting to run away from this next part, to just retreat. To go inside a little bubble where she could be alone by herself. Yet that privilege was stripped from her and she knew that she would just get badgered into saying anyways, just like all the crying anguished voices in her head kept demanding for her to be aware of every single kark up she did.

"Have you ever seen someone get worse and worse because they cared about you, Jedi?" The Sith asked rhetorically before continuing on. "I ask because when I met Kalanda and after I finally told her I loved her... She... She... she changed. I saw something in her finally snap. Like an obsession or passion that flooded her. She couldn't let go of me, she always had to do anything she could to make me feel better. I saw her... give into her magick in ways that left her in simmering pain for hours after the fact just to protect me, and yet even through it all, she still tried to force a smile. Even as I could see some inner darkness loom over her. Every time she always put me before herself..." Amur slowly curled her body together as she spoke this. She let her head rest on the relatively soft sleeping roll and shut her eyes. Tears beginning to well up.

"And I could never bring myself to say it killed me inside to see her do this to herself again and again." Amur choked before a sob had overtaken her and she began to softly cry in the presence of a Jedi.

Sakadi Marathi Sinvala

 

[Sakadi Marathi Sinvala]

Sakadi listened to the Sith's explanation, disgusted but intrigued by what the Witch had told the broken woman. She tried to dig for answers in her own memories, hoping to find some clue in her limited library of Dark side knowledge. It was a field of study she had flat out rejected, deciding to dismiss even the existence of the ominous whispers. Her unwillingness to accept this part of the Force made her hypocritical, and she was quite aware of it.

The Jedi Master was still digging in her own mind for answers, when Amur suddenly shifted the subject. Although suddenly was not the right phrasing, for someone more empathic would have seen it coming. Before she could respond with a distant 'what?', Amur already continued. It took her completely by surprise when, after all the clear signs, the Sith began to sob.

Her entire body, from ears to toes tensed up the second her eyes fell on the tears. What was she supposed to do know? Give the woman advice? Comfort her with a pat on the back and a nice "there, there"? Should she even do anything?

"Ehm... Well... I..." Yeah, this was far from her comfort zone. It threw her off, but the Jedi knew how to deal with that. The first step was to reign in her own emotions. Center herself, and analyze the situation according to the code. Words began to form in her mind, although she could hardly tell whether those words would lead to the right path or not.

"Love is powerful but as with any strong emotions, it is often a double-edged sword. Understanding how you feel and how she feels is perhaps the most important, but also the most difficult challenge that love brings. The only way to overcome this, no matter how hard it may be, is through communication." Not bad, for someone who had no clue of what 'true love' entailed. She did not want to force Amur to open up to Kalanda. After all, it was their relationship, not hers.

Amur​