Private The Dark Flower - Darkkoninn

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: 4 Whimsy Knives, 1 Nastirci Combat Knife, 'FAE/M-01' Energy Blade, 1 HG-88 ‘Big Iron’ Hand Cannon, K914 SMG, (4) Elemental Grenades, (2) Impact Grenades, Phase X-E CryoSonic Heavy Pistol
EQUIPMENT: Armor with force mask atop UL-13 Corporis Skin Suit, Kirino Visual Interface
TAGS: Onrai
LOCATION: The Ablution, Training

The praise was noted, almost drawing her attention as her eye flickered before the bearing shattered. The sound causing her eye to snap open as the pieces floated in a frozen form before her.

The wet sand before her halted before it could expand.

She stared in muted surprise, flexing her hand to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. She began to explain further, the ideas of denying what was and shaping it to one's will a lofty idea, but one that had given her that thing that had been just out of her reach for so long.

The idea of control.

The sound of another voice drew her attention sharply. Hand to the floor as though she might stop something from happening. Not that Vanessa would have permitted anything beyond her permission to occur. She drew back in her seated posture.

She had mentioned something about being a godess after all.

Her mouth opened to speak before closing. Her tongue rolling over her teeth in thought and some measure of confusion at the scene before her. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she could feel a headache beginning to form.

"I was already impressed when I finally realized you pulled me from my ship." She began to speak, a sigh escaping before she continued. "Then we are denying reality. And now throwing time out of the window."

Making to speak again, she paused before closing her mouth and rubbing her eye.

"This. I mean. I usually don't even think about these things until I'm two bottles in and getting philosophical. And here you are. Just casually breaking reality!" She wasn't mad. At least she didn't feel mad. Maybe deeply confused about her perception of the real. But flabbergasted came to mind as she looked between the two forms.

 

[Onrai]

"It's a matter of power," clarified the original Onrai. "Not anyone can so blatantly tell reality they aren't going to abide by it. It was only through good fortune I was able to master what I now possess before it destroyed me. If I had been a lesser me, or even merely a weaker me, there would be nothing left to speak to you." She elaborated. Such was true - the concept of hunting down the otherspace entities she had been responsible for slaying was purely for prestige amongst the Sith if nothing else, but absorbing their power? Becoming as they had become? A lesser Sith would have been annihilated. A lesser her would have been annihilated.

"Philosophy." The human-looking Onrai pondered. "Always intriguing, the methods and means by which we try to decipher the universe. Always edging closer to the answers, but never quite reaching them." She pointed out, before fading away from existence and leaving only the main Onrai herself.

"The ability to exert a physical effort on objects with the Force is not enough, though. Crushing an object - or a bone - is but one part of the telekinetic puzzle." She said as another ball bearing came from within her essence before Sasmay. The two's presence within the void of space seemed to shift around them, though no sense of motion was felt by either, until they were seemingly above an asteroid.

"Take this bearing, and using the Force, send it as fast as you possibly can into that asteroid."

Sasmay Cull

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: 4 Whimsy Knives, 1 Nastirci Combat Knife, 'FAE/M-01' Energy Blade, 1 HG-88 ‘Big Iron’ Hand Cannon, K914 SMG, (4) Elemental Grenades, (2) Impact Grenades, Phase X-E CryoSonic Heavy Pistol
EQUIPMENT: Armor with force mask atop UL-13 Corporis Skin Suit, Kirino Visual Interface
TAGS: Onrai
LOCATION: The Ablution, Training

The explanation made her frown. Power was something that came with being able to overwhelm the origin? Or perhaps the vessel intended to wield it. It was alarming still yet as the human figure spoke and then disappeared.

Her eye didn't bother to search for the presence that had been there as the scene around them shifted once more.

Their position above and asteroid as another ball bearing was given to her. The goal unclear, she pondered only a short moment about the intention as she took a steadying breath before thinking about the ball bearing and giving it speed.

