Private Still Under Construction

[Darth Virelia]

"Building the thread, more."

Tags - Valaine Valentine

The courtyard had been remade since their last session. Where once there was bare crystal and dust, now tall braziers burned with violet flame, their smoke curling upward into a ceiling lost in shadow. The air shimmered faintly, as though charged with the faint static of lightning waiting to strike. It was not for spectacle—it was for focus. The ground itself bore fresh markings, thin channels etched into the stone in concentric circles, all leading toward the crystalline node at the center. Virelia had designed it as one might design a snare: precise, deliberate, inescapable.

She stood at the node, motionless save for the subtle rise and fall of her breathing. Her mask faced the door through which Valaine would enter, a patient predator waiting for the first quiver of her prey's approach. Her hands were folded lightly behind her back, posture a picture of elegance, yet the air around her carried the heavy gravity of command—every flame, every whisper of power bent subtly toward her.

Beneath the mask, she allowed her lips the faintest curl of anticipation. The girl had surprised her. For all her arrogance, her doubt, her half-hearted resignation to mediocrity, Valaine had bent herself to exhaustion at her command and had looked up from the ground with pleading eyes that had finally begun to understand the shape of obedience. It was enough to warrant continuation. Enough to be worth sharpening further.

And so today, the training would deepen. Today, she would teach her Sangnir something more dangerous than moving stones or whispering currents of Force through her fingers. Today, Valaine would learn what it meant to wield her nature—not as curse or accident, but as weapon.

The silence stretched, broken only by the crackle of the violet flames. Virelia did not fidget, did not pace. She waited, calm as a serpent coiled at the center of its ring. Her thoughts wandered only briefly, savoring again the memory of the girl's flustered blush, the trembling pulse beneath her throat, the way her lips had tasted of copper and confusion. Delicious, malleable things—raw clay in need of the artist's hand.

Soon, the door would open. Soon, Valaine would step into the circle, her doubts trailing like shadows behind her. And Virelia would be waiting—patient, poised, inevitable.

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

As the doors opened the first thing Valaine took note of were those purple flames which seemed to distress her almost immediately as she folded her arms together and glanced between them, as if she was expecting them to suddenly move or leap forth. As her cautious trudging steps continued on into the courtyard her focus found her Mistress, giving her the usual tired stare. "... Did we really need the braziers...?" she muttered softly as she soon came to a stop before her.

Despite the good rest Valaine had received that tired look in her eyes was something sleep couldn't fix, something etched into her from a struggled childhood that had seen too much. But she had indeed rested. "It all looks... Fine otherwise... I suppose..." she continued. The flames truly had made her rather meek in their presence, it was a deep fear of hers, even before Virelia had tormented her the day before.

But in general she also appeared far less flustered, able to directly meet the gaze of her Mistress once more, and while she lacked the blatant defiance she once held there was still that sense of arrogance and independence. She perhaps thought Virelia was already leveraging her nature against her...

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Building the thread, more."

Tags - Valaine Valentine

She let the silence draw itself taut, let the crackle of the violet flames echo against Valaine's nerves. Only when the Sangnir's muttered complaint reached her did she tilt her masked head slightly, the gesture carrying the weight of a slow, predatory smile unseen.

"The braziers…" her voice poured through the chamber like warm silk, every syllable deliberate, "…are for you, little ember."

She stepped forward, her cloak whispering over the carved stone, the violet fire reflected in the mirrored angles of her mask. When she came close enough that the heat of the flames still licked at the edges of Valaine's awareness, she reached out—not quickly, not forcefully, but with a gloved hand that cupped her chin and tilted her gaze upward.

"I will not coddle your fears. I will not hide from them either. Fire is the thing you dread, and so it will be the thing you learn to command." Her thumb brushed over Valaine's lips again, pausing where fang bit into flesh. "Tell me… would you rather continue to shrink from flame, or devour it until it kneels to you?"

She leaned closer, until the mask nearly touched the Sangnir's forehead, until her breath warmed her cheek. "That exhaustion written into your eyes, that weight you drag behind you—it is not a weakness, not when I can make it into something exquisite. You survived more than most before you were ever mine. That endurance will let me break you… and remake you."

Her hand slid from Valaine's chin to her throat, the possessive pressure firm but not cruel, her thumb resting against the thrum of her pulse. "So yes," she whispered, her voice now lower, huskier, "we needed the braziers. Because they frighten you. And because I will teach you to love the taste of what frightens you. That is what it means to wield power."

