Private The Far Lands

[Sawa Ike]

Jacen Nimdok

"I am a shaper, I use the force to harness elements. To channel power and form both offensive and defensive... I might use the darkside plenty but I am not as base as many of the sith." She remained there while letting flames dance between her fingers and she could shift stones around the room on the air. "The shapers are not entirely like the sith but they use power and manipulate nature.. it has been much more impressive in many ways.. and fighting." She thought about it and denoting it as a class was so... academic maybe... she thought about how to best do it. "Helping people can be questionable... we are predators above them child do not forget them. THey serve us to benefit us." Her eyes watched him but remained there for the moment... she had a grin on her face. "But should you want to indulge yourself as a Claimer of the sith they.... search for people and bring them into service by acknowledging their problems."

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

She explained that she was a shaper, someone who used the Force to harness the elements. "So you can control earth, wind, fire and water? Nice."

"Helping people can be questionable... we are predators above them child do not forget. They serve us to benefit us."

"I've found that people are more willing to help me if I help them in return," Jacen said. "It's like all these servants you keep here - you pay for their lodgings, their food, their fine clothes. You treat them well, and they let you feed on them willingly. You give to them, and they give to you."

It was important to Jacen that he not have to take his food by force. People might be prey, but he didn't want to prey upon them, if that made sense. More broadly, he wanted to gain friends and allies who genuinely loved him, not because they were looking to get something out of him or were afraid of him.

"If I were a Claimer, I would be claiming people as my friends and allies. Not for the sake of some Sith Lord." But he smiled. "It's not a bad idea. Certainly intriguing. Could you train me to become a Claimer?"

Sawa Ike

 

[Sawa Ike]

Jacen Nimdok

He was certainly.... different as she raised an eyebrow and listened to him talk about what she did.... all true from a certain point of view as someone might say but she just sat there with a smile on her face. "Perhaps but as much as you want them to love you.. it is always easier to be feared... though ideally you want both." She said it and moved forward as she stood up and offered a hand. "A claimor is tricky, it is about more then just power it is about reading people.. you need to know what they want.. you need to know what they have and will do."

She said it but was moving to guide him up towards one of the chambers further in and it opened with a window looking out on a courtyard. She looked over at the ones down below who were moving while she sat there on the stone and motioned with a finger ove her lips. "Quietly... watch, observe." She said it with a look at the sight down below... the servants were moving around and some of her guards were there practicing. The silver clad armor in the dusk light and servants moving around.

"It isn't some skill you can just be taught... you need to observe, learn the movements of the people... see what they want... what they have done. Take my servants down there... they do have fancy clothing... they are loyal... they have food to remain well fed so that when I feed I am not leaving a dead body. The palace is protected because it houses the many who are under me... but each one of them has their own thoughts, desires. Some want love, some want to be seen... some wanted to be saved from worse situations."

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Love and fear together? He wasn't sure if both could exist simultaneously. He followed Sawa to the window overlooking the courtyard.

There he watched the people milling about below. The guards trained, taking part in mock duels, and the servants walked around them, performing their duties. They all seemed to have their own role to play, but Sawa wasn't asking him to see the bigger picture. She wanted him to look into the hearts and minds of the individual people themselves.

His gaze flicked from one person to another. "That guard is growing frustrated," he said, pointing. "His opponent is merciless, and he can't get a decent blow in." As he watched, the guard shook off his emotions and stubbornly continued to fight, weathering the storm until his opponent grew tired, slipped up, and made a mistake. There was nothing to be exploited; he was a good soldier.

Jacen turned his attention to the servants. "Something about that one tells me she's in love," he said with a smirk. His smile faded. "Or maybe I'm just imagining things..."

His gaze had fallen upon a woman lurking in the shadows. Though her face was covered by a sheer veil, he could see that she was very beautiful. But there was something incredibly sad about her, as if she carried an immense burden. Jacen's eyes were glued to the tragic figure of the Shamed One, following her as she made her way across the courtyard. "Her," he said softly. "I could do something with her. Use her sadness to my advantage..." Though he didn't quite know how. He turned to Sawa and asked, "Why is she so sad?"

Sawa Ike

 

[Sawa Ike]

Jacen Nimdok

She listened to him speaking about the various one and he settled upon... her... a grin was on her face when she looked down at her and the woman moved around. She was many things but she didn't make a scene going into the buildings about her duties. THe others generally left her alone. "Oh she is a special one." THe grin was more wicked. "A special treat I have preserved for years." She said it and remained there... "She betrayed and harmed my daughter and so I have punished her.. she has watched her family, her people grow old and to dust before her.. she has seen the world change and she does not age.. she just lives and has to watch. A fitting punishment for harming Aoi."

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Jacen kept his gaze trained on the Shamed One until she vanished from view. Sawa's retelling of her backstory made his stomach drop. And yet... She had backstabbed his grandmother. She had paid for that single act of betrayal for centuries now. And she likely would for centuries more...

