Private You Sucked Out All That There Blood

[Xyoz Maji]

Home.

Man, he hadn't been home in a long, long ass time. All he remembered was waking up in a tomb, sated after feasting on the blood of the Jedi that had the unfortunateness of unearthing him. Then leaving into the galaxy. He thought his world dead. The last he knew, he killed it. Ate all the bastard Sangnir that inhabited it. That turned his people into livestock. Turned him into a monster. Except that's not what happened. The Sangnir entombed him and left.

But his people lived on.

Xyoz stared out over the city, leaned over the railing of the balcony. He was atop a pyramid of sorts. Modernized, like everything else on this world. Where he never advanced, his people did. It was a beautiful sight, the main city.

And yet, well. He turned his gaze towards the room behind him. Solid steel. Glass, painted with gore. He let out a sigh as he stepped over to the glass. Knocked lightly.

"Hey. You awake yet? Or do I need to get you some more food?"

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai slowly stirred awake with a long groan, her eyes taking a long time to adjust to where she was. Last she remembered, a volley of missiles and disruptor bolts knocked her into Tython's ground. She went out to teach the Enclave a lesson, to show them what she would do to them after they abandoned her to the Maw. She was beaten in that fight, her cybernetic body torn apart by those she despised with every fibre in her body. She gave them hell, two of the most dangerous Mandalorians in the galaxy had to give it their everything to bring her down. But there was another among them she did not expect to see.

That same face was the first thing she saw when her eyes fluttered open and managed to concentrate.

"What the kriff...?"

She tried to stand, but her body reacted a lot different than she was used to. The feeling of a slippery floor also made her tense up as her eyes went wide.

"Something's wrong, mutt. Look alive."

"The kriff you mean...?"

"Look around you."

She looked down at her hands. Something looked off. The lines in her synth-skin was gone and her nails looked oddly normal. Her eyes no longer had a HUD scanning every single detail around her. She felt cold and the smell of rotten meat hung heavily around her. And then there was the pain. Like muscles set on fire, she felt oddly whole in an excruciating way as her gaze studied the massacre around her.

"I can't remember us goin' on a bender on Tython."

"I saw my ass on Tython, this isn't..."

Her eyes finally focused on Xyoz standing behind a bloodied window on a vastly different planet. All her confusion and fear boiled into rage as she glared at him. "You... you broke me. You took their side. You betrayed me, you karkin' mutt." She spat out blood in her mouth and wiped at her lips, only to taste more blood on her arm. "What did you do to me?"

She managed to stand up from the ground without slipping, only to charge at him with a snarl and bounce off the glass between them.

"What the kriff?!" She shouted as she clutched her head. "What did you do to me, you animal?! Where am I?!"

She remained on the ground with a piercing scowl, trying to get a grip on the situation. But there were no more info feeds in her eyes, no more scanners telling her every detail. She felt cold and wet, her body ached, and every part of her body felt like it was normal again. "ANSWER ME, YOU FREAK!" She demanded with a snarl.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

"Hey, mutt, animal. Those make sense. Don't call me a freak though." Personal boundaries were important after all, in any relationship. Especially now. Xyoz crouched down to get more eye level with Shai, tapping a particularly red part of the glass. Blood stains. "I took my side, Shai. I fucked with them as much as I fucked with you. So don't go thinking I'm buddies with your former buddies, or still buddies, or whatever they are to you. But you were pretty fucked up. Killing your own people and laughing with it. They helped, and I tore you apart.

Every part that was fake. Metal. I ripped them out like I said I would. Stopped you from becoming anymore of a kin killing monster than you were." He tapped the blood stain again, though this time laughed.

"Kinda woulda killed you, though. So I turned you into one of me. You were uh, on quite the binge for a while. Thankfully there's no shortage of prisoners here to feast on. You shoulda seen how mindless you were. Regrowin everything that'd been lost." He shivered as he stood up. Moved to a section of the glass to open a previously hidden door to let the sun in.

"Congratulations Shai. You're a Sangnir now."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Still reeling from the storm of emotions, she continued to take deep breaths as she listened to Xyoz speak. What happened, what they did, why he was there, the lot of it. But as he continued, Shai's eyes widened at his last few words. "W-what?" She muttered as her heart sank. She looked at her bloodied hands again, then at the rest of her body.

She was whole again. But at what cost? The lingering taste of blood in her mouth was putrid and disgusting, yet she felt herself drawn to it like spice. "You turned me?" She spoke up as she looked up at the Shistavanen. "No, I... I was... I was ready, Xyoz. I was ready to go. I would have seen them all again. My dad, my clan... my kiddies." A sniff escaped as she carefully rose to her feet and faced him, hunched over as she got used to her body again. She found it surprisingly easy to get those motor skills back.