The grip loosened, stroking down the curve of her throat before withdrawing entirely, leaving the echo of her touch in its absence. Virelia straightened, turning back toward the crystalline node at the courtyard's center.

"Now," she said, her tone returning to smooth command, "come stand with me in the circle. Today, you will learn to burn."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

Nothing seemed to quite strike fear in the young Sangnir as hearing the braziers were meant for her. She took an instinctive step away from Virelia who drew closer to her as tired eyes regarded her with concern. Even when that hand reached for her chin it almost seemed like she was leaning back further to avoid it, but it did catch its mark.

Her eyes were drawn up to meet the six that stared back down at her as Virelia's thumb passed over her lips once more, briefly exposing her short fangs. It was upon closer inspection however that Virelia might notice something else was different about the Sangnir in that moment. Her eyes, while holding their usual tired expression, had constricted and focused pupils that spoke of more than just fear, they shuddered lightly. Even her voice held something of a light sharpness or perhaps even frustration in it.

It was when the hand of her Mistress was held upon her throat and she felt that quickening pulse that the truth might be revealed. Briefly her jaw clenched and for a moment she squirmed against the grip, but there was no defiance in her heart, no, it was something far more inherent to her condition that caused her to become frustrated and active; the hunger that all Sangnir suffered from.

Typically Valaine had kept herself well fed, but since arriving on Malachor she had found less chances to hunt, and now the hunger, however slight, was beginning to show its effects on her paired with her unnatural fear of flame.

After the grip was loosened and Virelia moved towards the center of the courtyard Valaine let out a shuddering breath and shook her head as she took another step back. "N- No..." she voiced in fear of the flames once more, "This... This is too much, I can't, it's..." she shook her head again, she could barely even look at the flames directly, "You're asking too much...!"

It was clear her fear of flame went beyond the fear of being burnt, she couldn't stand to be anywhere near it, and that irrational fear was only being compounded by her deepening hunger.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Building the thread, more."

Tags - Valaine Valentine

Virelia paused mid-stride, as though the Sangnir's voice had reached into the marrow of the moment and held it still. Slowly, deliberately, she turned her masked face back toward Valaine. Her silence was heavier than anger; it was the measured silence of someone weighing precisely how far a leash could stretch before it snapped.

When she spoke, her tone was not cruel but silken, indulgent—like warm venom. "You mistake me, my lovely Sangnir. I do not ask too much of you. I ask exactly what you are capable of." Her hand lifted, two fingers flicking through the air.

From the far arch of the courtyard, armored figures entered, dragging between them a ragged scavenger, his wrists bound, his face bloodied from some futile resistance. One of Malachor's countless carrion pickers, caught scrounging in ruins that were not his to touch. The guards shoved him forward, and he fell to his knees on the crystal floor, trembling.

Virelia approached him, her cloak whispering across the stone, before turning her masked gaze back upon Valaine. "Your pulse betrays you," she purred. "Not only fear, but hunger. The braziers bite into your mind, yes… but the ache gnawing in your throat, in your fangs—that is louder still."

She bent gracefully, gloved fingers lifting the prisoner's chin so that his face tilted toward Valaine. He whimpered, but she hushed him with a fingertip against his lips, her voice low and intoxicating. "A lesson requires strength, and strength requires nourishment. You will not starve yourself for pride. You will not stagger half-dead through my training."

Her hand left the scavenger and extended toward Valaine, beckoning her forward with the inevitability of a tide. "Come. Feed. Take what you need. I gift him to you, body and soul. Let his life empty into your veins, and then—only then—will we burn away your fear."

Her head tilted, the faintest laugh threading her words. "Do not imagine this mercy is softness. This is dominance. I provide, you consume. I claim, and you obey. This man's fate is mine to give, and yours to savor."

Virelia stepped back, cloak folding around her in shadowed elegance. "Drink, Valaine. Feed in my sight. Show me you understand what it means to be mine."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

As the prisoner was brought forth, amidst the fear of flames, Valaine seemed to recoil with an expression of disgust as if she had just been served trash on a plate. For the two years she spent on Jutrand as Sangnir she had fed on the lowest of the low out of sheer survival, but she had always hated it, it had always turned her stomach, and so she had started to grow a taste for cleaner and wealthier prey. But attacking people of note and drinking their blood was what got her crimes noticed in the first place, it was what led to her imprisonment and later forced-assignment to an academy. In a way her indulgence and picky nature is what ended up with her here.

