Private What Did I Tell You Last Time?

[Alina Tremiru]

Kiffu had quite the independent folk.

Alina let out a sigh as she lowered one such Kiffar from her grasp. The target, the goal. A Force Sensitive with knowledge she needed for her Inquisition. Her golden eyes watched impassively at his unconscious breathing. Needless to say, he didn't want to come willingly. He, like so many others in the room, was tossed aside, towards a pair of her Inquisitors. They wordlessly caught the man, taking him back to their shuttle. Their mission was done. And yet, Alina couldn't bring herself to leave.

A scent. Familiar and distant. She narrowed her eyes, staring in the direction of the source.

".. Amani."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani's trip to Kiffu was supposed to be a quick and simple one. She had begun making pit stops to worlds on the verge of Alliance space to gauge their necessities, particularly from a medical perspective. After a conversation with her fellow healer Nida, the idea of making more outreaches to neglected worlds had merit she wanted to follow through on. This was little more than a preliminary inspection.

That was, until, the rumblings of the Force loudened in distress. Something was going on, but what, she didn't yet know. Amani rudely turned away from the man she had been speaking to, only offering a brief, "Apologies, you'll have to excuse me," when her worries seemed to be validated by her sixth sense. She pursued the source cautiously, not wanting to draw the attention of the culprits, or cause a scene amongst the populace.

There was a persistent undercurrent of familiarity to it all. Something she subconsciously recognized but had not yet put a name to. Only a face could make her confront that truth. Amani stopped behind the wall of a building near where the Force had been ushering her to go. She jumped out, holding her saber hilt against her hip, but keeping it unignited, unaware of just what she might find.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina's blade crackled to life.

She jumped, hate seething in her eyes as she rushed right for the flash of green she so dreaded to see. Anger, resentment, sorrow. Emotions she either couldn't control or didn't care to raged wildly in the Force as she brought down her red blade.

"Amani!"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

In an instant, a flash of red was upon her. And a familiar voice with it. Amani's blade ignited to match, the weapons locking together in a confluence of red and blue. "...Alina," She glared up at the woman opposite her. Her voice betrayed no emotion, spare the strain it was taking to keep from being overpowered.

"...Why are you here?" Amani heaved upward, attempting to shove the Sith's blade aside, and follow up with a disarming cut.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Why are you here?" Alina hissed out her counter question, having no desire to answer the Mirialan's. Her blade cut to the side, arching through metal, stone, whatever was close by as Amani shoved it aside. She kept it moving, spinning it behind her as, rather than try to swing it back out as a strike, she lurched forward to slam her head against Amani's own. Closing that distance between them as quickly as she could.

"Why do you keep showing up!?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

There was hardly a chance to answer even if she wanted to. Her eyes kept tracked to Alina's saber, unprepared for the sudden headbutt that cracked against her. Amani whimpered and clutched her nose, where liquid already began to dribble out. "Stop-" As if she were being picked on by a school bully, rather than fighting for her life. She took several steps back in retreat, making a more wild swing of her saber to try and keep the vampire at bay as her line of sight had fallen to the ground.

On recovery, she attempted a forward thrust, which transitioned into a horizontal slash through one continuous motion, "I wish I knew," The Force insisted on bringing them together, for whatever reason she couldn't quite figure out. It was baffling. After last time, she would have been content never seeing Alina again.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I hate it." Her voice lowered as she just watched Amani stumble back. The scent of blood, her blood. God she hated that scent. She just hopped back, away. Blade up to knock Amani's strike off in a defense, but now, now she couldn't bring herself to strike out again. "Why is it always you. I just, it'd be so much better if you weren't here! If it wasn't you! I hate seeing you!"

Alina stamped a foot, and with it the ground shook. The Force shook, really. Emotions running rampant, strong. She took a breath, closed her eyes before lifting her blade in both hands. Pointing the red blade towards the Jedi.

"I am Sith."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Alina made no strike back, defying Amani's expectations and managing to put her even more off guard as a result. She was grateful, though. Trying to compete against Alina's sangnir speed and strength was a losing battle; Only through the Force could Amani hope to keep up. The only reason she had survived most of their encounters thus far was because Alina never went for the finishing blow.

Amani stumbled into a defensive posture, her saber kept close but shaking in her grip. Her own emotion difficult to control. Sith, the vampire declared herself. It almost seemed as if it were to convince herself as much as Amani. "I only ever tried to help you, Alina." She inhaled sharply, her voice trembling, "And you hurt me."

"You hurt him."

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Him!?" The one that intervened. The one that cut off her arm. It wasn't the first time she'd lost her arm, but the pain it brought was still vivid in her mind. Who was he, anyway? Why did he rush to her side? Alina didn't really need to think long on why, not with how distraught she was. That only made all of this seem to hurt that much more. Alina tightened her grip on her saber. At least she couldn't break it, not with the material it was made out of.

"I never lied to you. I never did! I need blood. It's not an addiction to be cured or weened off of. It will kill me to stop. And I-" Her blade dipped. Just a bit as emotion flashed over her face. Confused, hurt, everything she'd been keeping control over.

"I don't- I didn't need to eat all those people. I didn't- I don't need to kill people to eat I just- How do you handle this!? All these thoughts, all these emotions! How do you even function! The Force- it's maddening!"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani flinched, half expecting Alina to try and hurt her again. But she stayed put, seemingly running through an intense cycle of emotions that ended in turmoil. The Jedi had suspected there was some internal conflict Alina was fighting since their last encounter. The Force was newly present within her, something there had hardly been time to acknowledge as the then-beastly sangnir brutalized her.