But internally, she was torn. And it showed on her face as she carefully walked towards him. "I was there to get back at them, Xyoz. For abandoning me. I fought for decades to keep them alive and to get revenge. I sacrificed my whole life to the Mando'ade. And they betrayed me! She gave him a surprisingly powerful shove that nearly sent her tumbling back, but she retained her footing. "I would have died on Tython... and that was fine with me! It would all have been over. I would have had my family again, for kark's sake! She was distraught and on the verge of tears as she looked up at him with anger.

With another sniff, she pushed past him and walked over to the edge of the balcony, only for confusion to take hold again. "Xyoz... where the hell are we?" She asked, sparing a glance back at him before looking over the city.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

"Fat chance you were ready to go with the blood of your brothers dripping from your teeth." Xyoz snorted. No, she wasn't in her right mind. Probably still wasn't. Not that he was any better, but he wasn't going to let her just die and leave him because this broken version of her said that was what she wanted. Get her mind right, first. Then maybe, sure. If that's what she wanted, he'd help.

Not that he'd say anyth- Oh she pushed him.

He blinked as he was thrown back, stumbling and having to catch himself from flying over the railing. She wasn't just a cyborg anymore. Or Shistavanen. It hurt, some. If it weren't for his stupid healing factor he'd probably already be bruising. "Hey hey, relax. You're still recovering. Your head ain't right, not yet. Let the blood do it's thing, okay?" Despite his nonchalant attitude about the whole thing, his expression softened as he saw just how upset she was. He didn't regret his choice to change her rather than let her die, but it should've been her choice.

At least now she had a chance to get in the right mind to make it. His gaze shifted though, following hers to stare out over the city.

"My home world. Turns out it's not as dead as I thought. Still kinda privative in some ways though, hence the meals you got. .. Oh, and they kinda think we're gods so uh, go with it."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

As she stood by the edge of the balcony overlooking the city, she listened to what Xyoz had to say behind her. She was fine, that much she was sure of. The Maw did horrible things to her, but she still hated them and the Sith with a burning passion. It was the people she called family that she could not forgive. And it seemed to not make sense to him.

"Blood won't do nothing. I'm fine. Kark's sake, Xyoz, how the hell can't you get it? There's nothing wrong with me... except what you did to me." She muttered with venom in her voice as she shot him a glance over her shoulder. It was only as a few seconds of silence lingered and she thought of what he said, that she turned to look at him as she gripped the balcony for support. "And what the hell do you mean? They see us as gods? The kriff did you do?" She looked back to the city as a swarm of thoughts ran through her mind.

"Literally a planet at your fingertips..."

"Can do anything you want..."

"Can retire. Start over, even. Leave it all behind."

"Or you can take advantage..."

"An army. A zealous army at your fingertips...

A sickening grin formed along her maw as her tongue traced her lips and teeth, while her eyes widened at the realization. "Holy kriff. An entire planet to command. To train and lead." With her grin still remaining, she turned to look at him. "Why did you bring me here?" She asked him as all manner of thoughts and ideas swirled in her glowing crimson eyes.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

".. What? No, I mean, literal blood. You're a vampire now. Gotta eat that to fix up everything. Literally everything. .. Maybe?" Yeah wasn't really looking like Shai's mental state was actually healing. Then again, she'd spent the last day or so as feral as he got just eating anything he put in that room. He cast a glance to it, briefly. That'd have to get cleaned up before he let her back in there again.

If she wasn't going craz- She had the crazy eyes.

Xyoz stared for a moment, listening to her start to actually sound like the Sith he used to roll with. And immediately he reached out to smack the back of her head with a disappointed frown.

"I brought you here thinking the planet was empty so you could heal in some damn peace and quiet. Didn't expect the god thing, but it certainly helped get you to a safe place. And get you food. But you sure as shit aren't about to turn these people into some zealot army or some other shit. Jeeze. You were around the Maw too long, now you're thinkin' like a Sith too."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai grimaced as his hand impacted the back of her head. It felt odd, to feel so much again. Were it not for the current disagreement between them, she would have taken a walk and enjoyed her renewed body. But as he chewed her out, she snarled at him like a true animal. "Don't call me Sith! I'm nothing like them! I want them gone from this galaxy, I ain't anything like 'em!" She shouted as she held a finger up at him.