But still, the thought of having to feed on trash again seemed to revolt her. Virelia had claimed once that she would never have to experience such things again, but here she was, delivering a filthy lowborn prisoner to her. It was a betrayal. She turned her head away in disgust but didn't voice her complaints. Though fear still ruled her heart in the moment, she was outright refusing to feed on what had been offered to her. She wouldn't go back to feeding on 'rats'.

As she had turned her head away her tired but focused eyes had settled on Virelia in an almost accusatory stare. Before her torment she would have mocked the offer to her face, admonish her for it, make some snide remark. But now she but stared and kept her silence, she had after all agreed to be a better apprentice.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Building the thread, more."

Tags - Valaine Valentine

Virelia watched the recoil, the twist of disgust that crossed her apprentice's pale features, and she did not mistake it for weakness. No—this was something truer, something that resonated with her own marrow. Slowly, she lifted a hand, palm outward, and the guards dragged the scavenger away without a word. The man's whimpers faded into the dark of the courtyard.

Only then did she step closer to Valaine, her voice low and velvet-rich, curling around her like smoke.
"I see you, little Sangnir. I know that look. Do you think I would savor refuse, if I were in your place?"

Her hand found Valaine's cheek, not forceful this time but soft, thumb stroking slowly across the flushed line beneath her eye. "No. I would not. I would rather starve than sully myself with such filth. Power is indulgence. Power is refinement. You were not made to crawl among rats—you were made to drink from crystal goblets, to sink your fangs into silk-throated nobility, to taste privilege as blood itself."

She leaned close, lips hovering near the girl's ear, her tone now hushed, intimate. "You want Chandrila, don't you? The estates. The daughters of noble lines, perfumed and pampered. I can take you there. I will open the doors and let you slip among them like a shadow, choose which of their hearts you want to stop, which veins to drain." Her breath grew warmer against her ear. "I will let you feed not as an animal, but as a queen in her first feast."

Virelia withdrew only slightly, enough to let her apprentice see the glowing violet of her eyes through the mask's slits, sharp and knowing. "But you will earn it. You will learn to burn away your fear, so that when you bare your fangs to those noble women, it will not be in desperation, but in dominance."

Her hand trailed from Valaine's cheek down to her throat, resting there possessively as her thumb pressed gently at the pulse. "Do you understand, my ember? I will never force you to drink dirt. You will rise higher than that. But if you want the taste of Chandrilan velvet on your tongue, then you will give me what I want first."

Her voice lowered into a silken command.
"Reach out for the force."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

As Virelia's hand brushed Valaine's pale cheek the Sangnir's body tensed for a moment, still agitated by the fire and the hunger, and when the masked woman drew closer to whisper into her ear it only seemed to get worse. Valaine was close to the neck of her Mistress in that moment, and her instincts all but demanded she bare her fangs and strike. While the fangs flashed in the light she restrained herself suddenly, body growing tenser. She wasn't even sure if her teeth could pierce the covered neck of her Mistress, she wasn't even sure if that was blood in her veins.

All that happened was that a hot sigh of breath escaped her mouth, brushing against Virelia's neck before she mastered her instincts once more. She had never heard of Chandrila before, but if it was as her Mistress said, then indeed it would hold prey that suited her taste. She had been burnt in the past for her preferences, but if she could be granted such a hunting ground free of consequence? It was indeed a prize worth considering.

Tired eyes turned to Virelia who drew back to regard the young woman and now Valaine saw the bait dangled before her. Her jaw tensed in annoyance at the proposition, all but forcing her to deal with fire if she wanted to sate her hunger, and as the hand once more moved to her throat there was a hint of that earlier agitation. But she didn't rip herself away from the touch this time, she just stared at her Mistress.

When given the command her brows furrowed lightly in frustration and confusion. She knew what was being asked of her, but she didn't know how to accomplish it. Every sense within her being all but screamed at her to avoid those flames, to keep them away, and so the thought of bringing them towards her with the Force was plain anathema to her being. She couldn't make the mental connection to the desire, to bend the will of the Force to do something that her mind was assured would only bring her destruction.

This conflict and lack of understanding was plain upon her visage to see, especially to Virelia who had become rather adept at reading the girl like a book.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Building the thread, more."

Tags - Valaine Valentine

Virelia watched the girl's struggle unfold across her face—the tension of her jaw, the flash of fangs, the way her pulse betrayed her even as she tried to steel herself. She could read every note of resistance as though Valaine's body were a script written only for her.