The most she had ever been able to accomplish before now had been to pull her knife up to her hand. Now she wondered exactly what she could do with a sincere tap into the force. She filtered through her mind images of battles past. Slugs and lasers first thing to her mind before she remembered seeing the railguns let loose.

She focuses on trying to channel that idea into her palm, letting the bearing wobble briefly as she focused on flinging the little ball with such speed.

It floated in her hand before spinning and shot from her hand. Her will upon it perhaps only half of what she could actually think about. It zinged through the non-existant space between her and the rock, a small poff of a dusty circle appearing as small fragments let loose of the asteroid.

She frowned, looking to her hand and back to the asteroid.

What she had willed, and what had happened hadn't clearly transferred as she felt the mantle of exhuastion slowly creep over her. A hand coming up to cover her eye.

 

[Onrai]

She had tried.

Had she managed to break the asteroid? No. But Sasmay had showcased a willingness to try. That was the important part. Reality seemed to begin to fade back in, the dust of the training room once more becoming visible. There was no damage to the room at all, but whether she had experienced an incredibly immersive illusion or whether Onrai had in fact actually warped space and time to put them somewhere in the void of space was a completely different question.

"You tried." Onrai said, form still shadowy as ever as she motioned for Sasmay to follow her out of the room to an elevator shaft. The Elevator doors opened up and the duo would enter, heading upwards to a room in the bridge section of the vessel. When the doors opened, they would be met with an empty lounge whose only occupants were furniture. Two plush chairs sat by a table upon which steaming hot chocolate was located.

"You deserve to relax a bit."

Sasmay Cull

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: 4 Whimsy Knives, 1 Nastirci Combat Knife, 'FAE/M-01' Energy Blade, 1 HG-88 ‘Big Iron’ Hand Cannon, K914 SMG, (4) Elemental Grenades, (2) Impact Grenades, Phase X-E CryoSonic Heavy Pistol
EQUIPMENT: Armor with force mask atop UL-13 Corporis Skin Suit, Kirino Visual Interface
TAGS: Onrai
LOCATION: The Ablution, Training

The exhaustion didn't stop her from speaking up when Vanessa commented. Regardless of intent, the feeling of failure washed over her.

"Let me try again. I can get it." Her face snapping to the other woman in something close to a plea.

Acceptance and wanting to achieve at the forefront of her mind as the scene faded before them. She did her best to keep from letting herself tear up. From letting the feeling of assumed disappointment take her.

Hand clenched, her mind resolved to be better as the old training room came into focus once more.

She led the way, Sasmay following behind obediently before finding themselves in what could only be a makeshift lounge.

Taking a seat, she cast a glance at the hot chocolate. A knowing look cast its way as she smelled it. A vice she hadn't let herself enjoy often compared to alcohol as she looked to her new master once more.

"I'm sorry." She didn't know what for exactly. For not measuring up? For not being capable? Familiar things that had stained her memories of her time with others.

Just never enough no matter how hard she tried.

 

[Onrai]

"Why?" Onrai asked, a cup of the liquid manifesting itself before her as she took a sip, the human-esque face once more making an appearance as her upper torso seemed to shift into the very visage of what she had once held during her time as a mortal being. "You are a mortal being. Flawed. Imperfect. Even gods and goddesses are not without their errors. Don't expect to be able to do it immediately off the bat." She gave herself another sip.

"Once you finish your drink, we can go at it again." She took another sip. "So go slowly. Take it easy and savor the drink as a well-earned reward. Perhaps you could tell me a bit more about yourself - your eye, for example?" She inquired.

Sasmay Cull

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: 4 Whimsy Knives, 1 Nastirci Combat Knife, 'FAE/M-01' Energy Blade, 1 HG-88 ‘Big Iron’ Hand Cannon, K914 SMG, (4) Elemental Grenades, (2) Impact Grenades, Phase X-E CryoSonic Heavy Pistol
EQUIPMENT: Armor with force mask atop UL-13 Corporis Skin Suit, Kirino Visual Interface
TAGS: Onrai
LOCATION: The Ablution, Training

The question of why was met with reassurance rather than admonishing remarks. Taking the mug, she cradled it in her hands and relished the heat from it. A weak but present smile was given at the note to take it slowly.

