You're Grounded For, Like, Ever! (Tegs/Aba)

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Abaigeal E'ron"], [member="Tegaea Alcori"]


If Aba was a very good girl, she might be allowed to row one of the boats kept aboard the yacht! Siobhan was grateful that Tegaea had gracefully delayed the question. "The moment Galina learns about the Sea Serpents, she'll want one as a pet. I just know it," she muttered to herself. She blamed Coryth for getting Galina hooked on dangerous pets.


"Shame she ain't here. You said she's at some outpost next door to the drows, right? Maybe she'll come home riding a fellbeast or a kraken!" Elpsis decided to troll. Clearly Tempest or Chesna had been teaching her bad habits.


Siobhan sighed slightly. She could already feel her hairs greying. "Don't you start now. Between you three, I'm gonna get high blood pressure and grey hair," she muttered to herself. Fortunately, a pretty elf girl was there to distract her by offering drinks. Siobhan helped herself to a glass of Eldorai wine and took a long, good sip from it.


Elpsis likewise got herself a glass. By chance or coincidence, she was standing quite close to Tegaea. "Uh, I just wanted to say...thanks for taking me on this trip, ma'am," she said awkwardly, flushing a bit. "I appreciate it."

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

She pouted when Lady Tegaea had decided that her request to drive the ship would only be considered. Abaigeal knew what that meant, the answer was no but it was a mock pout and understood their reasoning even if unfounded in Abaigeal's mind. "I would like a drink yes thank you", but she followed Lady Tegaea to help.

"I would like to thank you as well for this trip, and for not being so .. mad about the .. you know". Even though Abaigeal's back still ached a little for the injuries but a few days more and that would be gone. "I had heard about you before this, before meeting Sio, your reputation is very wide spread. I remember my mother had spoken about you and Sio actually when I was a small child. I don't remember the details but I remembered the names".

She remembered her mother having concerns about the OP faction and that they had a rather interesting view point on allowing darksiders and in some cases sith into their 'family' .. how ironic as SSC now do the same, well not sith. That would never occur. Abaigeal had to wonder what her mother would think of the SSC now.

​

[member="Tegaea Alcori"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]​

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"] [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]

"Oh heavens, that makes us sound so very ancient!" Tegaea said with a mock sigh. “Still, I’m glad that we made a big enough impression to be mentioned. I don’t think I ever met your mother, but others speak very highly of her. I’m glad you’re here now with us…all is forgiven, but try not to do it again please.”

To Elpsis she placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “My pleasure, dear. I’m glad that you’ve overlooked my little faux pas earlier. I’m very pleased you’re here. How about we have a deal. If you stop calling me ma’am both you and Aba can drive the ship for a bit. When we’re in open water…and when we’re there. Sound fair?”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]


"Oh, Iella talked about me? Good things I hope?" Did she sometimes wonder what Iella would think about how she was raising Aba? Whether she might disapprove? It was quite possible. Siobhan had never met the woman, but was trying to be respectful of her memory. Hence why she'd been very supportive of Aba's desire to continue in her mother's footsteps as a Jedi. Despite having a Dark Jedi tag and stuff.


Then Tegs decided the girls could drive the ship. Siobhan raised a brow at that. Sure, there was a less of a risk that they'd ram something on the open waters, but still! However, she decided not to push things. Partly because Aba seemed very eager and Sio disliked arguing in the family. "You'll be doing it under supervision, of course," she added with a smile.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]


If the gentle reader is getting the impression that Elpsis might be a bit awkward and overeager to get people to like her, they'd be correct. This is all IC. "You're not ancient at all," Elpsis. "Not a day over two hundred." Such a cheeky girl.


She unconsciously leaned into the touch when Tegs placed her hand on her shoulder. "It's ok...it's all water under the bridge. We can drive the ship? Cool. Thanks, ma'am...I mean Tegaea." Elpsis liked calling her ma'am for some reason. She pouted when Siobhan mentioned supervision. Just because they'd crashed one cruiser!

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

"That does sound fair indeed Lady Tegaea", she smiled and turned to Elpsis to give her a secretive wink. However, Abaigeal would be responsible when driving, she could not vouch for Elpsis however.