She didn't tighten her hand on her throat. Instead, her grip softened, thumb stroking idly along the line of her jaw. Her voice was low, coaxing, silk over steel. "Your fear is real. I would never deny it. But fear is not your master, little Sangnir—it is your weapon. Do you think I am untouched by it? My body was carved open, my heart torn away, and yet here I stand. Because I learned to take what I feared most… and make it kneel to me."

She tilted her head slightly, violet eyes glowing brighter, catching the tired grey of Valaine's own. "You already know the lesson, even if you cannot name it. Hunger. You fear it as much as you need it. You hate what it makes you do—and yet, if you resist it forever, you will starve." Her free hand moved deliberately, slow and sensual, gloved fingers brushing against Valaine's lips once more, grazing the faint points of her fangs. "Fire is the same. It burns, yes… but it also warms, protects, consumes. If you can learn to turn it, as you turn your hunger, it will no longer destroy you."

She leaned close, her breath curling against the girl's cheek, a whisper that carried command and temptation in equal measure.
"Do not reach for flame as though it were foreign. Call to it the same way you call to blood. Desire it. Crave it. Make it yours, not your executioner."

Virelia released her throat, letting her hand trail downward to rest just above her heart, pressing lightly against her chest. "Look at me. Feel how steady I am. You are not alone in this chamber. You are not being punished. You are being remade. Take what terrifies you most, and seduce it into obedience."

"Now, my ember—summon it. Whisper to the flame. Make it answer you."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

As Virela's fingers once more brushed against the lips of the Sangnir and passed over her revealed fangs she'd see it again. That instinct to just bite, restrained and held back by the same fear that the braziers held over her. She knew if she bit down then likely it was she would be punished for it, but to have someone being so intimate with her fangs, it pushed the limits of her instinct and desire.

She felt teased every time her Mistress came close to her, and to use an appropriate idiom, believed she was playing with fire by doing so. Like repeatedly moving your hand under a guillotine, only to draw it back before the blade fell. It tested her patience, her nature.

When her throat was released she glanced around briefly. She never seemed to directly look towards the braziers, her gaze always falling short of their flames, but it was clear she still had not gained any control over the fear despite Virelia's words, and despite the prize that been offered her. She looked to the ground, dark hair falling over her face as she tried to concentrate.

Virelia could sense that she was trying to build up the energy to do something, anything, to those flames... But her mind was scattered, distracted and unfocused with fear. Her pale hands clenched and shook with frustration at her inability to focus on the task at hand, and it was clear that she was growing more agitated by the second.

"I-... I can't-..." spoke a shaken voice as she shook her head, long dark hair swaying with the motion. Her body shuddered for a moment as her knuckles turned even paler as she clenched her fists tightly. There was a build up in the Force within her, like water pushing up against a dam all of a sudden. She was building up something, but it was chaotic, unrefined, and utterly fueled by emotion.

Despite her efforts the flames continued to burn as they always had, entirely unaltered by whatever strength it was that she was channeling. There was a light whimper of frustration again as she continued to falter. "I-... I can't...!" her voice raised in anger as she threw a hand out to her side and the dam burst. An invisible impact struck at the nearest brazier, toppling it with force as embers and flames scattered across the floor with a clatter. She hadn't been able to do as Virelia had asked of her, but in her frustration it seemed she had built up the strength to progress in a different part of her training. The Force Push was nothing extraordinary, but it was impactful, about at the level an Acolyte actually should be capable of and far stronger than what she had done the previous day.

The clatter and collapse of one of the braziers itself once more caused alarm in the young Sangnir however who was startled by the sound and movement of flame. She moved away from the fallen brazier in a light panic, confused and fearful of what had happened.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Building the thread, more."

Tags - Valaine Valentine

The crash of the brazier filled the courtyard—iron and flame scattering across stone, the hiss of embers, the hot kiss of sparks on the air.

Virelia did not flinch. She watched Valaine instead, the way panic flickered across her features, the way her body recoiled as if fire itself had leapt to bite her.

And then, softly—like velvet wrapping over steel—she laughed. Low, warm, indulgent.

"Yes…" she breathed, stepping toward the girl as if the flames at their feet were nothing but petals scattered for her approach. Her cloak whispered across the ground, her presence pressing closer, her voice a purr. "You said you could not… yet look at you. You moved it. You broke it. Not with stillness, not with calm—" her hand rose, brushing through the girl's sweat-darkened hair, pushing it back from her face, "—but with your anger, your frustration, your refusal to be small."