Persistence rather than headlong leaps. A hand reaching up to the missing eye as a wobbly smile appeared.

"A trophy for being stupid. Working alongside Ingrid L'lerim, I took my helmet off when we encountered a creature pulling from our past to cloud the present." She nodded to herself before shaking her head.

"I think the old saying goes...never count your money at the table. I was sure we were in the clear, overconfident. Empress offered to heal it. I declined, to remind myself of caution." A sigh escaped as she took another sip.

"Up until I was, oh, late twenties I'd guess. I was a slave on some nobodies ship." The mug squeaked in her grip. "Agents of Chaos raided the ship. Not to free the slaves but for his cargo. But they let us handle our business with him. And they welcomed me into their fold." She frowned at the memories.

"They scattered to the winds though. Inner turmoil. This and that. Worked for the Eternals for a while. Lost...lost someone important to me and turned pirate." She snorted.

 

[Onrai]

“Yes, Ingrid has a habit of curious things following her.” The creation of that Eina entity was a perfect example. She listened to the story about the curious entity that had apparently shared Onrai’s propensity to deny and defile the very linear nature of time itself. An entity that has ultimately been responsible for claiming the young woman’s eye and leaving her face somewhat disfigured as a result.

“Caution is a wise thing to have.” She said. “It is something few entities on my magnanimity seem to possess, so do deities believe themselves perfect and incapable of making mistakes. Why reconsider your choices when your choices are always right?” A valid point, and she knew the consequences of wrong decisions through her existence as a mortal.

The story of Sasmay’s past raised notable interest from the former Sith Lord. A slave, an Agent of Chaos, a servant of the Eternal Empire - and a pirate. Sasmay’s life prior to becoming Onrai’s apprentice had been quite eclectic to say the least. At those final ill words, Onrai brought a hand to her head and gently moved it from side to side in her hair.

“I’m sorry you had to experience such prior to this moment. But now you are my student, and I will teach you how to make best use of that which you have been gifted. You will be able to use it to further chart your own course in life and overcome obstacles that may seek to deviate you from your intended goals.” That was the best thing one could give - the power of problem-solving.

Sasmay Cull

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: Disarmed
EQUIPMENT: Clothing
TAGS: Onrai
LOCATION: The Ablution, Training

The question of why was met with reassurance rather than admonishing remarks. Taking the mug, she cradled it in her hands and relished the heat from it. A weak but present smile was given at the note to take it slowly.

Persistence rather than headlong leaps. A hand reaching up to the missing eye as a wobbly smile appeared.

"Ingrid does tend to draw attention. Can't be helped being a sovereign I suppose." Came the lilting laugh as she recalled some of the stories that Scherezade had shared with her during their downtimes.

"I can only hope to keep caution about me in the times to come. More than once lack of it or luck would have been my undoing." A sigh escaped as she took another sip. Whether the absolute chit show against the mando's on Rodia, or in the trenches against the soul sucking lizards, she had relied on little more than luck to see her through.

Now at least she could prepare in another way for the future.

While she had expected a number of things from someone as powerful as Vanessa, the simple gesture of contact had been unexpected.

The singular crimson eye watching quietly with a small smile as she huffed at a thought.

"If it had gone differently, I might not have ended up here." She dared another sip to find the last few drops of her drink. "Bad things happen, life and everything in it guiding those riding along however it sees fit."

The smile slowly dwindled.

"Whether we like what happens or not, it happens. Have to keep moving or get ate up by regrets and loneliness." The mug clinked as she set it aside.

 

[Onrai]

Vanessa smiled, a happy gaze on her face as she observed the happiness itself that Sasmay seemed to let seep from her otherwise quiet form. “She really does, even if now she’s less a sovereign and more a goddess in denial.” She joked - she had viewed Ingrid L'lerim as someone who had been formed into someone of equal value as herself upon the consumption of the Night Spirit - now she was a cthonic entity, who would lead generation after generation of her servants for millennia barring her destruction at the hands of some sort of godslaying weapon.