Abaigeal moved back to Sio, and leaned on her mother's shoulder as casual as you like. "She did, not much but she did. Mainly spoke about the reputations of you both as business woman and of you being someone to 'watch out for', force wise", she had to chuckle a little knowing her mother had been right but that was years ago and times were different then. "I know she would be happy for me, for us". She kissed Sio's cheek. "She would be happy knowing someone is taking care of me".

Abaigeal turned toward the scenery as it passed by, enjoying the sights and she could not wait to get out in open water. Those sea serpents sounded very intriguing indeed, although dangerous. But life in the galaxy if full of dangers so it is with a mental shrug of her shoulders to confront such things.

​

[member="Tegaea Alcori"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]​

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"] [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]
“You’ll be steering the ship under the close direction of the crew,” Tegaea put in warningly.

“You know, Elpsis, you should have a talk with Chesna. Use that line on her, I can promise you’ll get a laugh out of her,” she added. The lost Paragon was looking pretty good for 25,000 after all!

“Let’s get lunch and cast off. Sio, I’ll get the girls seated at the table. Did you want to get the departure confirmation and course confirmed? You’re much better dealing with them than I am,” Tegaea said quietly.
It wasn’t that Tegaea lacked confidence or leadership, but rather that Siobhan was the figure of authority. When she said jump people asked ‘how high?’!

Besides, it’d give her a few more moments alone with Aba and Elpsis too.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]


"Sure," Siobhan said cheerfully. Her eyes flickered over to Elpsis. They had...serious matters to discuss. "Elpsis, why don't you come with me for a moment? There's a thing or two I'd like to talk to you about. In private," Her tone was sweet, but left no doubt that this was not a polite request.


"Err, what do you wanna talk about?" the redhead raised an eyebrow. Perhaps she was feeling suspicious.


"Nothing too arduous." She hadn't forgotten Elpsis' earlier whiny outburst. Nor did she feel even remotely sympathetic. The girl needed to learn to grow the hell up or there was no place for her here. Compared to Coryth's life, Elpsis' had been a cake walk.


"Ok, sure."

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

A cheeky grin was returned to Lady Tegaea, it was to tease her as Abaigeal had no intentions of running the ship aground and incur the wrath of the mothers again. Life would not be worth living if she is to do so. Instead, she followed Tegaea as she lead them to the dinning area for lunch. Yet Sio had stopped Elpsis wanting to speak to her alone, curious as she was about this, Abaigeal knew it must be something of great importance. Besides, this would give more time with Tegaea.

"Is there anything I can do to help with preparing lunch?", Abaigeal was a good cook, nothing special but she would never die of hunger or the lack of good cooking. She felt the ship lurch forward and a gently motion was felt underfoot and they crossed water. Not prone of motion sickness, this did not phase her in the slightest. Besides the ship is large enough to appear as if not moving, but the force informs her different.

"These sea serpents you spoke of, have you seen one?". Abaigeal more intrigued by them rather then frightened. That may change were she to however.

​

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Tegaea Alcori"]​

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]

Tegaea watched as Siobhan took Elpsis aside. She didn’t think too much of it, and so took Aba into the dining room. Said dining room was of impeccable quality with the only concession to nautical considerations being that all the plates and glasses could be magnetised to the table to prevent spillage in rough seas.

“No, I think we’re fine there, we’ve got two chefs on board to do that, but if you want to cook something special do go down and talk to them. Just avoid Renault…he’s the large male cook…he tends to get flustered when people interrupt him. Best talk to Seraphina, the Eldorai lady. She’s a good deal more accommodating.”

“I’ve never seen a sea serpent…not a live one anyway. The Shahbânu Semiramis had a dead one stuffed in her museum. They look quite fearsome!”

The ship was getting underway at last, destination…Yarkul, and the wood elves.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]


Siobhan left the two behind and guided Elpsis outside to the boat railing. The breeze of the wind blew their way, kissing their skin. The younger redhead seemed a bit off-kilter, since she wasn't sure what Sio had in mind.


As usual, she tried to cover that up. "So...just now, huh? You know...I never thanked you for killing that bastard who calls himself my dad. I'm really, really grateful," she reached out to touch Sio's arm. The admiration in her tone was genuine.


However, Siobhan simply removed the hand. "Elpsis, this isn't that kind of talk," she said sternly.