Her thumb lingered against the Sangnir's temple, tracing down the damp line of her cheek. "That, my ember, is the truth of you. And it is beautiful."

She turned her head slightly, leaning close enough that the violet glow of her eyes washed over the girl's pale skin, over the flush of her cheeks. "Do you see? Even in failure, you gave me power worth having. You learned the Force is not a trick of calm meditation—it is a storm that bends when you push hard enough."

Virelia's hand slid from cheek to throat once again, claiming that familiar perch with gentle, possessive ease, thumb pressing against the flutter of her pulse.

"I am proud of you," she whispered, the words drawn slow and honeyed, intimate as breath over skin. "You are clumsy, frightened, defiant… but you are mine, and you will grow sharper with every break, every bruise, every fear."

She released her at last, only to let her hand trail down over her collarbone, reminding her of the touch, the promise, the claim.

"Do not ever tell me again that you cannot. You just did. And next, you will do more. Because that is what it means to be mine."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

Valaine held confusion mixed with her fear and frustration as Virelia appeared to praise her efforts. She looked up at her with concern as she shook her head lightly, "H- Huh...? What? No, that's... That's not what you wanted though...?" she asked. She had presumed that Virelia wished for her to gain some sort of control over the flames, not simply lash out at them in a bid to get them away from her.

When her Mistress placed a hand upon the young Sangnir she could no doubt feel just how afraid the fire had made her, she was practically shaking. As always her head instinctively tilted up as that hand once more clasped around her throat; the same pulse as before, quickened with fear. For a moment her tired gaze glanced aside as six stared back at her. But the words spoken had them immediately return to the mask looming in front of her with something of a shocked and wild look.

"I am proud of you,"

The conflict these words caused within the young Sangnir could not be understated. They were words she never knew she wanted, from anyone, but as in the tomb when they met she had learnt that it held a power over her she had never anticipated, a sense of accomplishment and love. But those words that she had never heard before; she believed they were simply being used against her in this moment. The conflict in her eyes glared back at Virelia as her form tensed. She didn't know what to do, wherever she should lash out or just accept it, but the easiest answer? To simply deny it, to refuse that anyone could be proud of a girl like her, she who believed that she didn't need anyone in most cases. The bane of a rebellious late-teen that was ever present.

Her teethed clenched tightly and she struggled to shake her head at Virelia, "Don't... Say that..." she managed in a hushed voice. Ever putting up her walls, ever wearing defiance and self-isolation like armor, refusing anyone to get that close to her emotionally. Well, perhaps there was one exception, but she wasn't here. Valaine was utterly convinced that if she let her Mistress get that much of a hold of her then she truly would be at her absolute mercy, becoming nothing more than someone else's property, and her rebellious youth lashed hardest against that thought.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Building the thread, more."

Tags - Valaine Valentine

The wordless snarl of defiance was there in Valaine's eyes, the bitten-back tremor in her throat, the whisper that tried—tried—to turn her walls back up. Don't say that. Virelia tilted her head, the cascade of blonde hair spilling faintly against the black of her armor, violet gaze steady, calm, patient in its predation.

She did not release her throat. She tightened—just enough to remind her that every shiver, every rebellion, still sang within Virelia's palm.

"Proud," she repeated, softer this time, like a lover's secret murmured against bare skin. Her thumb stroked across the hollow of the Sangnir's throat, slow, deliberate, coaxing the pulse that hammered there.

"You think the word chains you," she whispered, leaning in, the hot silk of her voice curling into Valaine's ear. "But you are wrong. It frees you. Because when I say it, you do not have to question if your pain, your fear, your effort had worth. You know it did. Because I say so."

Her lips brushed close, almost grazing—almost—before drawing back just far enough to make the denial sting.

"I am proud of you," she said again, firmer now, violet eyes locking hers, daring her to look away. "Not because you obeyed perfectly. Not because you bent flame to heel. But because you moved. You pushed. You clawed past the fear, past the trembling, and you struck. That is mine now. That is us."

Her hand slipped from throat to jaw, tilting her face up further, forcing her to see nothing but the six eyes that drowned her in their glow.

"You hate it, don't you? The thought that you might crave this—" the corner of her mouth curved into something dangerous, "—my hand, my approval, my pride."

Another pause, lingering, luxuriant.

