Private Ven Oya'kari

[Mia Monroe]

The reports that Jhi had provided her with were extensive. Eight mandalorians killed in the last week on the same scouting path that skirted the edge of the wastes, each attack, the beast hadn't killed them outright. Instead, it had simply left them for dead, to be found by the next scout. every single one had made it back to Keldabe hospital and died there. It was killing for sport, not food. And every attack drew it closer and closer to Keldabe City. Mia had no description, for they were never any sightings, nor were the victims ever in any state to speak by the time they arrived.

What she did have, were educated guesses. The spread of the claws attacks that had cut through beskar like butter and the shape and pattern of bites told her it was a hound of some description. Big enough, to pick up a full grown mandalorian in beskargam and shake him like a toy. That couple with the odd track that had been found put it at a guess around five to six feet at its shoulder. But there was an anomaly she hadn't quite figured out. Two of the victims had no claw or bite wounds, instead they had gaping puncture wounds and traces of poison had paralysed them.

She traipsed through the Iron home, Ijaat's stronghold and their home, tracking down the Novanian Shaman, finding her in quarters Ijaat had set aside, tossing her the datapad with the reports to catch her up to speed. "Gear up, we're going hunting."

Less than an hour later, they were dropped by a patrol craft at the site of the last attack.

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Since coming to Mandalore, Elise hardly ever stopped.

Tasks ranging from scouting, to healing fellow vode injured on construction sites, to planting trees. Elise was on her feet twenty four seven. She hardly even trained and studied anymore. She merely moved. She worked hard, pouring everything she had into restoring Mandalore. She hardly even Dreamwalked, and seldom saw her mentor Siyarr Ahan-Mitharran in the Dreamscape. The only times she ever stopped to breathe were when she was meeting Darth Malum of House Marr in ruins on Concordia. And even then, the moments spent with him were short. No one could find out, after all, that Elise was... close... to a Sith Lord. It was contrary to everything she was, everything she aimed to be. And yet, she already could not imagine her life without him.

Mia had been lucky to catch Elise in her quarters. Elise seldom spent time there, except for sleeping on her little cot. Most boxes were yet to be unpacked, there was not an ounce of personalization or decoration, and Elise's equipment was usually thrown in a designated pile in the corner. There was not even a table set up! Elise had only been her room to grab a gardening tool she had forgotten when Mia Monroe barged into her quarters, threw a data pad at her skull, and told her she had a new mission.

After applying some ice to the new goose egg on her head and taking some pain killers, Elise read up on the reports and got ready.

As usual, Elise was on time and fully prepared. Despite being tired from her life's nonstop motion, she was fully aware as she followed closely behind Monroe. Elise's red kama, finely dusted with sand and dirt, flowed in the wind as the two walked into a disaster zone.

This was Ibac'er'Braar. A small outpost in the outskirts of Keldabe, bordering the wastes. Before Mandalore fell, it had been a refueling station for ships coming to and from Keldabe. The site had been fixed up, and now served a similar purpose as what was essentially a gas station for speeders.

It was a lucky thing, that none of the fuel tanks got damaged.

Elise could feel her blade, Tar'Nae, perking up as they entered the scene of a slaughter. Outside the main quarters where vode lodged, there were five vode were sprawled out, dead. They had been killed in brutal fashion. Beneath her buy'ce, Elise gritted her teeth. Too many vode were dying around her, even by her own hands. In the air, Elise sensed a chill that was unnatural even for the apocalyptic Moridinae. She entered the lodging house, and saw that the entire place was wrecked. Blaster bolt scars singed the walls, furniture was turned over and rammed into. The possessions of vode, and equipment for manning the fuel station, were all littered about. And already, Elise saw two more corpses in the room. Elise drew her bow and carefully scouted the building. Not even a mouse droid could be found here. She went upstairs, where Mandalorians bunked. She saw one more body, brutalized just inches from the open, shattered window.

Elise spoke into her comlink, <<"Haar'chak, this checks out with the reports. Eight vode dead. The wounds range from bites, to claw marks, to puncturing. And Mia, I sense the Dark Side in this place.">>

Elise turned and looked around the room, searching for something of certain value. And eventually, she saw it. A Mandalorian Ripper pistol was found under a bunk, with green blood splatter matching this room's Duro's victim. Elise reached out, towards the pistol.

