The Tightening Grasp

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Spencer Varanin"]

The ship felt lived-in, like someone else's home, and thus Shambleau tread lightly. The Vagrant's Pride, it was called. She'd never heard of it. Not a ship of note, just a Corellian transport like any other, except for the deep chill she felt when drumming her fingers on the dining nook table. It took her most of the way down the Hydian, to the Kira transfer and the Corellian Run switchback, for her to realize where that feeling was coming from.

One didn't snoop when a guest aboard the ship of the Queen of Eshan. But this one wall panel looked like it was supposed to come out-

No. She could squash you like a bug, and anyway it would be impolite. She's known for eating things. She'll visit the kitchenette eventually. You can ask her then. Politely.

Motion in the doorway; Shambleau gave a guilty twitch. "Your Majesty," she said. "What's, um, behind this wall panel?"

 

[Allyson Locke]

Ajira’s Hand was quiet for most of the journey, which allowed Spencer time to heal her own mind and meditate. Thought this also meant that the journey had been quite boring and the usual chatterbox Spencer had no one to converse with. Like usual, hunger took over Spencer and she entered the small kitchenette area. There she was spoken to by her traveling partner. “The Panel?” Spencer glanced over towards the panel and nodded knowing completely what was behind it. She continued to rummage through the fridge till she found a water bottle. The cooler closed and she leaned against it facing Shambleau.

“Something important to the ship, you knew my wife. Stop using your eyes to see and use the force to sense the familiarity. Then you’ll have your answer without having to dig around through the ship. A lesson in the Force, Spencer took the opportunity to teach unable to break the habits she had picked up almost a year ago. Twisting the top off the bottle she took a sip and sighed softly. There was something thicker in the air besides the feeling of Ashin’s attuned artifacts. Spencer twisted the lid back on and stared slightly at the Hand.

“Something more is on your mind. You don’t have to call me “highness” or “majesty” Despite what Ajira says, I’m really not into those things. Just call me Spencer.” A soft smile spread across her face as she shrugged, she was never one for formalities she also couldn’t remember a time she had called Ashin “master”. “Either way…” The water bottle suddenly became an extension of her hand and begun to wave around as she spoke. “Something is buried behind the previous question. Are you scared of something?” [member="Lady Shambleau"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Shambleau wet her lips, glancing back and forth between [member="Spencer Varanin"] and the wall. Her eyes tightened, and she placed one palm against the panel. She closed her eyes, head tilting, and concentrated on bringing her limited Force senses to bear. Ke'dem acolytes generally weren't the best at such things.

"I feel..." She pulled her hand away. "A talisman. A...crown, bound to the ship. A war...it was claimed and remade in a war, a long way from here. I saw a storm, a red storm in space. Then it came down and...ate a castle..."

She tucked her hands in her armpits and laughed humourlessly. "It's her, all right. What was she like for you, Varanin? For me she was always my teachers' teacher and not a lot else."

Thus did Shambleau avoid Spencer's last question, for the moment.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer’s attention was drawn to the acolyte trying to sense the crown from behind the panel. It was interesting that she had been drawn to it, but Spencer figured it was because it was something different yet familiar. Arms folded as she leaned against the doorway and watched taking in and nodding giving Shambleau encouragement. “That was good.” The next question caught Spencer off guard. To her, the knowledge of their relationship was always known. It could have been that Ashin didn’t share these details with everyone when she was with the Ke’dem.

Which in the end, Spencer figured it was for both of their protection. Her crossed arms tightened slightly a hand rubbing against her slender bicep for a moment as she searched for words. The thought of their past still hurt, knowing that Ashin was gone, but she had Ajira who was still Ashin. It was complicated thing, but Spencer knew eventually she would get used to it. Unknowing to her though, she didn’t realize that Shambleau had heard the negotiation process between Ajira and her.

The hand that was rubbing her arm moved up and brushed her shoulder length blonde hair from her face. “Ah Ashin was…” Spencer thought about her answer for a moment, it had been some time since people questioned her about Ashin. “Ashin was like something unobtainable when I first met her. I was baffled when she first paid attention to me, she taught me to control the Force - what its blessed me with.” Despite at the time she considered it a curse, she learned. “I was lucky enough to see what was under her cold exterior” Spencer smiled softly and shook her head. “The Ashin I knew and the Ashin everyone knew was different, she let me love her.”