Elpsis looked a bit surprised at the stern tone, but tried to keep her composure. "Ok. Is this about meeting the Wood Elves? I promise I won't cause trouble. I'll just...shut up and let you talk." The way Siobhan looked her right in the eyes was a bit unnerving.


"Have you talked to your mother lately?"


The mention of [member="Coryth Elaris"] immediately put Elpsis on edge. "No, why should I? She knows I'm around, that I'm ok. Not like she's ever tried to call me. Guess she's too busy with her shiny life. 'sides, I got..."


"She's your mother. I don't expect you two to magically heal the rift and become a happy family, but you should make an effort." She knew this would set Elpsis off. That was the whole point.


"Why...why should I? What did ever she do for me? She gave birth to me, then gave me up. Yeah, she had it bad, Xerexes did...horrible things to her, but she gave me away and never once tried to look for me. She got to be the darling Jedi paragon. You know what father did to me? How I suffered? The crap I've been through? It's all easy for you to judge from your cozy villa."


"Have you ever once thought how your mother suffered? That maybe you might not be the only one in this Galaxy with a bad past?"


"You don't know..."


Siobhan brushed Elpsis' protests aside as if they were buzzing insects. She only seemed to realise now just how much she disliked the girl. As a matter of fact, she had to restrain the urge to smack her. "Oh, cry me a river! Your life was crappy. Newsflash: You're not the only one, and I'm getting sick of your selfish whining. Remember Galina? She was a child soldier on a hellhole. You think your mother's life was a cake walk? Her Jedi master was an insane psychopath who exposed to her lava. Xerexes tortured you, he infected her with Sith Poison. She almost freaking died. Until recently her life was living hell."


"I...d-didn't mean..."


"I am speaking. Wait your turn. You had it bad, yes, I'm sorry for that. You also had no discipline, and you can't whine about your mother not paying you any attention if you don't make an effort. You don't like her, you don't accept her as your mother. Fine, she's not gonna be winning a mother of the year award, but I'm not tolerating you muddying her name like that just to make yourself feel better. Oh, and don't mouth off like that to Tegs again. If you want to eat at my table, live under my roof, you'll treat her with respect. Or you go. And if your empathy gives you such trouble, find someone who can help you control it. Otherwise you deserve the headaches."

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

She had followed Lady Tegaea's gaze and Sio and Elpsis left the room for their 'talk'. Abaigeal's attention remained with her mother however, of now. "I would like to see one in it's natural environment rather then stuffed or whatever", she grinned knowing that to do so would mean they .. all of them, might be in danger. But hey walking the street in on Voss can be dangerous on any given day, depending on who might be walking the other direction.

"But tell me more about these wood elves?", the food can wait in fact lunch can't start until the girls return. But that did not worry her so much.

​

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Tegaea Alcori"]​

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]

Tegaea found it incredibly hot when her wife got dominant and controlling, provided it wasn’t directed at her except in play! However, she didn’t know of the discussion going down with Elpsis, and so was left just to discuss matters much more calmly with Aba.

“Perhaps you’ll be less eager to see them when one tries to eat you,” Tegaea commented wryly.

“The wood elves? We don’t know much besides what we’ve been told. We have talked with a couple of freed slaves from Qadir, but that hasn’t provided a particularly clear picture. It seems like they are a forest dwelling variant of the Eldorai. Their technology is quite primitive, and they are isolationist. I’m not sure how they’ll react to us, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to smooth things over. We’d like to establish peaceful relations…and help them stop slaver raids as well.”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Abaigeal E'ron"], [member="Tegaea Alcori"]


There were, of course, a number of factors to consider. Like the fact that Elpsis had been a preteen when she found herself with no family, no friends, a reject from the ranks of a frankly inept monastic order after a terribly unpleasant run-in with Daddy Dearest.


Street gangs, spice addiction and her first kill had come shortly thereafter. However, for the time being Siobhan wasn't inclined to show sympathy. Far as she was concerned the girl needed a shock therapy. What she thought about Siobhan was irrelevant to the Countess. "Do you understand, girl?"


Elpsis was shaking a bit. "Y-yes, I do. I'm sorry...Siobhan."


"Don't Siobhan me," the Countess snapped at her harshly. "It's either ma'am, Lady Kerrigan or a variation thereof. We're not on first name basis." Her voice was like the sharp crack of a whip.