<<"Give me a second. I'm going to use Psychometry on this vod's pistol. I should be able to look back on what attacked her, using that.">>

The Ajayid took a deep breath, focused, and closed her eyes. She touched the pistol.

She was going to find out what happened here.

 

[Mia Monroe]

Where Elise moved inside, Mia moved carefully around the outpost, pausing at each of the bodies, to straighten them, folding their arms across their chests, placing their weapons in their hands. Their numbers were too few to be able to afford losses like this, the creature was a sithspawn, Mia could feel it. She'd made her own, she recognised the signatures in the force that surrounded one. Anger rose in her chest, urging her to reach into the darkness.

Elise's voice over the comms snapped her back from it. Mia had t be careful, exposing herself to the dark side in the presence of those she cared about was dangerous, not only for them but for her and her future plans. They would never allow her to go after Kaine if they knew what it was costing her.

"Careful Eli'ika, a pistol will likely show you more than you anticipate." Like the people it'd killed, the pain it had brought. She spotted fresh tracks, now more than a couple of hours old. The creature was still nearby, either that or the outpost cut through the edge of the territory it was patrolling. "Its a sithspawn, that much I do know and I have tracks. Don't dig unless you feel you have to."

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Elise shook her head in response to Mia's warning. Since she had trained with Trayze Tesar , she felt that she had far better control of her powers. She lowered her finger, tentatively close to the pistol.

<<"Give me the chance. I can control it now.">>

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She focused the way she was taught, and she touched the pistol. And she opened her eyes, seeing a completely different version of the room. A Mandalorian dropped his pistol, terrified, as an unfamiliar creature tore into him. Through the gruesome sight, Elise focused on the creature. It was a creature built like an anooba, but far larger. Furthermore, the scales on its back and the stinger in place of a tail was starkly unnatural. The Dark Side permeated in a husky aura, choking her. But she continued to focus, in an up water stream, as she forced her Force Sense into proper alignment. It was easier than it used to be, Elise realized. Perhaps, her time spent in Sith space accustomed her to the Dark Side's disposition. The Mandalorian in the room tried to break through the window, but was caught by the creature's tail. It yanked him back, and the helmet fell off, revealing his terrified Duros eyes.

The sithspawn slammed him repeatedly, until he was dead. Then, it leapt from the window in search of more prey.

Elise gasped as she opened her eyes to reality, sweating. She panted for a couple moments, as pride and joy swirled within her heart. So far, Trayze's training working! What else could Elise garnish from his order-

Elise scooped up the pistol, lightly tossing it from one hand to another with a sense of freedom. Checking the ammunition, Elise spoke to Mia Monroe again, <<"I know what it looks like. A white anooba type creature, but larger. It has scaled spines and a venomous stinger too.">>

Elise stored the pistol into her utility belt, deciding to keep it. She approached the open window and jumped out, landing on the ground with the aid of the Force. She felt... in control, since her time spent with the Tesar family. She smirked, clenching her fists. How had she never gotten this far, training with the Novanian Shamans?

She turned and followed Mia's Force Signature to where she was at, silently coming up from behind her. <"Let's go.">

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia was crouched over the tracks, she glanced over her shoulder as Elsie approached. Something had shifted in the girl in the last few weeks, she'd gained a confidence she'd been lacking, was growing more sure of her abilities. The uncertain girl full of doubt that Mia had brought here was gone. She still bore the guilt, and the pain, but she was thriving under it. She understood now, why Malum was so concerned for her path into the dark.

Standing she turned to regard Elise for a moment, contemplating something, this trip was about more than hunting a sithspawn. She and Elise had things to discuss and Mia had to push certain buttons to gauge her reactions. How far down the path had she gone?

"Show me." she said finally. "When you use your psychometry, you take those images on board as your own memories, reverse it." She moved a little closer and closed her eyes, picking something from her own mind. She could have chosen a simple image, perhaps of the golka resting in the crater on Myrkr but that would not push any buttons. So instead, Mia reversed her drain knowledge and planted something far more evocative. "Like this."

The image of Malum, smirking as Mia had him pinned against the wall, his crimson eyes gone beneath the orange embers. followed by an explosion in the force.

She deliberately didn't show her the outcome. For a moment she said nothing allowing her to process the assault she'd just suffered. "He's fine, for the record. Now, show me the sithspawn."

They were not going to talk about it now, but Elise at least was under no illusions about why Mia had dragged her and her alone out to hunt something that had killed eight vode without issue.

