Private Those Are Mine

[Alina Tremiru]

She hadn't expected to care.

When the Sith Empire fell, her families estate was one of the casualties. Burned to the ground, ransacked and looted. Countless artifacts the Tremiru family had horded over the centuries, lost. Stolen. And Alina never cared. Her apprentice had taken the holocrons of most importance. The notes that truly mattered. And yet, when word met her ears of some of the lesser artifacts being pawned off, she couldn't help herself.

In the back streets of Denon she kicked down the door to the neighborhood pawn shop. Anger. Hate. Possessiveness. She didn't deny herself those emotions. It was rare she could actually act on them. The Rodian owner pulled a blaster, seeming used to people trying to rob him.

"I 'unno who ya are, but ya best get outa my sho-"

He didn't finish the sentence. He blinked, and she was gone. Beside him. The sound of metal tearing filled his ears as he looked to the reinforced door to behind the counter. Cold, rageful eyes stared unblinking as the metal peeled away. He turned the blaster to her, firing wildly. Fear filled his heart. Smoke rose from where the glowing eyes had been, clouding the make shift hole she'd made. Silence.

He waited a couple seconds before stepping closer. Reaching for the door nob. Whatever this.. Freak was, surely she was dead, right? Even in a panic he wasn't a bad shot. The Rodian gripped the handle. Only for it to be ripped from his hand. The whole door came free of it's hinges, frame and all, clattering through the store. He couldn't even blink before he felt a crushing weight on his wrist.

Then nothing. He blinked in surprise as he stared where his hand should've been. Crushed and twisted off. He couldn't scream before he felt a hand on his throat, lifting him from the ground.

"Where is the artifact."

He knew. He raised a hand, pointing towards what looked like a vault. A loud crunch cut off his choking before his corpse hit the ground. Alina moved to the vault, ripping the whole thing apart. Inside, a lightsaber.

"Hello again, you queen."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

"Didn't know you thought of me that way. I'm flattered."

A voice called out from behind Alina. In the doorway Amani stood waiting, saber already in hand. She had already lost the trail of one Sith, in Surea; She would not lose the trail of a second one. Since their encounter on Tatooine, Amani had kept a close eye on reports of similar activity, eventually tracking Alina's trail to Denon.

Her eyes darted down to the slain shopkeep. Already too late, by her standards. Had to keep the body count down this time. The mirialan's visage turned sullen, and faced the vampire once more.

"What are you after this time?"

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Well that explains the pleasant scent among all this trash." Alina didn't break eye contact with the ancient looking lightsaber, her eyes narrowed in a mix of disgust and amusement. Which brought the differing feelings were hard enough to tell. The Sith hooked the saber on her waist, turning her head to glance to the Mirialan.

"Are you following me, Jedi? I'm sorry to disappoint but I'm full of baggage. You might want to find someone else." She walked. Stepping out from behind the glassed off counter where the owner once stood. Through the door she'd ripped apart. "Something sacred to my family. After you Jedi bombed Korriban, you could say it's the last piece of my sister."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani raised a brow. On one hand, Alina could pick up her scent from there, on the other, she at least had a nice scent? Silver linings. "Aren't we all?" The Jedi stepped inside, "I lost track of my last Sith, so I guess I'm compensating for that with you."

Her gaze flicked between the vampire, and the hilt on her hip. Last time they met, Alina had plans for a different sinister relic. There was little reason to believe this one was any less destructive. "If that's supposed to elicit sympathy, then I'm having a hard time finding any… Considering I've personally witnessed you slaughter a wave of civilians…" Amani admitted, looking toward the deceased shopkeeper, "There must be more to it than that."

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I did the victim for a while. But I don't let that define me. Even if you had sympathy, I don't welcome it." Alina slowly flexed her fingers, watching the Jedi in front of her for a moment. Then looked to the nearby wall. Set a hand against it through all the various knickknacks and trash the owner had collected. "It's fairly personal, that much I'm willing to say. But I don't share my family problems even with the prettiest of Jedi."