Elpsis nodded. "Ok, Lady Kerrigan." Just a bit of defiance could be seen in her eyes. Because you're so grand and mighty. She took a step forward to the woman. "Did...he really leave her to lava? How fething sick is that?"


"Tell that to the Jedi Council. Wasn't the only insane thing he did. Treated her like a possession."


"Where...is he? Why isn't he dead yet? I want to kill him."


"He's a Kel'dor. Tear off his mask, he asphyxiates. I don't where he is...but I will one day." Team Murder Squad to make Kaen suffer. His reality-breaking power of dodging would not help him.


"I...wanna be there. I want to do it myself."


Siobhan decided she liked violent Elpsis more than whiny one. "We'll see. You're dismissed..." Alas the conversation was broken short because suddenly the yacht began to shudder powerfully, as if something very big had just bull rushed it. The entire vessel began to tremble and shake, being pushed hither and thither. Waves of water crashed against the vessel when suddenly two massive columns lifted themselves up from the sea.


As it turned out, Aba would find her hope of sea serpents showing up fulfilled. One of the serpentine terrors from the deep immediately dove down, its massive mouth filled with very sharp teeth. Siobhan had been thrust to the ground and rendered temporarily unconscious, while Elpsis had been flung into the sea. She hit the water with a loud splash. All the water cushioned her fall, but then a feeling of panic gripped her like a vice.


She could not swim. Seized by fear, she tried in vain to keep herself ashore above water level as she felt herself being pulled down. Back on the ship, Siobhan was just regaining her bearings when the sea serpent came at her with its teeth, seeking to grip her. A protective encasement of the Force wrapped itself around her, just as the beast was sinking its teeth into her.


This kept her from being turned into mincemeat. Sweat dripped down her face and back as she struggled to maintain the barrier, which frustrated the beast to no end as it could pick her up but not devour her. It screamed angrily when laser cannon fire peppered it and Siobhan slammed the barrier into its mouth like a battering ram. Ouch. As she fell from its grasp towards the ground, a powerful torrent of Sith Lightning erupted from her fingertips to drive the beast away. The intense barrage of electricity induced a seizure.


Meanwhile, Elpsis was trying to...not drown. This was easier said than done. As a matter of fact, she was already sinking and then things seemingly got worse. A second sea serpent was shooting towards her through the sea. Acting on pure instinct, an empathic cry for help blazed forth from her mind. It was not one that was directly targeted, it was simply her acting on instinct. The beast came closer, opening its massive maw, then suddenly swung forth its tail, not to deliver an absurd amount of pain, but to scoop her up and gently push her up.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

She was about to ask more question about the elves when the ship suddenly lurched violently throwing Abaigeal off her seat to the floor. "What was that?", she asked trying to pull herself up only to stumble once more. "Lady Tegaea, mother are you alright?", she asked not attempting to get up again but crawled on hands and knees toward Tegaea.

She could sense a sudden scream through the force, fear gripped her heart as it was clear Elpsis and Sio are in mortal danger. "We have to get on deck, Sio and Elpsis are in danger". There was a pause in the lurching of the ship enough for Abaigeal to get up. "Quickly!", she yelled heading out the door to find them.

Bursting through the door Abaigeal grasped at the sight that found her eyes. A giant serpent reeling back from a spray of lightning from Sio, the ship was damaged greatly which told her everything.

"Elpsis!", she screamed for her friend and ran to the side to she her in the water. Only moments before she was lifted out of the water into the air on the tail of another serpent? Had she somehow become able to control it? "Elpsis, I am coming!", she yelled preparing to dive in the water.

​

[member="Tegaea Alcori"] | [member="Elpsis Kallikora"]​

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"] [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]

“I’m fine, Aba, go help Elpsis and Sio. I’ll give you support,” she ordered.

Tegaea moved quickly, rushing outside and grabbing control of one of the laser cannons. Siobhan and Aba were dealing with helping Elpsis – Tegaea would be of no assistance to them there. Instead, she got hold of a large cannon.

The ship’s security officers, all three of them, had opened fire with bolters on the beasts whilst the fore cannon also fired. Tegaea meanwhile managed to get control of the rear cannon, and aimed it. She noticed one of the beasts was acting a bit strangely, less aggressively.

Tegaea did not hesitate. As the other, aggressive one, rose up, she took careful aim and fired. The bolt from the laser cannon entered the beast’s mouth with shocking violence and blew out the back of its mouth and into its brain.