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

​

Elise tilted her head in confusion as Mia explained how to reverse Psychometry. Elise had been doing that her whole life, why-

Then... the memory.

"My relationship with Elise is none of your concern, and so help you if you dare try to keep her from me!"

Elise froze, horror on her face when she saw the unfamiliar smirk and the way his eyes glazed over. She recognized the look of when Darth Ophidia took over. Tears flooded her eyes, realizing that something to do with her triggered it. But then, her eyes widened when she realized just what had triggered it at all.

Mia!

Elise's heart skipped a beat as she looked up to Mia with wide, spooked, confused eyes. Somehow, someway, Mia had found a way to get to Malum. She somehow knew Malum. She somehow triggered a bout of the insanity Elise feared from him. But even more, she realized that she was in big doodoo this time... because Mia Monroe knew about her relationship with Darth Malum of House Marr !

She'll shocked, with questions racing through her mind, Elise tapped Mia's arm, transferring her memories of the sithspawn, all while clearly thinking about something else. Elise's hand fell limp to her side as she gazed into the wastes, heart pounding relentlessly. She reached back and pulled her red hood over her buy'ce. She always pulled her hood over her head when she was nervous; it was her nervous twitch. She took a couple steps forward, passing Mia, and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

"You know what it looks like now. Let's get moving, before more vode are killed."

Elise was going to avoid the lecture of a lifetime as long as she could. On the bright side, it wasn't her mom who found out about Elise's questionable taste in men.

 

[Mia Monroe]

The reaction had been exactly what Mia had hoper for. Elise was instantly off centre, her emotions running wild. While she did well on the outside to contain it, she was roiling in the force. Now for the real test, how easily could she put her emotions aside to fight.

The memory of the sithspawn was irrelevant, Mia didn't need to see it, it was just an opportunity. She didn't press the matter further as they tracked the beast, coming across half eaten animal corpses and dead trees with claw marks that cut them almost in half.

They treked for the best part of an hour, until Mia felt somethibg shift in the force, like they were no longer hunting but instesd being hunted. She caught Elise's arm to stop her, reaching out with her force sense and flicking her HUD to thermal display.

It was nowhere to be seen, but she still knew they were being tracked. "Head west, towards the wastes, its tracking us. We need the open space to kill it."

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

The time spent tracking the creature was an opportunity for Elise to shove her anxieties aside. Her worries for Darth Malum of House Marr , wherever he was, and the state of his mind and identity were a constant on her mind. Every day. But today, the glimpse into his fight with Mia Monroe shook those feelings all the more. So every scratch in the trees, every footprint, she focused on her current situation instead. It was a coping mechanism passed down from her mother, who had a terrible habit of avoiding her problems via escapism. She escaped into her technology, her forging, her art, and even providing her children's physical and financial needs. Elise remembered how crushed Gwyneira had been, when she realized that Eliz Krayt was not coming home again. She had been so shut off, emotionally, that the pre-teen Elise essentially took over raising Mevia, until Gwyneira came to grips with her abandonment issues once again.

It was something that Elise had picked up on. Elise was a Type A, action oriented individual. She spent her entire life training and studying, to become the best Mandalorian and Novanian Shaman she could possibly be. Evading insecurity, and evading doubt, she buried herself in whatever lesson, training session, of mission was before her. And now, it was easy to return to those old habits.

With a hauntingly cold expression, she did everything she could to assist Mia as they tracked the sithspawn.

It was a complete shock to Elise when Mia reached out and took her arm, stopping her. Elise's heartbeat hastened when Mia gave her the next orders. Confused, Elise blinked as she dove into her Force Sense... It took a moment, but she recognized the Dark Side's chill. Once again confused as to how the Dark Side evaded her so often, she shook her head firmly. She should not be focusing on her confusing powers, or Malum's sanity and well being, or the fact that an uncomfortable silence regarding her forbidden relationship was wrecking her this past hour. She needed to focus... on the task before her.

Elise nodded, swallowed the lump in her throat, and moved. Heading west, she approached the sandy, arid wastes. It was always a somber experience, leaving the little vegetation on this planet aside. Elise adjusted her HUD's setting to see in the rains of sand as they stepped away from the shade of the trees. The unforgiving sun best down on the duo as they walked into the open. Elise felt that the more they entered the sun, the more they were being tracked in haste.

It doesn't want us out here...