With a deep breath she turned away again, looking over the city. "Babe... I'm sorry, okay. But... think about it." She fsced him again with significantly softer features as she took a step towards him. "We've talked about it. Me and you. Being together. We can settle our scores, we can wipe the slate clean. We can..." She looked away for a moment. "We can be a family babe. Can't you see that? All I've ever wanted was for us to be happy." She explained with a hopeful smile, though the dark thoughts continued to reflect in her crimson eyes as she looked up at him.

"Just picture it, babe. An army under our command... wiping them all away. The Imps, the Sith, the Dar'manda that used to call me family... all of that gone. Force willing, we'll finally have our peace." Her bloody hands reached up to cradle his cheeks as she closed the distance between them.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

Xyoz frowned. Turned his gaze back out to the city. Any other time he'd probably of listened to her. Commanding an army, a planet. He'd done it before. He didn't mind it, he didn't really.. Care, one way or another. She was what mattered. If she wanted to slaughter the galaxy, well. He'd do so without hesitation. And yet, she just turned. And her head still didn't seem to be in the right place. How much was her, how much was just.. Damage?

"All I've ever been waiting for since you found me is for you to want a family with me. To make me your family. But you're not right, not yet. Not in the head. Give it a week, or two. Get used to this new body of yours and the hunger you're gonna be feelin' all the time. Then we can talk about conquering the galaxy. Unlike everyone else, we got all the time in.. All the time."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Her smile faltered when he turned away from her, looking over the city below as he spoke up. Her hands dropped as a frown settled in along her features. She wasn't sure what to say or think. How to explain to him the pain she felt when she saw him fighting against her. The pain of betrayal from those she considered brothers and sisters. Her people, who abandoned her in a moment she needed them most. He likely would never understand.

"You are family, you damn furball. Right now you're the most important thing in my karkin' life. Dammit, Xyoz, why can't you understand?" She spoke up, standing next to him on the balcony with her hands on the railing. "And stop with this 'not right' stuff, I'm karkin' fine, okay? There's nothing wrong with me, just... I'm hurt. I was always there for them when they needed me, but in the one moment I needed their help and hoped they would come, they never did. The Maw did bad things to me but they never broke me. I want payback. I want to show them what happens when someone betrays me." She looked up at him with a deep scowl. "Kark it... I'm hungry, where's the kitchen in this place?" She pushed off the railing and carefully walked over to the other edge. "I can whip us somethin' up, nice steak... or..." She trailed off with a deep sniff.

Her eyes immediately fixated on the people below. "Or someone..." Little insects scurrying below them. All their scents filled her nostrils while their laughter and chatter drew her attention. "They see us as gods, huh?" She stepped back to her room, searching for the exit while her hands dragged along the walls.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

There it was. The hunger. Or was it something else? The more he listened to her, the less he actually understood about what was going on in her head. Then again, it wasn't like he was a psychiatrist or something. Maybe he should've eaten one. .. No that wouldn't help. All this just mad it bittersweat, hearing her say he was family. The most important thing.

He smiled, but it didn't fill his eyes like it normally would.

"We ain't gods, but I can see about them bringing another prisoner or somethin'. Would be the best way to sate that hunger."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

She didn't say anything back as he spoke, simply licking her hand as she prowled through her cage in search of an exit to the rest of the temple. A hunger that clawed at her, beckoned her to hunt, something she never felt before in her life. But after constant circling around the place, she walked back to him with a low growl in her throat. "I want more, you dum mutt." She muttered as she shoved him aside and walked back to the balcony.

For a few moments she studied the layout of the temple, the height and the distance to tje people below. Possible hiding spots and routes to safety. Then finally, she leapt over the railing towards the side of the pyramid.

With a grunt she touched down and steadily started to make her way down the side towards the city below. Towards the unsuspecting people going about their lives.

"They're ours. They're meant to serve us. they should be grateful for us." She spoke as she continued to leap, spin and roll her way down the stepped side.

When she finally reached the bottom, she immediately ducked into an alleyway and grabbed an old, rotten blanket to cover herself up. Then the hunt began. Crimson eyes watched people move about and continue with their lives... until a sound caught her. A house next to her. A family.

The Wardog quietly stalked the building in search of the backdoor until finally she had everything laid out. Her one hand kept the blanket closed around her while the other reached out to carefully test the lock...

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

"What, like two prisoners or somethin'? What are you even loo- Hey!" Annoyance flashed in his eyes as she shoved him aside. Well, mostly because she actually could now. Ah, this was going to get dangerous wasn't it? He cleared his throat, pushing away that annoyance before he let it overtake him and y'know, sour the mood any more than it was. He had to keep her calm. Here, till she was used to the thi-

She fucking jumped.