She pressed forward. The sound of something cracking thundered in the room. Lines formed over the wall as the shelving fell. The building itself started to crumble as the Sangnir literally pushed the wall down in front of her.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani’s focus was glued on the Sith, waiting for that slightest hint of an incoming attack. Only after Alina finished did she reply, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lip, “You think I’m pretty?”

The groaning of the foundation was her signal to act, and in a blink Amani burst forward, her saber drawn and ignited in a single swipe. Stopping the vampire was a matter of brevity, time was not to be wasted. She wasn’t dumb enough to expect it to do the job, though, “Make this easy for me.”

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

An amused chuckle was all Alina could manage as she focused more on bringing the house down. Literally. At least until she heard the hiss of a lightsaber. She turned just enough, slipping her actual lightsaber free from it's sheath on her thigh. The red blade unfolded, the ornate cross guard springing to life as she caught the Jedi's weapon against it.

"I like playing hard to get."

She flashed a grin and a wink, then shifted in. Went to hook Amani's blade in the crook of her own before lifting both blades up. And swung a fist for the Jedi's gut.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

The blades clashed with a spark, and in just a few motions both were pinned upward. The dance left them face to face, and without weapons. Not that it seemed to be an issue for either one.

Amani bit her lip, “Not hard enough, then,” She had found her again, after all. And would continue to do so. A cat and mouse game that spanned the galaxy, if it came to it.

The swing of a fist brought her back down to earth. But rather than being concerned by it, her more playful demeanor remained. Whatever Alina had planned, Amani could still channel the Force. Which meant that she could actually do something. She could react to the Sith’s vampiric speed, checking the strike with a brush of her hand, and following up with a Force-amplified punch toward her face.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

The punch came, and the Force died.

A too smug expression took over the Sangnir's lips as she turned her head. Let the punch sail by. Amani was too used to loosing the Force to just throw up the aura willy nilly. But to have the Jedi take advantage of the Force to overextend, that was different. The arm that was brushed away tucked in, aiming to pull the Jedi into a simple embrace.

All so the Vampire could sink her teeth into the Mirialan's throat.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani groaned in irritation as she felt the Force leave her body. She'd gotten overconfident, and trapped herself. Just like that, Alina had the advantage all over again, and the Jedi had to think quickly.

Ashamedly, the sudden embrace actually made Amani blush; What followed was less appealing. With few other options available, Amani scrambled to snatch her pistol from her waist, pressed the barrel against the vampire's side, and pulled the trigger several times. Maybe that would get her to back off.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Oh right. The gun.

Alina hissed under her breath, halting whatever she was trying to do to instead try and wrestle the blaster away. Bullets, lasers, both hurt, didn't matter what kind of gun it was. "Pulling a gun for a little love bite? Are all Jedi this extreme?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

A single shot rang out as her weapon was yanked away, the bullet ricocheting against the wall with a loud ping, “Aw, don’t be mad at me,” Amani pouted. With little recourse the Jedi simply opted to put distance between herself and Alina’s jaws. She pulled her saber away, creating a hiss and a streak of light as the blades ran against each other.

“Somehow, I get the feeling there’s no love in that bite,” Amani stepped back, swinging the saber outward to ward off the Sith from an immediate rebuke. She then took a proper stance in anticipation of whatever Alina threw at her next.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Aww, is that heartbreak I smell?"

Alina slid back from the swipe of the saber, giving both of them room in the process. Her golden eyes stayed focused on the Jedi, narrowed in a focus that betrayed her otherwise playful demeanor. The Force returned as she dropped the aura. Surprise was the only ally she had with that ability, and she still wasn't sure what her limits were in keeping it alive.

"Why are you chasing after me? A couple dead thieves and murderers and suddenly I'm your obsession? Don't you Jedi have the Maw to deal with?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

“Well, it is what we do, isn’t it? Jedi and Sith just can’t stay away from each other. Besides, the Maw aren’t as easy on the eyes.” Amani smirked, her gaze never leaving the vampire in anticipation of another strike. Only the return of the Force brought a moment’s surprise, but still she remained unwavering. Her reliance had to become more passive. A tool to react, to predict, but little more, lest Alina try and take it away again.

“You don’t think I’m dumb, do you?” Tension hung in the air as they became locked in a standoff, until Amani broke the silence and frowned.