Elise turned around, facing the direction of the treeline a mere thirty parsecs away from them. There was movement in the trees. Elise's Chiss borne ultraviolet vision saw the heat signature of a creature in the trees, ducking as it hid its stinger. The sensation of the Dark Side was a lot stronger, more focused now. Elise reached and placed her hand on her Durin Charric-Disruptor pistol.

<"It's here.">

Elise kept locked onto both its heat signature and its Force Signature. It felt... pitiful. An ever agonizing swirl was pulling into a void, like a black hole. Was this creature cursed to ever hunt, but never get its fill? Elise frowned, letting go of the pistol and lifting her hands to her head. She pulled her hood down, and placed both hands on her buy'ce with intent to remove it. For all the evils in this galaxy, the little girl in her could not stop believing that somewhere, somehow, there could be compromise.

<"Please, let me try something.">

 

[Mia Monroe]

The tree line was thinning, the sithspawn was running out of places to hide its stalking of them. Mia pulled her bolters free of her hip holsters as they stepped into the wastes, a dust storm had kicked up, shortening their feild of view.

She opened herself to the force heightening her sense, tapping into the dsrk veins for the strength she knew she was going to need.

Thus far Elise was doing well, though the fact that she had not noticed them being stalked until it was pointed out was a problem. Something to address later.

Mia wrestled with her protective instinct as Elise moved to take off her helmet. Gritting her teeth she took a knee, becoming small in the beasts eye, allowing his focus to settle on Elise.

"Be careful." She hissed "Sithspawn are not easily reasoned with."

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Elise pulled her buy'ce off. Blonde hair was immediately tossed and tangled as the wind met it. Elise gave a nod to Mia, then placed her helmet down as she slowly approached the beast.

Elise made herself appear small as well. She crouched, and she undid her utility belt. Her weapons fell to the ground, alongside her shaman medallion chains. She pulled the bow off her back and laid it down as well. Unarmed, save for the weaponry in her buy'ce, Elise approached the treeline as she extended her hand.

Through the Force, she reached for the creature's Force Signature. It felt like a black hole, ever starving and ever devouring. Elise felt pity for the creature, who was only following its instincts to feed. It likely was unaware, as to how it was skin and bones no matter how much it fed. The corpses of her vode flashed before her mind, but she put her anger aside. Releasing a calming aura with the Force, she send forth gentle waves of Force Animal Bond.

"Hi, sweety. Are you lost?"

From behind a bush, the sithspawn stumbled out from its hiding place, shaking its head. The tail swung violently, scratching poisoned etches through the trees around it. Elise continued.

"I won't hurt you. I don't want to hurt you. I only want to help..."

The sithspawn paused, looking at Elise. Shaking eyes were focused on Elise's breastplate, the Iron Heart symbol displayed proudly.

It growled.

"You don't like it?" Elise reached back, unclipping the beskar plating, "It's okay. I don't need it, cause we aren't fighting."

The beskar'gam chestplate was laid down, in the sands. Elise's bodyglove was her only chest protection now. But she wouldn't need it. She was going to help this cursed creature.

"You must be hurt. Bred and born for mindless destruction, you don't have a choice, do you? But we could change that, cure you. You can be happy, full."

The creature stood, staring, with the tail down and body hunkered. Through the Force, Elise felt the animal calming down. It was working!

Elise crawled closer to the treeline, "It's okay, baby. It's okay."

Under the shade of the closest trees, she extended her hand for him to sniff, "Aren't you a good boy?"

The wolf hybrid approached, tentatively, and faintly sniffed at her hand. Elise waited, with baited breath, as it looked at her with far calmer eyes. Elise beamed.

"I knew you aren't all bad!" She reached up, stroking his nose, "Doesn't that feel good? There, there."

The animal leaned in, showing subtle signs of pleasure. Like any other canine, the tail was wagging. He leaned into Elise's hand, guiding her hand to the right spot. Eyes closed, body shivering, this poor creature was tasting affection for the first time.

Elise giggled, lifting her other hand and relaxing as she scratched behind the ears. The animal was quite content here, as the two began to bond, until...

Elise Iron Heart pendant slipped out from her bodyglove. Elise was unaware of it completely, as wearing Mandalorian jewelry was something she did so regularly, she never felt it anymore. But the sunlight above caught the medallion, causing it to glisten. Elise was shocked when the Sithspawn suddenly growled, tensing up again. The very image of Mandalorian culture was an unfortunate trigger.