“Caution is important, but preparation is best. You can be as cautious as you want…” she raised a hand and snapped a finger, the whole of reality around them seemingly disappearing and leaving them the only two things in existence within an infinitely empty cosmic void. “Because you never know what the future may hold.” Another snap, and they had returned to normalcy.

She pondered a bit on Sasmay’s words - it was true that she had not deliberately desired to find Sasmay. The woman had only come across her through almost sheer chance and opportunity. Perhaps even in a world of gods and goddesses, the Force was still ultimately the overwhelming power that controlled and guided the course of the galaxy along its fate without such interference. And here she was with something that the former Kaine Zambrano had wanted very desperately, an experiment long abandoned that had only just come back to his attention. “It’s best to not ponder the possibilities. We should be fortunate you are here now, learning to manifest your potential and become greater than you have been. You won’t need someone like Kaine as a crutch to be able to tap your abilities in time.”

Seeing that she was done with her drink, Vanessa stood up from the table. “Would you like to get back to trying to crack those asteroids again?”

Sasmay Cull

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: Disarmed
EQUIPMENT: Clothing
TAGS: Onrai
LOCATION: The Ablution, Training

"She does seem that yes." She nodded at the mention of Ingird and her status. The woman was definitely something else to be sure. Aside from leading from the front, and even maintaining healthy relationships across the galaxy as best she could.

She didn't envy the woman, but she was leading her best life to a degree.

The snap of fingers bent reality, the action not quite common enough to be comfortable with. The instinctive knee jerk twitch of catching herself followed by a sigh as she relaxed.

Then reality shifted back, and Vanessa seemed to mull on the words as Sasmay shifted in her seat. Words cut across the space between them as Sasmay lifted her gaze to the woman's words.

"Probably best to not think on it. Waste all the time in the galaxy with thinking. Better to prepare as you say." She admitted, rising and stretching. The question posed making her nod.

"Yes. Hopefully with better results after a bit of rest."

 

[Onrai]

"Prepare, yes."

All the preparation in the world would not prepare Sasmay in the event that Kaine truly went through the effort to hunt her down. Not without aid or assistance of some sort. Onrai could only do so much in the event such a confrontation were to happen - the manifestation of an avatar at Sasmay's effective beck and call would be a difficult task, since such could be used to lure said avatar to a location and either siphon its power or attempt to slay it. Such a wound, while not fatal, would be a serious injury to Onrai that could lead to other unfortunate occurrences.

In the meantime, however, the telekinetic techniques were further refined, manifested most effectively within the existential void of space that Onrai had seemingly brought the duo too. Repeatedly, again and again, Onrai sought to motivate her acolyte to further focus and refine her power, to channel whatever emotions were buried deep within her to further stimulate her ability to launch such a projectile at speeds that would have exceeded the speed of sound were there air in the void.

At last, she motioned to the asteroid. "Remember, Sasmay, focus on everything. Hate. Love. Whatever you feel. Let it build behind your power, tempered by your will and controlled firmly. Then release it and blow that asteroid into more bits and pieces than what's left of Corellia."

Sasmay Cull

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: Disarmed
EQUIPMENT: Clothing
TAGS: Onrai
LOCATION: The Ablution, Training

The return to training was welcome. The difficulty focusing her emotional input was frustrating. Her attempt to tie her rational mind focusing the force into the strange blend of mental focus and emotional focus had her in a certain vein of frustration. Tapping her fingers, scratching her forehead, all small nervous habits in which Sasmay usually vented her troubles.

The asteroid had taken the strikes with ease. The power behind each strike fluctuating with wildly different applications, though none had done more than shake loose surface rubble or even broke a few stray pieces loose. Frustration had spilled over into her emotions, further distancing her from the emotional control she held.

She patted her thighs, listening to the words her instructor as she centered herself.