"Does she want to die?" he whispered. "Does she long for it all to end?... Or has she accepted her fate? Would it hurt her more if it were taken away?"

He would have to answer these types of questions if she were his subject. Find an angle to work with, and get her to do what he wanted. "If she had no purpose in life, I could give it to her. Or if she had a purpose, and I took it away... I could give her a new one."

Sawa Ike

 

[Sawa Ike]

Jacen Nimdok

"She has had a chance several times, when attacks came to the region even the fortress... to turn on me, to lay down her life and end it all... she doesn't ever herself realize how broken she has become. A few thousand years will do that and even then." She said it and looked at him for the first time with more a cruel look in her eyes and force presence then looks. "It is not enough, she may have once cursed her fate... sought to fight against it... but she hasn't. Aoi leaves her here... I maintain her and use her as needed. If anyone tried such a thing with those precious to me.. they would suffer the same fate... or worse." She didn't need to speak about Nine Lives who possibly had done worse to some but there was always something.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

For the first time, there was an edge in Sawa's voice. Not enough to make Jacen cower before his great-grandmother, but enough to warn him to tread more lightly. Clearly the Shamed One was off-limits, even for practice.

Turning his attention back to the courtyard, he scanned the crowds for a more suitable candidate to be Claimed. He was about to give up and ask for a suggestion, when his gaze finally fell upon someone who looked promising. "That woman standing off to the side," he said, pointing. "She looks..."

She was one of the musicians who had been playing in the great hall. Now her exquisitely painted face was becoming muddied by tears. A second glance revealed that she clutched a letter in her hand. Evidently the note had borne bad news, as she was utterly stricken. Her grief was palpable in the Force even to Jacen's underdeveloped senses, and she hardly seemed to know where she was going as she staggered across the courtyard toward the exit.

Sawa Ike​

 

[Sawa Ike]

Jacen Nimdok

SHe looked at him and he seemed to understand while going back to the window to look down upon them. Not pressing was smart in a way while she relaxed back into the window though as he looked out. Checking who he indicated while she tapped her fingers on the window. Remaining there and moved quickly while she jumped down and glided almost silently to stand near her. The gasp and surprise on her face while Sawa motioned for him to come down and soothed the woman with a look from her eyes. "Shhh be calm." She said it and held a hand out and up for him to come and join her. Several of the guards had stopped for a moment but resumed while other servants went back to what they were doing. Adjusting as their master was in the yard with them so they moved a little faster and stood straighter.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Sawa practically glided down from the balcony to the courtyard, startling the crying woman. She gestured for Jacen to follow. He didn't exactly know how to do the gliding thing, so he just took the stairs.

By the time he arrived, Sawa was attempting to calm the woman. "Please, mistress," the woman was saying, sputtering through her tears. "I am sorry for disturbing you. I was just... just leaving..."

"Where do you intend to go in such a state?" Jacen asked.

"Oh... I don't know. Nowhere. Why does it matter?"

"Well, you don't have to leave the Fortress. You haven't disturbed anyone." He angled his head to look at her downturned face. "What's your name?"

"Megumi, sir."

"And why are you crying, Megumi?"

She clutched at the note in her hand, her expression crumpling. "My mother is dead. She was all that I had left. Now I am all alone."

Sawa Ike

 

[Sawa Ike]

Jacen Nimdok

She listened to the woman and remained there. her eyes remaining on her and one hand coming up to tilt her head. "Such a poor girl, come to me later and we shall handle it." She said it and got a nod but remained there as she looked at her. Then she moved away and left room for Jacen to go in while she watched from the shadows and her silver eyes stayed in the shadows but her body was blackened and hidden. "Come find me when you are done my sweet child." She said it and finally disappeared moving around to look at some of the Onna who were practicing and she observed them but moved back into the fortress towards the inner chambers.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

"Come find me when you are done my sweet child."

Jacen was so intensely focused on Megumi, he barely acknowledged his great-grandmother's departure.

"I... I had a family, once," she was saying. "My husband was killed in battle and my daughter..." She trailed off, as though what had happened to the child were too horrible to speak of. "I lost so much, and now I have nothing."

"You still have your music," Jacen pointed out. "You played very beautifully today. My grandmother was very pleased with you. I'm sure you could stay here and continue to work."

"What use is it if I'm alone?"

"You aren't alone," he said softly. "The people here have been good to you. You've served them well. They will take care of you."

"But, I..."

"They care about you." He took her hand in his. "I care about you. No person is a failure who has friends. We're friends, aren't we?"

"I don't..." Megumi faltered, staring into Jacen's kind eyes. Suddenly she embraced him, the long sleeves of her traditional gown draping over his shoulders. "I don't understand, but I feel like you know me. Like you're being sincere. Oh, you are a sweet child... Where did you get this sweetness from? Not from your grandmother..."

Jacen chuckled at that. "I know what it's like to lose a parent. The pain will never truly go away, but dying to be with them would be a selfish act. You should live to honor your loved ones."