The animal sharply pulled away from Elise, who looked up with such an innocent, confused look, "What is i-"

In a flash, Elise was stabbed with the stinger. It pierced her bodyglove, as she was slightly lifted above. She coughed out blood, looked down at the sithspawn.

"W-why?..."

The eyes of the canine softened, as if apologetic, before using momentum and the tail to toss Elise to the ground. Purple liquid mixed with the blood that spilled, as Elise coughed again. Her side, where she had been struck, was intensely itching and burning. But it mattered not, as she teared up.

"Why..."

Blood had splattered on the necklace that had unknowingly triggered the sithspawn.

Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

"ELISE!"

Mia was on her feet, charging forward, bolters firing, the explosive rounds ripping through the air, tearing into the sithspawns flesh. It yelped, the softness it had formed under Elise's touch and words vanished in the face of Mia's fury.


It leapt for her, catching a final bolt acorss the side of its head the sprayed gore across the waste, before it collided with the former Mandalore. Sending her flying into the dust storm and out of sight of Elise. She hit the ground, bolter skittering from her hands she rolled over herself drawing her beskad as she came up on her knee. The sithspawn came at her again jaws closing about her free arm, teeth sinking through the beskar playing into her skin forcing her onto her back.

Mia's blade flashed cutting through bine and sinew to cleave its lower jaw away. Yanking her arm free as it screamed she rolled up from underneath it, driving the blade in through its ear. The screaming stopped and the beast shuddered and dropped slowly. Mia watched the lught leave its eyes, twisting the blade to be sure. She didn't bither to pull her blade free, or collect her bolters.

She ran back to Elise, skidding as she came down on her knees besides her. "Hold on Eli'ika." So much blood, she scrambled to stem the flow, actuvatubg her comms with a blink. "Jhi! I need a med evac, NOW!"

"We're ten minutes out, al'verde."

Elise didn't have five minutes not with the blood she was losing. "KARK!" She reached up pulling her helmet free. "Elise, ad'ika. I need to stop the bleeding. It's going to hurt like hell." As she spoke heat began to grow around her hand, she pressed her forehead to Elise's. "Stay with me, ad'ika."

She plunged her fire wreathed hand against the wound, the flames shifting from orange to a bright blue as she sought to cauterize the wound.

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Cascading from the wound, the burning boiled as the venom spread through her entire bloodstream. Her veins felt hotter than lava, and her heart felt heavy as lead. Sweating profusely, Elise gritted her teeth as she struggled to move her arm. She lifted her arm, trying to bring her hand over the wound so she could detoxify her body with the Force. But a spasm shook her, forcing her arm to contort, then fall to the ground. And then, the muscles and nerves in Elise's body froze. And she was trapped, paralyzed. The poison was working fast.

​

<"Hold on Eli'ika.">

Elise's eyes, flooded with tears, looked over to Mia Monroe . She tried to speak, but her jaw was locked and her tongue was tingling. This was a fast working venom. How quickly was it able to...?

​

<"Elise, ad'ika. I need to stop the bleeding. It's going to hurt like hell.">

Hoping that her own built resistance to drugs would pay off, Elise had no choice but to trust whatever Mia was doing. Eyes focused on her, Elise's red orbs cried of confusion and disappointment, that she was unable to reach the sithspawn. What even had happened to it? Had Mia killed it? The thought wrenched her heart, which was starting to beat irregularly. With Elise's body temperature already soaring, she was unable to sense the growing heat from Mia's powers as she learned down and put her forehead against Elise's. Elise sharply forced her psychometric powers into order, and was untainted by force fed memories. Tears of fear fell from Elise's eyes as Mia begged her.

​

"Stay with me, ad'ika."

Elise's mind darted to a white haired, pale woman. She looked at her with worry and love as she patched Elise's latest batch of training injuries. Her amber, cybernetic eyes portrayed just as many emotions as organic ones, as she calmly used the Force to mend her cuts and bruises.

Mother? Why am I thinking of you now?

That was when the feeling of some sort of object being shoved into her wound gripped her. Elise was unable to speak, but she screamed as much as her paralyzed mouth allowed. The extreme heat, it felt like she was being burned alive. Drool gurgled and slipped from Elise's mouth. It reminded her of her sister, Mevia cutting through her in their battle at Lwekk. The image was followed by a fat younger Mevia, looking up to her with a timid, fearful, but trusting expression as her elder sister guided her through a forest trail for the first time.