"Good. Hate it. Resist it. Fight it. And still, when you fall, I will be here to tell you I am proud. Again. Again. Until your walls are mine too."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

The disdain of the young Sangnir was now clear to see as Virelia grasped her throat firmly, the pulse maintaining its quickened pace as her jaw clenched in frustration at the treatment from her Mistress. Her fear and refusal of being acknowledged in such a fashion no doubt had several deep-seated reasons embedded deep within her psyche, but perhaps one of those reasons was 'change'. If suddenly she were to accept such praise, such approval, something she never knew she desired or wanted, would it change her as a person? Someone who was suddenly capable of being cherished and loved? What would that do to her?

She didn't want to change, she feared change.

Valaine squirmed lightly in Virelia's grasp as she grew close to her once more and then repeated the words again. As hand moved to jaw and forced her to look up at her there was clearly a building of anger again, mixed with all the other emotional afflictions she was experiencing right now. Not just with the flames, but with the hunger as well. Valaine's hand suddenly moved to grip the wrist of her Mistress tightly in anger as her enhanced strength started to squeeze it tightly.

She didn't strike her this time though, this was a much tamer display of her frustration and anger than previous ones, a lesson still learnt.

"Yes-..." she practically hissed when Virelia asked her if she hated it, and she gave an honest answer, she did.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Building the thread, more."

Tags - Valaine Valentine

Virelia did not flinch when Valaine's fingers closed tight around her wrist, when the Sangnir's unnatural strength flexed and tried to crush. She let her. The violet blaze of her eyes never wavered, steady as molten glass, as if the girl's fury were no more than a ripple across her gauntlet.

The hissed confession drew a low hum from Virelia's lips, pleased, indulgent. "Yes," she echoed softly, leaning closer until the heat of her breath grazed the girl's lips. "Hate it. Hate that you want it. Hate that I give it. It means it is working."

Her thumb slid deliberately across Valaine's jaw, brushing over the faint line of her fangs again as though daring them. The pressure of her grip on the girl's face never lessened, keeping her chin tilted, forcing her to hold the weight of her Mistress's gaze.

"I am proud of you," she said again, deliberately, savoring the way the words cut deeper every time she spoke them. "Not because you obeyed easily. Because you obeyed despite yourself. That is strength, Valaine. That is why you are mine."

Only then did she release her jaw, dragging fingertips slowly down her throat as she withdrew, a velvet scrape that left behind the echo of possession. Virelia's head tilted, hair catching the violet glow of the braziers as she regarded her apprentice with something dangerously close to tenderness.

"You are hungry," she said, no mockery in her voice now, only a quiet certainty that wrapped around the truth like silk. "You've held yourself too long, and it shows in every tremor. Chandrila will fix that."

Her tone lowered, coaxing, seductive, as though offering a lover's secret. "We'll leave tonight. Its noble halls are full of soft throats and delicate veins, waiting to be yours. You will feast properly—no scraps, no filth, no 'rats.' You will have prey worthy of you. Of us."

The six eyes flared faintly brighter, their glow locking her in place.

"Endure the fire here a little longer, my ember. And then you will drink deep beneath the chandeliers of Chandrila, while I watch you claim what was always meant for you."

Her lips curved, soft and lethal.

"I am proud of you. And I will prove why."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

The closeness, the intimacy, it only served to frustrate the young Sangnir more as her tired eyes narrowed up at her Mistress. She squirmed in annoyance as she felt that breath against her lips, her hand on the wrist tightening but never causing pain or damage. She couldn't understand Virelia sometimes, couldn't understand the games she played, whether she was trying to reward her or punish her, to torment or to praise. It only compacted with her hunger and fear as she, for another brief moment tensed, as her free hand moved to strike; but it stopped.

Valaine knew the price of directly confronting her Mistress, she knew she'd regret it as her whole form screamed for her to retaliate. But she couldn't, she wouldn't.

When once more her Mistress declared her pride for her young apprentice she tried to look away, capable of only voicing a soft whine of frustration, fear, and anger in response to the mental stress she was now under. She was unable to do anything about the predicament she found herself in, unable to lash out, but unable to pull away.

After she was released from the grip she turned away from Virelia immediately, a final show of defiance to her right before the flames cowed her again as her arms wrapped around herself and her form seemed to shrink beneath the threat of fire. She once more didn't know where to look, so she just looked at the ground.

Her body tensed and her breathing paused for a moment as once more her Mistress said that word that she seemed to hate so very much, her tired and glaring eyes glancing back over her shoulder towards her. This lesson was, somehow, just as bad as when she was being tormented by the flames on her arm. Less pain, more... an assault on her mental state. "I-... I want to go..." she managed in a shaken tone, she had enough of the fire, she felt she couldn't withstand it any longer.