Tenebris Susurri (Red Ravens Welcome, All Others PM to Join)

[H3xle]

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

~If you stay perhaps later we will work on this as well~

Zander's attention returned once more to Chiasa. With some effort, more than he remembered having to, he stretched his mind to hers and opened himself up to her communication.

'I would certainly welcome that. There are also some...peculiarities I have that you may wish to be aware of.' Once upon a time he had been able to hold conversations with many people telepathically. Yet another of his abilities that atrophied in his torpor.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

?

A feeling of interest and inquiry, that conveyed more than words. Apparent attention was now on the room at large, but where before he'd warranted only a slight reaching out to communicate, now he had her full mental attention. She still did not force her way in, because this was not her way, but she was there. Her aura surrounded and enwrapped him. She'd felt the weakness, the rustiness, the effort. So she was helping. With her so psychically near and her attention wholly on him, while no hidden thought would be taken, anything he purposefully dredge up, anything he offered could be had with minimal work on his part. She was a wind around the city of his mind, ready to snatch anything thrown into it. Not a sandstorm, for they were allies after all, only a gentle caress. It could not be avoided, but neither was it harmful. She would draw back if he asked of course, but she doubted he would.

~Show me~

He could choose to continue using just 'words' of course, and she would content herself with that, but more could be gleaned from memories, so if he could be subtly encouraged into sharing those.. So much the better for her, and as long as he was one of hers no harm would come to him for it from her.

[member="Zander del Sangue"]

 

[H3xle]

Almost imperceptibly, Zander nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. For a normal person, these memories might have been emotionally stirring, and that might have caused the closing of eyes. Zander was not normal, as [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] was soon going to learn. He was closing his eyes to focus, as using his powers was difficult, having atrophied while he slept.

The memory would swirl up from a cloud of red, seeping from Zander's mind into their shared mindspace. The beginning of it went through at the speed of thought, nothing truly distinct, just the feelings and images that went along with the alchemical and genetic modifications his former master had forced upon him. There was pain, vast amounts of pain, followed by a hunger. The stream of thoughts slowed to Zander's first kill after he had been...completed. He was in the robes of a knight of the Sith Brotherhood, he was stalking a young woman through the streets of some city. The use of the force in the memory was a great deal easier than he currently could. He sprinted to her, no grace, just power. He tackled the woman to the ground, for a moment she was to shocked to fight him and in that moment he buried his face in her neck. The feeling of warm blood rushing over his tongue and down his throat washed through the memoryspace, a near sexual satisfaction coming from every gulp of the viscous liquid. The woman fought, but by that time she had lost so much blood that her protests were pitiful. Zander closed the memory, but did not retract from the mindspace.

'My former master, many centuries ago, turned me into an alchemical monster. I do not need the blood, but I do so very much crave it. You do not need to worry about my control, I will not take from any in the...Unkindness without permission, but I would like permission to hunt the streets nearby if none here are willing.'

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

So he'd been changed. That was interesting. There were all manner of strange life-forms in the Galaxy but it seemed as if Zander had started out as human. She hadn't been sure. She'd never run into anything or anyone quite like him. The closest she'd encountered thus far was one Judas Zambrano but the feeling was still not quite the same. Zander was strong, to have lived through so much with his mind still intact. The vision of him in Sith robes had a brief tide of aggression rising within her, though this was a generalized feeling, not particularly directed at him. She'd thought of going to the Sith once. Instead she'd wound up here, and the Sith had decided to turn themselves into her enemies. Now they were largely seen as threats to her and hers. The Twi'lek was possessive, she did not like things that threatened hers.

The emotions and satisfaction that came with the memory of the attack largely mitigated any distaste she might otherwise have felt. After all, in this brief moment she was Zander, not the woman. Besides, she couldn't fault him. His once Master had made him and then turned him loose. He'd not hunted out of maliciousness, but instinct, hunger.

Which briefly concerned her. She remembered Judas' tenuous control. The danger she'd felt rising when he'd been around blood and was barely holding onto sentience in its presence. Zander was going to be strong. He was not weak now, but he would be much more in time. If she had to worry about him turning on his allies.. But he quickly assuaged her fears. She believed him too, he felt like a man in control of himself.

~How much and how often? If there is a time when you are here and none who are willing are about, you have my permission. I am sure you know how to clean up after yourself~

She herself wasn't opposed to the idea and even felt a bit of semi morbid curiosity. Particularly with the experience he'd shared fresh in their mindspace. Besides, in a group of largely darksiders or non-force users she had the advantage of being able to heal herself. When it came to hunting.. As long as he did not leave trails of bodies about and cut into profits, she didn't much care. She might occasionally help civilians and those she didn't know, but as a general rule if she couldn't see them, if she didn't know them, she didn't care.

[member="Zander del Sangue"]

 

[H3xle]

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

With the continued use of the power, Zander found that it was slowly becoming easier to maintain the communication.

~How much and how often? If there is a time when you are here and none who are willing are about, you have my permission. I am sure you know how to clean up after yourself~

'It is never a need...it is more like the desire an addict feels. I do clean up after myself, the scene I showed you only happened a few times and now I have a great deal of control over it. To keep myself fully sated, I would take a sip per day or drain a full grown human completely once per month. I prefer to keep those I taste from alive...willing people are hard to come by and bodies make questions.'

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

A sip per day or one body a month? That was barely anything. And here she'd been concerned he'd be running about draining a body per day or the like. If that was all even if his control had been bad, until he got his unit up and running or she sent him on jobs, he'd have one of the lowest body counts of any of the Ravens. It also made her more willing to assist. While she was strong and could heal herself, it wasn't instant, and the healing took a lot out of her. If she was already woozy from blood loss and then had to exert a significant amount of force energy..