Mevia, I'm sorry.

Then, she saw Malum. Had the last she'd seen of him truly been him losing his identity to madness? What would become of him? Her mind drifted through their most vulnerable and intimate moments, and she desperately desired to see him again. And that, that was when she realized why she was seeing so many loved ones...

Am I going to die?​

Her heart froze up with a sharp, cramping pain.

"Ack!"

Then, her heart started to beat again. However, the heartbeat was far weaker, though faster than a blaster bolt. Elise's eyes began to close, as she felt light headed.

She saw her father. She saw her auntie. They looked down from the Manda, beckoning her to join the eternal march. They wouldn't be disappointed in her, like Elise was sure her grandfather and cousin were. Kranak Vizsla lead the crusade she fought against. And Yuri, poor Yuri, was likely angry at her for defecting for the same Jedi Order who killed his Buir. Elise's eyes drooped ever closer to shutting, as her heart spasmed and stopped again.

Why does this galaxy need me anyways? I only ever fail. I couldn't even save that wolf... It's worthless, isn't it? When I can't ever be together with the man I love?

Stillness took her, her heart's lack of movement hushing her. Was she going to die?

"Take heart, Jac'Eli'Serum. You are not alone."


"There are still good people in this galaxy, Elise.


"Stay with me, El'ika!"


"Elise!"​

Elise's eyes opened, as her heart started beating again.

No. She still had so much to fight for. Mandalore's future, Malum's sanity and safety, Mevia's redemption, and Mia's eminence. For her mentors, Yorunarr and Siyarr back at home. The galaxy's very future as it threatened to tear itself apart. Elise's eyes, previously glazed over, were hardened in determination. She reached out with the Force, speaking to her mentor. Despite the agonizing pain threatening to lull her asleep, despite her inability to even react to the pain, and despite all her failures. She would fight.

"Mia, I'm paralyzed. We need to take care of the poison, once I'm done bleeding."

Elise sharply breathed. Her chest was heavy. She was struggling to breathe, but she held on. She had to. For Mia, for Malum, for Mevia, for all of her loved ones.

"In my utility belt, there's an injection with red liquid, 'Trickster's Vitality.' Inject that in me, and it'll kickstart my shaman healing and detoxifying processes for me. Please?"

Staring up to Mandalore's eyes, she forced herself to stay awake. Stay alive. "I'm not done yet!"

​

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia flinched at the cry of pain that cane from Elise, the scent of burnt flesh filling her nose. She could feel her slipping, feel her fightibg to hold on, a hand gently stroked Elise's hair until she found her foothold.

"Good girl." She breathed in relief lifting her head as Elise's instructions filled her mind. She looked for the belt she'd discarded in her approach to the sithspawn, calling it to her hand with the force. Her hands shook slightly and she closed her eyes breifly to steady herself. To close the iron gates on her emotions. Elise needed her to be calm and she would be calm.

A breif rummage through and she found what looking for. Taking Elise's forearm she used the teeth to pull the cap free of the needle, sliding it beneath the skin and into her veins with surprising accuracy.

Once done she moved lifting Elise's head into her lap. There was nothing more for her to do but wait.

"How can I trust that she will be safe under your protection...

Malum's words drifted to her and she cursed him inwardly.

"I've got you, ad"ika. Keep fighting."


Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

The moment the serum was injected, Mia Monroe would have started to notice a red glowing beneath her bodyglove. Red lines of war paint, depicting subtlties of Novanian culture, made themselves bright and visible under Elise's clothes. Mia set the girl's head on her lap, and Elise, looking up at the dreary, felt the effects of the serum. Force Healing and Force Detoxify Poison exploded through her body, with added perfections from Novanian botany. Elise's heart no longer spasmed, and her lungs once again breathed air. The agonizing fire in her body was put out, like cool water over a fire. Elise gasped, taking in heavy breaths as her body started to regain muscle control. She was no longer paralyzed.

Her body was devastated, however, by what had happened. Weakened, her heart struggled to return to rhythm. Elise's muscles ached, unwilling to move. Exhaustion flooded her, but Elise remained conscious as she returned to reality. For a long time, Elise looked up at Mia panting. Cold sweat coated her face. The Novanian paint was still glowing, still aiding her.

That had been the longest four minutes of her entire life.

