Whereabouts Unknown

[Nisha Skaiyr]

Nisha did not like Maena. It would, in fact, be fair to say that she utterly despised the planet. It wasn’t that she bore any ill will towards its ruler; the woman known as Matsu Xiangu was a friend of Irajah’s, and any friend of the doctor was, at least, tolerated. Nor were the inhabitants to blame for Nisha’s distaste. They were people like any other, doing their best to survive.

Nisha hated Maena because Maena was the least natural world she had ever had the displeasure to visit. As much as the Warrior-Witch hated Panatha, there were regions of the planet where she could breathe without her respirator, vast forests free of the pollutants that tainted the rest of the world. Maena had no such safe havens, only toxin-choked wastelands and the crowded, smog-filled cityscape. Should Nisha remove her mask here…well, she still remembered her first few days in Vain Hollow. Best not to take that risk.

On the other hand, the Zambranos didn’t dare cause trouble in the vast World-City, lest they incur the wrath of the planet’s (frankly, terrifying) queen. That spared Nisha from some of the most direct forms of revenge that Carnifex could inflict upon her for her rebellion. As for more subtle methods, well. She needed something to keep her on her toes, and the occasional assassin or retrieval team was the perfect way to alleviate boredom. And, of course, there was one other reason that the ash-skinned primitive chose to suffer under Maena’s oppressive atmosphere.

[member="Irajah Ven"].

To say that Irajah was important to Nisha would be like saying that Nisha cared about her family; technically true, but also a vast understatement. It was Irajah who offered Nisha the first genuine display of kindness after the Massacre on Indoumodo. It was Irajah who discovered the source of Nisha’s coughing fits, and it was Irajah who gave Nisha her respirator.

It was well worth a bit of discomfort to see her again.

---

Nisha wasn’t quite sure what the purpose of a laboratory was – more because she didn’t care to learn than because she was incapable of doing so – but she was fairly certain that they were not places of great evil, at least not as a rule. What’s more, she remembered Irajah as a kind and loving person, caring and compassionate – the ideal healer. So it puzzled the witch that Irajah’s laboratory – and Nisha was certain she had found the right building – had an air about it that reminded her infinitely more of Vain Hollow’s dungeons than of Vain Hollow’s clinic.

As Nisha walked up to the building’s entrance and pounded her fist against the door, a wriggling, nagging worm of doubt slithered to the forefront of her mind.

People change.

What if the Irajah Ven who owned this land wasn't the same Irajah Ven who saved her on Panatha?

 

[Kuzo]

She had shut down her portion of the labs. Once she had decided to go through with the transfer, there was no longer a reason to keep beating her head against the wall of Gideon. There was no cure. There would never be a cure. And she had opted instead to spend her last weeks before her new body had been ready simply enjoying, as much as her disease wracked body had been able. Quiet moments. Good byes, just in case. A touch of sadness, of distance growing. And one particularly memorable evening.

Of course, things rarely went according to plan, and her throat had felt the cold kiss of a blade before it had been time.

It had left Irajah.... changed. Harder, in some ways. Darker, more willing to do as she wished rather than as she was expected, as illusions, both hers and others, had been stripped away by the sands and tearing hands of the Nether.

But some things..... some things had remained the same.

"Doctor Ven? There's.... um. Someone here to see you?"

Irajah looked up from the work station, frowning and puzzled. Everyone who might come to see her here had clearance to simply come in and down. She wasn't expecting anyone, even those, as they knew she was busy setting up new equipment for new inquires. No longer constrained to Gideon, she had other things now growing in her mind that she wished to explore.

"Did they give a name?"

"[member="Nisha Skaiyr"]?"

Hazel eyes blinked and a smile came over her face. She leaned over into the comm.

"Direct her to one of the lounges! Tell her I'll be there right away! She is to be treated with every courtesy."

One thing that hadn't changed?

The people that she considered family.

*****

The labs that Nisha were shown through bore little physical resemblance to anything at Vain Hollow. State of the art, white and chrome, sleek lines bespoke of an aesthetic importance by the woman who had designed it, [member="Matsu Xiangu"]. Despite the eerie feel of Maena itself, this was a place of study and learning- of certain darker experimentation to be sure, and no apology made for it by the Spider or the petite Doctor who would arrive at the lounge only a few minutes after Nisha did.

Her smile was broad as she stepped in. In part from simple enjoyment of seeing her friend. But also in part because she had always wondered, worried, about Nisha's safety once she left Panatha. She had assured the other woman that if she ever had need, she could find her here on Maena. But as months had gone by, she had worried.

"Nisha it's good to see you," she smiled as she crossed the divide toward the taller woman.

 

[Nisha Skaiyr]

There was very little Nisha liked about this situation. She didn't like the sterile, artificial aesthetics of the lab's interior. She didn't like the creeping, cold darkness that simply seeped from every inch of the building. And she certainly didn't like the look of certain instruments she saw, instruments very unlikely to have any medicinal purpose. It didn't help that her guide had the sort of face that just made one want to punch it. Repeatedly. Luckily for the boy, Nisha had standards - standards that included not hurting people just because she felt like it. She was a warrior, not a murderer. She killed, but she didn't slaughter.

There were already too many butchers in the Galaxy.

Nisha wasn't particularly impressed by the lounge that the terrified guide had left her in - although at least a few things in this room appeared to have been made out of wood. Or something vaguely related to wood. A wooden table wasn't exactly the jungle, but it was as close as she was going to get on Maena. Besides, she wasn't there to criticize the decor.

With a soft huff, the grey-skinned witch collapsed upon the nearest couch, drew her knife, and began checking the edge for wear.

---

"Nisha, it's good to see you."

Nisha almost shot up out of her seat. After a few seconds of knife-inspection, she'd moved on to her other ritual - reciting the names of those she'd lost. There had been a few more added to the list since her departure from Vain Hollow, comrades-in-arms who'd been cut down by Blackblades during her escape, or by pirates among the stars.
"Rajah," the Witch began, voice surprisingly tender for someone who looked like she arm-wrestled rancors for sport. "It's good to see you too."

-x-

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

She greet Nisha with open arms, real relief showing in the smaller woman's face as they hugged. It was brief but sincere, and Raj stepped back a moment later, looking up at the witch's face with a scrutinizing gaze. She looked.... as well as she ever did. But at least she was away from Panatha.

"You have no idea how worried I was that the Zambranos would find some way to break you down," she said quietly. "I am so glad you made it here. Please, sit, tell me everything."

She gestured to the couch, perching herself at the edge so she could stay turned toward her.

Of course, it was obvious that of the two of them, Irajah had changed more. No more bruises. No more dark circles of exhaustion. No more pain when she moved. Body, whole. Nothing like the repulsor-chair bound, broken creature that she had been the last time they had seen each other. There was energy, barely contained within her skin, no trace of the weight she had carried both physically and within the Force. There was story there. But Irajah knew her own story.

What she wanted was Nisha's.

[member="Nisha Skaiyr"]