He stayed with her a little while longer, before approaching Sawa again. Megumi waved goodbye to him, then went back inside. Jacen smiled at his great-grandmother, his hands clasped behind his back. "I rather like this Claiming thing. It makes me feel good, helping people find purpose again."

Sawa Ike

 

[Sawa Ike]

Jacen Nimdok

THe inner chambers of the fortress, away fro the throne room and halls was more an area of hedonism. Sawa laying on a long chair as around the room her servants were following suit. The ones who were her personal food sources being massaged, their hair oiled and they were cared for..... like fine livestock. She laid there and one servant had her hands in her hair. Others were massaging her arms and legs when he came in speaking. She felt something... proud of him... there was something to be said about finding what you were good at. "Wonderful news and the woman... how is she going to fair do you think?" She said it and turned her head to look at him.

"Do you think she will take her grief and give into it? Rise above it? Manipulating and claiming others can be a tricky process... what if she has doubts? Will you be there to hold her hand I wonder?" She said it with a look and raised eyebrows as she stayed there and didn't need to lean or get up. She had her head turned with steam in the air. Servants pouring water on rocks that glowed cherry red from the heat that was being produced from....... somewhere. Her fingers tracing small figure eights discreetly below to maintain the flames. She watched with silvery eyes while the rooms figures were around. White marble statues around the pool with each servant there while being taken care of.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

He didn't expect to find Sawa receiving a massage. Several other people were also there, being tended to by strong-handed servants with jars of sweet-smelling oil. One of them approached Jacen, offering to give him the same treatment. The boy politely declined.

"Wonderful news and the woman... how is she going to fare do you think?"

"I'm not entirely sure," he replied. "She seemed better. She wasn't in despair, at least."

"Do you think she will take her grief and give into it? Rise above it? Manipulating and claiming others can be a tricky process... what if she has doubts? Will you be there to hold her hand I wonder?"

"I was hoping you would let me stay here for that reason, Grandmother." He smiled. "I'd like to keep an eye on Megumi for a while. I'm also dying to read through all the books and scrolls in your collection. I'm sure there's a great deal to learn from them."

She had said the Fortress could be his safe haven, but it would've been rude of him not to ask permission to stay, even if he knew it would most likely be granted.

Sawa Ike​

 

[Sawa Ike]

Jacen Nimdok

SHe looked at him and nodded her hand. "Very well, far be it from me to deny you such food but do be careful... you don't want them to get too attached." She said it turning her head back and enjoying it. "And these ones are off limits, this is my finest vintages." She said it with a grin as the hands on her back finished and she remained there covering up as she sat up and around. "NOw if you are going to stay here for any amount of time you will need a proper place." There were plenty of rooms but some were reserved for.... certain people as she rose up and wrapped the towel around herself before a robe was brought for her.

"This way." She led the way through the room and towards a more central area of the fortress that went up and looked out on a private courtyard. the atmosphere itself shifting as the Onna were more frequent standing there in their alcoves for the hallway. She pointed with a hand when she looked at it towards larger doors. "That is to my room and this will lead to yours." She was going down the hall towards another room as it opened and the suspended bed was balanced on thick chains above the floor. Cleaning droids below it making sure the rooms were fine. The large window looking out on the private courtyard and watergarden as fountains sent water onto stone pathways you could walk through with fruit trees.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

"Very well, far be it from me to deny you such food but do be careful... you don't want them to get too attached."

Jacen blinked. Perhaps he was simply naïve and unused to the culture at the Fortress, but he hadn't even thought of Megumi as a possible food source. His thoughts had been so consumed with the nitty-gritty methodology of the Claiming, he had yet to consider what he would do with the pretty musician once he had gained power over her. Well, he supposed he could turn her into a blood bag... after all, what more could a boy his age want with her?

Sawa was smiling, savoring the care of the masseuse. The people in this room, she said, were her finest vintages, and therefore off limits to him. Jacen nodded in acknowledgment, and followed her out of the room toward the quarters which would be his.

The room was a short distance away from Sawa's own private suite, and designed in a similar mode. The bed was suspended on chains which hung from the ceiling. Approaching the window, he looked out at the gorgeous view of the courtyard, watergarden, and pathways thick with fruit trees. He listened to the hum of cleaning droids sucking up every last speck of dirt and dust in the room, then turned to Sawa. "It's wonderful. Thank you, Grandmother."

Sawa Ike

 

[Sawa Ike]

Jacen Nimdok

She looked on and nodded as he seemed to be thinking about it. Letting her walk back towards the door. "Relax, enjoy yourself... there is some things to do but most of the fortress itself will be asleep or on duty... I will be in my chambers should you need me." She moved and started to leave closing the doors and heading into her own chambers when she was checking on things. THe silk of the sheets gleaming dark purples and black... With golden chains suspending the massive bed. The panoramic view of the courtyard and looking out on the mountains. SHe had the best view yes but there was more as K2 rolled around and went into his position for sentry duties. She could sleep while Jacen got to do what it was that he wanted to do. She would see him in the morning.