The Shistavanen stared in disbelief as she jumped over the balcony. "H.. Hey! Damnit get back here! Shai!" Ah man, was this what it was like when he was the broken mutt? He grumbled under his breath before leaping after her. Damn woman was still soaked in blood for gods sake! .. Maybe he should've kept that god thing a secret for a bit more.

He followed after her, worriedly looking around. "We should go back. I can get you a meal there. We're not actually gods, Shai. They don't owe us shit." Sort've. He did free them from the slavery they'd of been in under the Sangnir, but he did that in a blood soaked rage that had him sealed away for centuries.

So far, he hadn't done anything to stop her though. He still wasn't sure what was right. How to handle her. But he heard it as she did. He heard everything around them. The people, their heartbeats. The smell of their blood. It was intoxicating. But the door she stopped by, the family within. He didn't hold himself back this time. The moment she reached for the lock he was there beside her, foot swinging for the side of her head as a rage flashed in his glowing eyes.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Completely zoned in on the family inside the house, Shai paid no attention to Xyoz or what he had to say. She could almost taste them, mere seconds away from feeding her. What she wasn't expecting at all, was Xyoz suddenly intervening from her breaking into the house. The moment her hand touched the control panel of the door, a kick landed against the side of her head.

The woman recoiled and crashed into the wall before she collapsed on the ground, dazed and confused about what just happened. With wide eyes she looked up at him as he chewed her out, anger boiling in his eyes. A gaze she never thought she'd be on the receiving end from him. "I-I..." She wasn't sure what to answer. Her senses came back to her as she looked at him, then at herself. Blood coated her body, the smell of it hung heavy in her nose. Her breathing picked up as she pushed away from him and scrambled to her feet.

"I was... I was hungry..." She muttered, worry creeping into her eyes. Her gaze snapped to the door as the family inside came out to see what was going on. Without a word, Shai took off into the city, eventually finding her way back to the temple. Without wasting a moment, she scrambled up the side of the pyramid until she reached her "room" at the top, where she pressed herself into a corner.

Her legs were pressed into her chest as she clung to the sides of her head, her nails almost burying into her skin as she bobbed back and forth. "You're not a failure... you're not..." She fell quiet, only moving her head when Xyoz joined her at the top again. "What's wrong with me, Xyoz? I-I... I don't know anymore..." She whispered, looking down at the ground.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

Well at least the kick seemed to pull her out of the hunger haze. Still, watching her run off, even someone like Xyoz couldn't help but feel guilty. No, especially Xyoz. She was what he made her. It didn't matter what happened before, how her body was ruined by the Maw or what that meant for her mind. She was his responsibility, in more ways than he expected.

He wasn't far behind her. As much as he wanted to give her space, he knew the thirst. What it could do to her.

To his surprise and relief, though, she went back to her room. He paused outside it, glancing through the gore. Yeah, that had to be cleaned up as soon as possible. But the real focus was on her. Huddled in a corner, holding herself. Xyoz had never made a Sangnir before. And it sure as shit had been too long since his own change for him to remember every problem. Not that he was changed like she was in a place of attempted comfort.

He crouched beside her, setting a hand on her shoulder first before just pulling her into a hug. Tight as can be, ignoring whatever blood or such was getting on his clothing. He'd never cared about that before so it wasn't anything special, but still.

"We'll figure it out. Get you better. I promise."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

She didn't move as he crouched beside her, or even when he took hold of her shoulder. But when his arms wrapped around her, she clung to him as a muffled sob escaped her. "I don't know anymore, babe. I don't know who I am anymore. The Enclave... they..." She couldn't finish the sentence, unsure of what she even wanted to say. "I ain't right, Xyoz. There's... something wrong... I don't want to be like this anymore."

After several moments, she pulled back slightly and leaned against him. "I'm hungry... I hear things... I feel things... why did they betray me? Why did they leave me behind?" She looked at herself, at his clothes, the bloody mess of a cell they were in. One part of her yearned for more of it. Another part called to her, wanted her to spill the blood of her former friends like this... but a small part inside her knew that all of this was wrong. The bloodlust, the hatred, the desire for revenge, it was all wrong, though she couldn't exactly place a finger on why it was wrong to hate her friends.