The idea had formed once earlier, but had slipped through her fingers throughout the day. Now she focused once more on the strange sensation of the feelings. The sensation slowly filtered through her mind, the focus changing from the whole of her hand to the singular point of her finger. The ball bearing sliding forward into her palm as she readied the next strike on the asteroid before her.

Her singular eye flared, deep crimson, centering herself in the storm of emotions that threatened turmoil in the same measure of mirth.

The ball bearing sang with a high pitched ring as it shot forward. Little more than a silvery dart as the molecules threatened to separate mid flight. The ball bearing was gone as the asteroid below them shuddered and cracked, the splintering wound consuming the surface as the far side exploded outward and the asteroid split into chunks and pieces.

"Finally." She spoke quietly, mentally exhausted from the handling off all her emotions at once, the tender skin of her hand bruised and red from overuse.

 

[Onrai]

As the asteroid shattered and fragmented itself into a million different pieces of stone, breaking from its orbital pathway and finding itself pulled ever closer to the nearby planet, Onrai couldn't help but smile. Here, Sasmay had proven herself wrong. She had every bit the ability to tap into the Force that any other user had, and didn't require Kaine to be nearby in order for her to act on such a presence. It was a joyful and jubilant moment as the world around the duo seemed to return back to the otherwise dusty training room.

On an unknown world in the Unknown Regions, a shower of stones from the heavens would be seen tonight by the primitive natives.

-

"You had the ability within you all along." Onrai said to her apprentice, pride now fully on display. "And it is but the first thing you will learn to do. There are other things you must learn in order to become a true student of the Force. To one day stand across from that which threatens to claim you and live freely." She motioned to a pedestal that had slowly begun to rise out of the ground. A single lightsaber, a fully functioning example, emerged, exposing itself to Sasmay as Onrai offered it to her.

"The Force is a powerful weapon, but the best thing you can do is to be empowered by it in such a way that you can fight when unarmed - with not even a sliver of durasteel. Take this blade and see if it is possible for you to strike me down with it."

At least if this went wrong, it was only an avatar.

Sasmay Cull

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: Disarmed
EQUIPMENT: Clothing
TAGS: Onrai
LOCATION: The Ablution, Training

The stricken asteroid filtered out of sight as the training room came back into. The knowing of what she had accomplished further driven home by the smile and proud feeling that Onrai showed.

She listened intently, unsure of where the instruction was headed before a pedestal rose and presented a constructed and functioning lightsaber for her use.

She almost spoke against the task ahead, brow knitting at the unintended confidence of being able to strike her instructor down.

A deep breath steadied her hand, taking hold of the weapon she had sworn to not use without just the thing she was taking part in. Attempted practices had never bore such fruit for her till now. Applications of the force dissuading her from picking up the weapon of those capable of wielding the foreign idea of power now at her fingers.

Igniting the blade, she examined and felt the weight of it in her hand. Confused by the sensation of disproportionate weight.

The weapon didn't feel proper to all the true physical blades she had used in the past. A cautious and slow test swing had her staring at the blade. The feeling of the blade throwing the end into the swipe something she would have to keep in mind.

Her hands formed around the hilt, singular eye set upon the form of her instructor as a breath whistled from her.

"Strike you down." She spoke. Reminding herself of the goal set for her. The ribbons of the force she had tapped with the Agents of Chaos took a more solid presence as she stepped forward into a dash, aided by the power she now had better control of in one regard.

But lacked control of in another.

Her form would blur, overstepping her instructor with a far too late swing as she put a foot forward to halt her force assisted dash. Eye turned back in surprise at her own speed.

 

[Onrai]

Vanessa’s eyes were firmly locked on Sasmay, their sole purpose at the moment being dedicated to seeing how the apprentice worked with her newfound weapon. When she moved forward with surprising speed, Vanessa could only take a step to the side and avoid the traipsing form of her student. As she sought to recover from her overreach, she would feel a hand pat the top of her head.

“Try again. I’m right here.” Her hand came back to her side as she took a step back, being but a few feet away from Sasmay and her newfound weapon.

Sasmay Cull