“She let me keep her.”

Waving her hands in front of her quickly as she laughed, “Don’t get me wrong, when we trained she went all out kicked my butt several times - I couldn’t tell you how many times that woman laid me out on that training mat.”
Glancing towards the woman in front of her, she shrugged. “What was she like to you?” [member="Lady Shambleau"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Spencer Varanin"]

"Cold." Shambleau eyed the older woman. "Because of what the One Sith, ah, did to you. Cold and angry, every time I saw her. She'd rip-" The Mikan's mouth twisted. "She was like a force of nature, just implacable. She'd send us on errands, but you could tell she wanted to raid herself, every time. The way she'd-"

She shook her head. "I didn't know her as a person, I guess is what I'm saying. In the end, all she meant to me was...well, she taught my teachers, so that's how I learned the Force is through her. That, and she was the one who finally stood up to the One Sith and made things happen. I had the anger, we all did, but the initiative, the plan, the organization, that was all her. She took all the people who'd been furious with the One Sith for years and made us into something worthwhile."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Cold.

Spencer sighed being reminded why all of this had started, if she had only remained at home and not gotten herself caught up with the Republic. They were terrible at protecting their allies and that is what got them in the situation they were in right now. “Well, I don’t think we’re close to Prime space just yet.” Spencer, feeling a bit more comfortable with the woman; Spencer moved into the kitchen and started to pull out a bit of food and start to make a sandwich.

“Ashin was my teacher as well. It sounds like Ashin though, she knew her next step, her opponent's next step and then the rest of the steps for the rest of the battle. She’s smart. I remember her always looking at maps and such.”

Biting into the sandwich she looked at the woman and blinked. “Uh you hungry?” Taking another bite she continued to eat and ponder how to pass the time. Swallowing, she shrugged. “Your training must be hitting a stand still with everything thing that had happened on Lujo, if you want I can teach you what I know.”

Smirking, remembering that the Hand had brushed aside her previous question. “Unless you’re scared of course.” [member="Lady Shambleau"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Spencer Varanin"]

"...hungry?"

The offer caught her flat-footed. Both of them -- offers, not feet. Shambleau blinked. Mikans, as a rule, ate more humanoids than sandwiches, though she'd become accustomed to hors d'oeuvres in Theed. And to offer training, knowledge, out of nowhere-

Her mouth opened to accept -- the offer, not the food -- Shambleau paused as the import of Spencer's last comment crashed in. And the memory of who, exactly, was sitting across from her.

"You broke my brain," she said quietly. "It took me a while to get my head on straight after Lujo. Part of me is screaming at the idea of being in a room with you. The rest of me wants to never be that vulnerable again.

"And yes, I'd love some food."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer began to make another sandwich for the woman in the kitchen with her. She picked up on the conflicted inside of her and nodded as she explained herself. Continuing with the sandwich in silence she cut it in half and placed it on a small plate for the Hand. Offering the plate, she nudged it towards the woman and then begun to speak. “I am truly sorry about that, as much as I wanted to say I was in full control I really wasn’t. I can’t control myself when everything is just firing on all cylinders.” Spencer looked away and folded her arms, she was upset about what had happened, but it was how she reacted.

“During training I can heal whatever lingering damage is left to your mental defenses. When I focus on the memory, I can remember shredding minds and crushing defenses. You can feel it, you feel the pressure of the other mind trying to fend you off. Then there is a release, a crack if you will and then its downhill for the other mind. If I could I would find everyone, but I can’t fully remember the minds – so to be able to heal what damage I’ve caused, I’d appreciate the chance” Spencer smiled weakly, she knew the Shambleau would probably not want and could not trust her mentally – yet it was worth a shot.