"I ain't a monster, Xyoz. I'm... I'm a Mandalorian. I'm a warrior. I'm... I'm a good person." She looked up at him with desperate eyes, searching for some magical answer to all of her problems. She leaned into him again with another sniff as she closed her eyes, tired of looking at the slaughter around her. "I wanna watch a movie... and a shower..." She muttered to him. She was tired of all this. Tired of the crusading. Tired of the killing, the blood, the wars. She wanted things to be normal again.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

No, this was different. He didn't have to remember to see just how messed up she was, and it had nothing to do with the change. He was quiet as he listened to her. He didn't know what to say to make it better. How he could help. Giving her blood so her body could fix itself was about as far ahead as he planned.. Literally any of this. Hell, that wasn't even a plan so much as a desperate plea for her not to die after what happened on Tython. What he did to her.

His grip tightened.

"No, you're not a monster." She'd spent a long time convincing him that he wasn't, and he literally was. He stood up, pulling her into his arms as he nodded. Movie. Shower. That he could do. He'd flash her a grin that never reached his eyes as he carried her from the bloodied room to his own. "What kinda movie are ya thinkin? Just don't pick slasher, pretty sure we saw enough of that."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

For the first time in a very long time, a genuine smile crept onto her lips as he picked her up and made a terrible joke. The slightest twitch of her lips, but it was still a smile. "I don't know... surprise me. It's been a while." She admitted softly. She couldn't remember the last time she relaxed and watched a movie. Before Roon... long before Roon. She needed a moment. The voices could wait, her desires of fire and blood could hold on, what she needed now was a chance to breathe again. With her own lungs again, no less.

The shower took ludicrously long for her. A big part of it simply involved her standing in the water and letting it drench her while she wrestled with her thoughts, though getting the blood off properly took a long time as well. But eventually she emerged, and she had to admit that she felt a lot better. To actually feel the water over her body was something she had almost forgotten. It felt amazing. The cold floor beneath her, the towel covering her up, all of it hammered at her thoughts, whether the change was a bad thing or not. As she entered his room, she sat down on the bed and ran her fingers over the sheets. "I can feel again. The cold floor, the warm water, the sheets, the towel, the air... I can feel it all again." She admitted as she looked at him. "I think a comedy might work nice."

For the next few hours, Shai merely spent time watching movies, though she wasn't always properly paying attention. Every now and then she zoned out, staring blankly ahead of her. "What's all this mean for me?" She finally asked. "I... I need to drink blood... but I don't feel right still. I still feel... off. Can I sleep? Eat normal food? Can I... can I still just be me?" She asked him, looking at him as she sat back on the bed.

Xyoz Maji

 

[Xyoz Maji]

However long it took, Xyoz waited. He set about having her room actually cleaned and furnished now that she was aware enough to realize the world around her. Servants and such came and went, gathering up supplies. Containers of blood. Donated, of course. When she was feral getting her not to attack people was impossible. Now? Maybe not as much.

He'd even changed, casually lounging on a nearby couch as he flicked through the various shows on Hetflix. Number one Holo streaming service. "Comedy it is." Roon. Yeah. That was the last time he'd just lounged out like this. As the movies played, he kept glancing to her. Making sure she was okay. Holding out the blood she'd need to eat to keep her focus. Though everything was pointing that it wasn't the blood she needed.

"I eat food. I sleep. And I'm not right as a Sangnir. You'll be fine, so long as you don't go too long without blood. It's.. I can't stress how important it is you stay fed. The thirst will always be there and you'll get used to it. But I can't have you runnin away to some backwater planet to hide in a cave. Shit's not fun, I assure you."

He cracked a grin, glancing back to her.

"No warm showers in a cave."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

It was an odd thing, to be drinking blood like this. It tasted utterly horrible, though it also somehow tasted like the best thing in the galaxy. Still, she drank when he presented and she had to admit that she felt a little bit better somehow. Physically, though. Mentally, her thoughts were still a hurricane.

She listened intently to every word he spoke, trying her hardest to remember every little detail he gave her. She was going to need him more than ever now. She knew that. He was the most experienced in this situation, he knew everything. Another small grin appeared at his joke as she shook her head. "Definitely not ready to give that up." She teased, though her smile disappeared somewhat as she looked at the glass in her hand.

"How will I know? If I'm going too long without it? And... what if there aren't people? I don't... I don't want to hunt people. Battles are one thing, but skulking around, looking for people... it's not right. Every part of me is telling me that it's fine, but there's something in the back of my mind... simply this feeling that it ain't right." She got up from the bed and walked over, sitting down next to him. "I got too many questions, babe. Too many. I just... want a fix. A magical press of a button that makes all this right." She admitted softly, sitting back as she held her glass with both hands.

Xyoz Maji