After heaving her breaths for so long, Elise's weak, emotional eyes looked at Mia as she rasped, "The hound?"

After nearly losing her own life, she was still most concerned for the poor creature she had attempted to rescue.

 

[Mia Monroe]

The minutes passed like an age, as she sat stroking Elise's hair, watching the tattoos glow and feeling the life battle the girl was fighting. Her heart ached, she should not have let her try. Mia was all too familiar with the unpredictability of sithspawn. She should have overruled her. As Elise's heart stopped spasming, Mia relaxed just a little. She was past the worst of it. She would survive.

It didn't change the fact thatbit happened on her watch. Her eyes shifted to the treeline as she lost herself in thought, counting the minutes till Jhi would arrive with a ship for them. She looked back down tears in her eyes as Elise asked about the hound.

"Dead, ad'ika, I'm sorry." Her eyes drifted to he arm, realising that she had been so focused on Elise she'd not even stopped to assess her own injury. Blood was dripping slowly from the puncture wounds. Mia couldn't feel the pain by design. Carnifex had given her the gift of devaronian blood poison, so now crucitorn was a constant necessity for her. Until she found a way to reverse or remove it.

"You did well. I'm proud of you and how far you've come. Even if some of that is because you've been spending time with sith." It wasn't chastising, it was simply an admission that she had been learning from other sources. "Rest, ad'ika. Jhi wil be here soon. Well get you to the infirmary."

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Elise winced, even if she had expected the news of the sithspawn's death. For the short amount of time she and it had shown softness towards each other, Elise had seen what could have been, if it had not been born and corrupted of the Dark Side... It was a heaviness in her heart, a deep sadness. The grief made her tear up once more, her failure to be the hero once again sinking in... whatever she had done wrong, it costed its life.

Elise winced once more, when complimented for her improvement. Improvement? Elise had improved? All she had done today was fail to rescue a creature, then get so mortally wounded by said creature that her mentor had to fight it alone. Elise's eyes drifted to Mia's own injuries, guilt took her.

Elise twitched her fingers, struggling to move her hand as she looked away in shame. Looking up at Mandalore's dreary sky, she felt all the previous fight in her leave. Perhaps, she should have had run to her father and aunt after all... She tried to move her arm, struggling against her strained, torn muscles and wracked nervous system. Her arm spasmed, then went limp once again. Her tears doubled. She could not even lift her hand to heal her mentor.

She rasped audible, hoarse breaths as her chest rose and fell with such heaviness. The tears continued to fall, and she never looked into Mia's eyes. "I did well?..."

She scoffed, "Please. No matter how strong I get, I'm still as much of a burden as I always was..."

Shame made her cheeks turn red as her eyes flickered towards Mia's wounds. She cringed, shutting her eyes to the damage she had caused.

"I'm sorry."

She apologized to Mia Monroe , she apologized to the sithspawn. She apologized to the family she had betrayed, she apologized to the vode she had slain. She apologized to everyone.

 

[Mia Monroe]

"Enough, Elise." Mia's voice was sharp, though her expression was soft. Her uninjured arm reaching to settle on her shoulder to stop her trying to move. "Be still. I will be fine. I've suffered far worse. Ask Malum, the first time I met him he tired to kill me with an orbital bombardment. I can survive a bite from a sith hound." She had a small smile on her face, that faded as Elise's tears began to roll from the corners of her eyes.

"Ad'ika..." she said softly, her hand stroking her yellow hair once more.

"You did well." She repeated. "You were able to focus, despite a deliberate attack on your emotions. The first time I met you, you were so oblivious to your force sense, I was able to creep up on you. An improvement. You successfully tamed a beast that was not meant to be tamed something I could not have done. Kih'parjai."

She placed her fingers under Elise's chin, forcing her to look up at Mia. "What happened was not your fault, just an unfortunate series of events. Had your necklace not fallen, we might have been able to reverse the workings in him. But the necklace falling was not your fault Elise. Stop punishing yourself. You never have been and you never will be a burden to me, ad'ika, understand?"

The hum of a ships engines made her look up. The Journeymen had arrived, Mia leant forward, shielding Elise's face as the ship kicked up dust around them before settling. "Lets get you home and fixed up."

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Elise's tears cascaded from her eyes as Mia Monroe spoke to her, forced her to look at her, and firmly yet lovingly told her these things. It was true, Elise had gotten a lot stronger even since Mia found her. And the fault of the sithspawn's downfall had been a fluke, not something she had or had not done. Being told that she needed to stop punishing herself, and that she was not a burden... filled Elise with much needed relief.