The Twi'lek did not like to appear weak. Ever. Rarely, rarely in one on one interactions she might in order to manipulate someone, but for the most part when you led a pack of predators, even ones you considered family, you made sure you looked strong at all times.

And that last worry gone she was left to other musings. Khaleel and she had sworn an oath to be Blood, and the force had witnessed it. Enforced it. She knew instinctively that to break the oath was to court disaster. So what then did the force think of an exchange of blood? It was an idea versus a reality, but when your will was the sole determination of your capabilities, ideas and realities were sometimes indistinguishable. Would it bind him closer to her? Would it speed him on his way to regaining his power if he drank from someone who already had it? Quite frankly she did not know, but it seemed as if it might be one of those opportunities that surface for the brave to grab.

~Must it be a human? If not, I am not always present, but when I am, I am not averse to indulging you.~

It was possible he'd said human for a reason. Twi'lek and human were close, genetically compatible, but still different. One never knew.

[member="Zander del Sangue"]

 

[Tanalth]

The whole time she sat on the sidelines Jenna noticed how both [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] and [member="Zander del Sangue"] were looking at each other oddly. It was like they were starting into each others minds and learning anything and everything they could from each other. But to the more drunken Jenna she just saw it as them having a staring contest. She kept glancing back and forth between both of them, at one point waving her hand to make them snap out of it.

"Sheesh." she said aloud. "Like talking to a couple of statues..." before sipping down more of her drink.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"Someone made a bust of me once, gave it to me as a gift. It was horrendous. After that I decided no artistic interpretations of myself. With my luck it would manage to wind up in a collection somewhere and that would be it. That would be my legacy and what people remembered. Slightly cross-eyed and a crooked nose. Better to be forgotten then that."

The Twi'lek commented with a wink at [member="Jenna Templar"]. She hadn't meant to ignore the woman, and it seemed as if [member="Skylar Ichor"] was done talking for now having exuberantly greeted the other.

"Besides, they never get the stripes right."

 

[H3xle]

~Must it be a human? If not, I am not always present, but when I am, I am not averse to indulging you.~

'I apologize, I was raised in a time when human-centric thinking was the norm. I have yet to find a sentient being that I could not feed from. The only requisite, so far as I know, is a connection to the force. So long as someone isn't force dead, I should be able to gain sustenance.' He mentally responded to Chiasa mentally, already he was imagining her flavor. A grin spread across his face, not cruel but happy. He turned back to Jenna as she spoke.

"I apologize my dear, I am gifted in the force..." He didn't know how open Chiasa was about her force powers, and it was best not to piss off the new boss and possible meal ticket. "I was having a conversation...I have a few peculiarities that could effect my stay."

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] [member="Jenna Templar"]

 

[Tanalth]

Jenna waved both of the off, saying "Yeah, yeah. The whole 'force user' thing. Special as it is I feel it's a cheat. I mean you try being in the shoes of someone who can do all those fancy tricks like you can. I'm lucky I can make a guy say 'yes' to anything without flashing my goodies, let alone waving my hand and making him a complete puppet." She downed a little more of her drink before adding "And don't think just because your the boss means you can leave me out of things. I'm one of your top girls, remember? I used to be a spy!"

[member="Zander del Sangue"] [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

 

[H3xle]

[member="Jenna Templar"] [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]

"I find it hard to believe that you have to do more than seem interested before men start falling all over you." Zander replied to Jenna's self-depricating comment. Withit he had a quirked eyebrow and a genuinely honest look to his face. "And if you would like to be kept in the loop, we were discussing something of me that could potentially prove dangerous to my...relationships in the Ravens." He kept his eyes on Jenna, not to exclude Chiasa, but more to mitigate the damage he had caused. Despite being the blood sucking monster he was, he was raised as a gentleman and so he would remain.

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

~Naught to apologise for, I took no offense, merely had to see if I could do you any good. And since I am most decidedly not Force Dead..~

This was accompanied by a sense of semi-mischievous laughter. Mental Chiasa was occasionally less restrained than physical Chiasa. She could hide what she was feeling on this plane as well, she just bothered to less often.

"Until I came to lead the Ravens I never bothered with force training, it was unnecessary. Even now the majority of what I use it for can be summed up as fighting or stone-walling other force-users."

Was her reply with a half shrug. She didn't know if it was a cheat precisely, and it could come in handy, particularly for intimidation, but if it were not for other force users she would see it as largely superfluous.

"Even so, if you know you are going to come up against a force-user there are ways and ways of fighting them without the Force, and winning."

Zander might or might not note a moment of uncertainty in their shared mindspace as the Twi'lek found yet another part of her memory that she could not access, that was simply gone, leaving a hole that nagged at her with its incompleteness. Still, she was getting good at ignoring such things.

"You are one of my top girls."

She agreed, with a smile at the wording.

"And because you are a spy you will understand why for the most part I leave it to other people to decide which of their secrets they want to reveal."

If his control had been bad, perhaps this would not be the case. But for as long as he could be trusted, it would be up to him who he shared his peculiarities with.

[member="Zander del Sangue"] [member="Jenna Templar"]

 

[Tanalth]

Hearing both of them she gave a little giggle, scratching under Zander's chin while saying "Flattery will get you anywhere." Then she looked over to [member="Chiasa Kritivaas"] and added "Damn straight, I reveal what I feel like should be revealed." She was silent for a second, revealing how odd that sounded before shrugging it off and finishing with "Ah well. Enough chit chat. Who wants to help me knock back a few more bad boys?"

[member="Chiasa Kritivaas"]