“What I can do, is make it so you’re never vulnerable like that again. Even if you don’t have an affinity towards mentalism I can train your mind to defend against the most devastating attacks, see through illusions and barricade your mind like a fortress protecting it…even from me.” Spencer knew how to train the mind, but it would require Shambleau to trust her completely. The mind would be needing to be broken and rebuilt several times. Each time taking a heavier dose of the mentalism. She wondered if the woman knew what she was signing up for. Spencer glossed over it quickly as she began to clean the kitchen up. “After I heal whatever lingering damage is in your mind, I will break it again then heal it and you will actively help try and heal your mind on your own. After the healing it will be broken again and the cycle continues till you’ve built up a resistance to the attacks. From there I’ll teach you how to expand that protection so you could…” Spencer paused knowing that she couldn’t be with Ajira consistently – not yet despite everything she desired, the woman was still trying to lead Ajira’s life. The best she could do was train Shambleau to help protect her. “So you can extend your defenses to others. You need to protect Ajira, I need you to protect her with everything.”

“So? Sound good, [member="Lady Shambleau"] ?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Spencer Varanin"]

"That sounds intensely horrific," said Shambleau, voice flat. "It also sounds ideal. I'm not interested in trusting you; I do, however, trust Lady Cardei. She's mentioned -- well, when she was her old self, she mentioned she went through something similar, and it made her what she is. I'm familiar with the strategy."

She'd been toying with a piece of lint; now she leaned forward and met the older woman's eyes. "There's something you should know before you start breaking down my mind. I don't think or feel like a humanoid." Her features sloughed away, melting, bubbling into a pink and fronded shape that had only the most tangential relationship to a human. One of her tentacles curled around the piece of lint and tossed it away. She smiled, or gave the Mikan equivalent, and shifted back into her publicly palatable form. "I'm a Mikan. The face you're seeing now is a shape I take, a camouflage mechanism. My standard food is humanoid. So when I say I don't think like one..."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer placed her hand on her chest and mimicked as if she was hurt. She was used to people not wanting to trust her, which with some of the company she kept she honestly didn’t blame them. A pout of her lip she stated with sarcasm, “Not trust me? I’m so hurt.” Spencer sighed softly and smiled as the woman continued to explain her circumstances. It was then she transformed into a shape and body that Spencer had personally never seen before. Her lips curved into an o as she examined the form.

The look of surprise faded as the woman shifted back into her usual visual form. “I see, that’s interesting - no wonder you weren’t interested in my sandwich.” Chuckling, Spencer had seen some stuff in her time, but this was something different. Though there was no reason for her to make a huge deal about it, she was trusted by Ashin, so there was no reason for Spencer to not trust her. “You say you don’t think like a humanoid, but one day I’d like to prove you wrong.”

Remembering some of the minds she had connected with over the years, Spencer put her curled index finger to her lip. “There are some humanoids who think in very twisted ways that will make even the darkest of Sith Masters look tame.” Nodding, she decided not to dive to far into that lesson - it would be for another day. “I won’t break your mind, so you will need to be aware enough to let me know when you’re getting there. We’ll start when you’re ready.” Finishing up her sandwich, she shrugged. “I can’t say teaching you isn’t selfish, because it is - but I like to think it will benefit the both of us. We have invested something into the person you protect. I like my investments protected.” [member="Lady Shambleau"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

And she laughs. She wouldn't laugh if I wrapped her up and bit her.

The one day I'd like to prove you wrong line made Shambleau do a double take, though she tried to keep it moderately concealed. Mentally, she assigned [member="Spencer Varanin"] a point towards the 'respectable, if sadly humanoid' side of things. Not many humans could see a Mikan in its natural form, chuckle, and then make a veiled pass at said Mikan.

Always assuming, of course, that Shambleau was reading humanoid social cues correctly. Never a given. Krayt dragons don't care about bantha mating habits.

"I'm ready now," she said, before she could talk herself out of it. It wasn't often a humanoid made her feel actual fear. Cognitive dissonance resulted, as the fear challenged her instinctive sense of their relative predator-and-prey positioning. Even when she met Sith Lords and so forth, she generally felt less nervous and more...hungry. Whether from some innate quality, from sheer power, or from the Lujo trauma, Spencer Varanin didn't allow Shambleau that luxury.