The only other times she had felt free of the shame, had been in her visits with Malum. It was sad, and it was ironic, that he and Mia obviously were at each other's throats. Why couldn't everyone just get along? Why did there have to be fighting? Why...

As the medical team approached, Elise turned her head away from the paramedics and swallowed hard, trying her best to contain her meltdown in front of other Mandalorians. But she was simply undone, and her vulnerability was exposed. She shivered, once again chastised by her shame.

"Stop punishing yourself. You were never a burden."

Elise had to believe that, as she felt the paramedics handle her helpless body.

"This is insane..."

"What is it?"

"Based on our venom samples, we know this was a fast working venom, yes? It killed in under a minute."

"Yes."

"But look at these lab results! That venom was in her body for over twice as long, and she survived! That is... incredible."

"I see a woman who believes she has failed time and time again, yet still stood up still to do what she believed was right. I see a woman who sees the truth of the galaxy and will fight for it against the entire galaxy if need be. I see a woman who was able to see a Sith... who saw the great enemy of her people... and still loves him. A prodigy who uses her mind for good, a warrior who fights for what she believes is right, a Mandalorian who would fight her own people for she feels they were wrong... what is there not to lo-what is there not to cherish, to admire, to treasure?"

Elise first heard the beeping of a monitor. She knew that kind of sound well. She was in a medical wing. Her body ached from the way the venom had ravaged her, and she laid eerily still. Elise did not open her eyes, knowing that blinding light was most likely to hit her. The Ajayid breathed stable, rhythmic breaths. She was no longer struggling to breathe, at the very least. She still felt unable to move. Frustrated at her helpless state, she extended her Force Sense in search of a certain person. When she found her, so close to her bedside, Elise opened her mouth and spoke.

"How bad is it? I had plans to meet Mal-dalorians in town square to plant more trees when I got back."

Always right back to business, that Elise. She was more concerned with her goals and plans than with her own body. She could only hope that her body would recover soon, so she could return to working on Keldabe's rebuilding projects. And even more, she had a secret meeting with Darth Malum of House Marr set up for tomorrow evening. She... desperately wanted to see him. Especially after the memory Mia showed her-

Oh wait.

Oh kark.

Mia knew, didn't she!

Elise's heart rate started to accelerate on the heart monitor.

Haar'chak! She's going to bring that up now, isn't she?! Oh, haar'chak!

She kept her eyes shut, as if that would make all her problems disappear.

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia didn't let Elise out of her sight, from the moment they lifted her onto the stretcher, to the treatment and bacta baths and to now where she rested.

She'd allowed her arm to be treated reluctantly, and only because the medic had agreed to do so where she could still see Elise. The journeymen returned at her instructions to retrieve their things and the hound for analysis.

Mis was deep into the reports provided, her face creased with a frown as she was reading the tox report. By all rights, Elise should be dead. She felt her stir, setting the dataslate in the table beside her she rose, stepping to her bedside.

A small chuckle at her question. "You'll live, but you won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Your resistance to the poison is the only reason you're alive."

She paused, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat. She could have lost her. The emotion in Elise shifted, akin to panic and Mia frowned, reaching her hand to stroke her head.

"Ad'ika, look at me please." When she did, Mia's face was serious. "I am not angry with you, nor are you in trouble. So, what has you so rattled?"

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Being told that she was essentially grounded made Elise nearly pout like a toddler. Her mouth curved into an angry frown... she was not used to being told to stay put. But when Mia asked her what was wrong, the heart monitor only blared even faster.

There was... no escaping it, huh?

Elise reluctantly opened her eyes to Mia. The expression Mia Monroe was met with was akin to a teenager who was caught sneaking out, and didn't look forward to the lecture of a lifetime coming. Then again, Elise was in a similar situation. Elise looked away from Mia once again. And she admitted her crime.

"I already know you probably don't approve. I'm reckless, irresponsible, idiotic. How could I possible galavant off with someone from that Order? You're going to say I have a bad taste in men, that I shouldn't be risking it all seeing him."

"You're going to tell me to end it."

Tears flooded her eyes at the thought of doing such a thing. She never...

"Because I'm a traitor, once again, for falling in love with a Sith Lord."


Darth Malum of House Marr