There was pain there. Amani wanted to help. So badly, she wanted to help. But it didn't change what Alina had done. It would take more than some maddened ramblings to sway her, "You- You slaughtered innocent people, Alina! I tried to stop you and you wouldn't listen! I told you this would happen! You lack control!"

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Shut up! I'm not- I'm not out of control! I'm-" No, no. That was a lie at this point. When she first went through the process to fix what had been broken, she did give into it all. Base desires, hunger. Alina gritted her teeth as she lifted her blade again. But she no longer had the conviction to fight who was once her friend. "I.. I don't know how to control it anymore. It's- I've never been so hungry before, not like that. It's maddening. It's not me." There was a desperation to her tone this time. The tip of her scarlet blade dipped, it's crackling energy near falling into the ground.

"I'm a Sith. I am in control. I have to be- I have to be!"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Confusion. Hurt. Desperation. Alina had no idea how to deal with it all. She had succumbed to her baser instincts, and was fighting to regain some semblance of cognizance. Amani was angry, but she also pitied the woman. They had been so close to something better. A new leaf. She wanted to believe that. She had to.

"You're wrong, Alina." Amani dropped her posture at last, letting the saber hang, "Sith are slaves to their emotions. As long as you continue down that path, you'll never be in control." The dark side was a corruption of the mind, body, and soul. Addicting and deceiving. Whatever control she might have felt before was little more than delusion.

"This has to stop. You have to stop. Before anyone else gets hurt."

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I can't stop, Amani! I just- I can't!" There wasn't stopping. She would always need to eat. She would always need blood and to harm in order to just survive. To live. No- no. .. No. Alina's saber extinguished as she closed her eyes.

"I don't know what to do. I'm supposed to be fixed but all I feel is worse."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

“But you said it yourself, you don’t need to kill people to survive.” She interjected. There were ways to get blood without resorting to such measures. Which brought her back to her original point. Amani finally stepped forward now, disengaging her saber.

“You need control. You need training. You need help.” She held out a hand, “Everyone has a path back. I have to believe that. What you’ve done… you owe it to try.” A slow, heavy breath, “So… for the last time. Let me help you. We can find a way to manage this.” Manage. The operative word. Maybe there was no fix, no permanent cure. But if they could manage it, then perhaps something resembling a normal life was in the cards after all. “But make no mistake, this is the last chance. If you give me reason to doubt, if you turn your back on me… we’re done. There are too many other things in my life now that deserve my attention.”

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I-" She had no more. She couldn't bring herself to say any more. Amani was right. Everything she said. Alina didn't need to kill to survive. She devoured in a blind hunger, overwhelmed by the Force. Even now she just felt overwhelmed by it. The emotions, raw and untamed. She dropped her blade, letting the phryk covered saber clatter against the ground.

"How..? How can you help me? With this? I-" Going back to jail wasn't an option for her. They wouldn't understand her need for blood. She'd either starve and go mad, or be killed. "Maybe I should be dead. I- The Jedi will kill me. The Alliance will kill me." She clutched at the sides of her head, her gaze staring down at the ground between them.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani quickly shook her head at the mere mention of death, "No." If there was a chance to save Alina, they had to try and take it. Throughout history, people who had done worse than her were given their shot at redemption. And without it, the galaxy would have been much worse off.

"Then don't go to Alliance space. Maybe we can-" There was a beat as she mulled over their options, which were admittedly limited. "We'll have to coordinate somehow. Meetings outside of their jurisdiction. Like somewhere here, or further out." There was a twinge of guilt, as if she were betraying something to her fellow Jedi by not bringing Alina in. But they had likewise helped rehabilitate darksiders that were just as bad. To not try would be hypocritical.

"You had to train in the Force to get to where you are now. This is just more of that, except… well, not Sith training. A chance for you to keep your emotions under control, rather than letting them control you." Another beat, "Will you let me help you?"

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I.. Different training." Different training. How to control her emotions. Alina nodded her head dumbly. Right now she just felt heavy. Tired. She opened her eyes, the glowing gold of them staring at Amani with a vulnerability that only made her look as young as her body was frozen as. A teenager, barely an adult. She nodded. At this point all Alina could do was nod.

"Please, help me.."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani stared at Alina long, blank-faced. She still had her doubts, but a guilty conscience kept the Jedi listening. If no one had given her a second chance during her own fall to the darkside, there was no telling how things would be, only that they would be much worse.

It was too ingrained in her nature. Too stubborn to quit.

“I can only help you if you’re ready to help yourself.” Amani extended a hand, “Are you?”

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina nodded, slowly. She couldn't meet Amani's gaze, not at first. But she did reach up to take the hand offered. "I.." Her eyes closed as she took a breath. It was, as ever, unneeded. But it was calming. It helped her focus. Her golden eyes opened. The desperation was still there, but with it, determination. Focus.

"I don't want to loose control again."

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

"I know." Finally, the nascent twitchings of a smile began to form on Amani's lips. Alina had tried before, and gotten so close, during their time working together on Rishi. If nothing else, perhaps tragedy could give rise to a deeper understanding of her past sins. There would have to be some kind of consequence, Amani knew that. Amani agreed with that. But that would come after Alina had proven her control. And thus, that truth was kept secret for now. This was a good start. Maybe this could be something after all.

Maybe.

Amani forced her smile down, and held out her palm, "Okay. Give me your lightsaber."

Alina Tremiru​