“First the dowser, now the saber. You’re up to something, and you’re leaving a trail. Don’t suppose I could do anything that would convince you to tell me what?”

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I already told you. I'm fixing what was done to me." Alina sighed, almost pouting as she watched Amani. "You follow me but you don't remember that? My mother and such?" Alina slowly slipped backwards, walking between the various shelves of items as she watched the Jedi. Keeping her distance. The plan was a quick in and out, especially since this was far more.. Personal than the dowser had been. Silently she cursed the spirit inside the saber. That'd be it's own thing she'd deal with, eventually.

"A long line of powerful Sorcerers. Well, one sorcerer who takes over the body of her daughter to continue her experiments. The old hag is my problem to deal with. Can't have her getting out again, can I?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

“Oh, I remember,” Amani assured, “I just don’t believe that a Sith like you doesn’t have loftier ambitions at play.” All Sith do, for that matter. But Alina didn’t strike her as someone blindly chasing the next grab for power. It was, if nothing else, more calculated than that.

She watched her carefully, now moving around between the shelves. Amani began to do the same, on a path opposite that of the vampire; Like two repelling magnets circling each other. “On that we agree.” Her stance loosened ever so slightly, still guarded but not rigid in posture. “There’s better ways to do it than this, though.” She just couldn’t stop being that Jedi. Always offering the olive branch.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Better ways for a Sithspawn that needs to feed on people to survive? You can't honestly expect me to believe that there is another path for someone made to be corrupted. What next, a Sithspawn Jedi?" She scoffed at the idea as she continued down the shelving. Down towards the exit, the windows. Didn't matter which, but it'd be easier to get outside that way than through a solid wall. Well no, but it'd be easier to do with a Jedi trying to stop her at least.

"I'm no threat to you, or any other Jedi. As flattered as I am to see you, why don't you find a real threat?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani blinked. At this point she didn’t know what to believe. This woman had violently slaughtered others without hesitation, but made herself out to be the victim. Was it all some attempt at deception? Did she really believe there was no other option? Or did she just not care?

Whatever the case, her argument made Amani chuckled aloud, “I uh, I do know one, actually.” Again her defenses lowered just a little further, and now she took a step toward the Sith. “Really. A Sithspawn Jedi.” Ex-Sithspawn, technically, but that kind of clarification wasn’t going to streamline her argument.

“If you’re really not a threat… then come with me.” The saber had now fallen to her side. Feelings of gullibility were supplanted by her belief in goodliness. “Nobody is made to be corrupted. There is always a way back. I have to believe that.” Amani pleaded, raising her free hand out to Alina. If the vampire wanted help, perhaps even a cure, they would find it, or make it.

She was gonna be really pissed if she was getting tricked, though.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina stopped walking to give the most disbelieving expression. Well, at first. Then sighed. "Kai isn't the same. He wasn't born Sithspawn." He had to be the one Amani was talking about. If not, well, there went that belief. Still, it didn't change the fact she was Sangnir. That she needed to eat people to survive.

"You're kind. You have that going for you, sure. But you've seen the Maw. Who they are, what they are. I tried the whole 'help the Jedi' thing. I tried the whole be different thing. In turn, I was hunted and hated by you Jedi and others. So I'll do things my way." Whoops. Alina caught herself before she ended up saying too much. A soft chuckle escaped her as she lifted up one of the nick nacks close by. Looking it over.

"Perhaps if I was younger I would've listened." With a casual flick of her wrist she threw the object with the force of an all star Huttballer. The item shattered through the glass of the front door, causing a cascade of broken shards to litter the ground. "Stay out of my way. I'll deal with the monsters you'd rather ignore."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani was genuinely surprised that she knew who Kai was, although the disappointment that came with Alina moving the goalposts overwhelmed it.

“If you give up then you’re only letting the cycle continue. We can change things if you’ll just let me.” She began to move closer, hoping to reach the Sith before she tried to make a getaway.

“Whatever it is, there has to be a fix. A way around it.” Amani now fully sheathed her lightsaber, leaving herself exposed. “Please. If I can come back, then so can you.”

Alina Tremiru​