She trained the weapon on the second one, waiting to see if the docility was just a phase or whether it would turn aggressive…and need to be put down.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]


Siobhan had not been helping Elpsis. Since she'd been briefly knocked unconscious earlier, she was unaware of where the girl was. Besides, she'd have to deal with the issue of an angry sea serpent trying to swallow her!


Admittedly the strongly narcissistic Siobhan had always been convinced that she was hot stuff, but she still didn't like the idea of a serpent trying to gobble her up. That was a tad too extreme even for her kinky tastes. Protection bubble did its thing, the beast's maw turned into a big mess, then it got fried with an absurd amount of lightning. Lightning plus water was a wonderful recipe that produced electrocution and a terribly abused heart. Bolters and Tegs' laser cannon did the rest and put the creature down. The beast's brain was blown apart by the cannon. Ouch.


Meanwhile Elpsis had found herself on the tail of the second serpent. This was a considerable surprise to her, once she registered that she was not drowning. Seeing that its brethren had been killed, the beast started to get aggressive, opening its massive mouth filled with lovely teeth.


Time for something dramatic and heartwarming. "Don't fire!" Well, that sounded dramatic enough. As a matter of fact, one of the soldiers who'd been about to unload his heavy bolter recoiled when the empathic command hit his mind. As the sea serpent got into a rage the redhead had to hold on to its tail to prevent herself from falling into the sea. Holding on to it, she gently stroked the beast's massive tail trying to soothe it. One could convey a lot via emotion and in this case Elpsis was instinctively imprinting on the creature, trying to urge it to back away before it got blown up.


Thanks....go...please. Live. Slowly the animal seemed to calm, if only reluctantly, and raised its tail out of the water, until it was almost at the same level as the ship. "Good boy. Go get some big fish," Elpsis said quietly, letting out the breath she'd been holding, then jumped. Siobhan, who was apparently doing something now, gripped her with space magic to make sure she landed safely. A massive amount of water was splashed onto the vessel when the serpent dove back into the sea, leaving.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

With everything happening so fast, Abaigeal took the opportunity to race to Sio's side. Elpsis had control of the second serpent, which was astounding and impressive to say the least. She loves her best friend and this leap in skill even if gleaned from sheer terror and want to survive, made Abaigeal proud of her. "Mother are you alright?", she asked not waiting for the answer but instead looking over her mother to find any signs of injury.

There was none, her force shield had done the trick and with Lady Tegaea blasting the begeebers out of the serpent, she knew the two had lived up to their reputation she had heard of. The aggressive serpent had succumbed and most likely would die and sink to the bottom of the ocean.

"I think you are going to need a new ship", she said but more then likely it would be repaired. "Well I got my wish", she said hoping to lighten the moment. Yet, Abaigeal hugged her mother as it had been a close call and it could have gone far worse.

"Elpsis Serpent Charmer". She smiled to her friend and went to her finally and took her in her arms for a reassuring hug. "You okay? .. .. that was bloody awesome!".

​

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"] | [member="Tegaea Alcori"]​

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"] [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]

It was to Tegaea’s considerable surprise that the giant serpent stopped and then dived back into the sea. By the time she left the gun and joined Elpsis, Aba was already there. There was a lot of water around and some general damage, but the Viceroy was pretty tough.

“That was astonishing, Elpsis!” Tegaea said. Or perhaps not, considering who her mother was. Clearly the talents for empathy which so distinguished [member="Coryth Elaris"] had found their way to the daughter.

“Aba, dear, can you please not wish to see more wildlife on this trip? I don’t think my check book will support it!” she said with a sigh.

Moving over to Siobhan she put a hand on her shoulder. “Nice work, love. Thank you!”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Abaigeal E'ron"]


Apparently Elpsis was slightly less useless than Siobhan had thought. At least she was earning her keep somewhat. Siobhan still did not feel like warming to the girl or saying anything nice to her. The aristo groaned a bit when she got up and rose to her feet.


The serpent's teeth had not cut her into mincemeat, but would leave nasty bruises. Her hands were scorched slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine, sweetie," she spoke to Aba, returning the hug. "Good shot, dear. I'm getting too old for this," she responded to Tegaea when her wifey approached her. Siobhan looked over the ship, noting that structural damage had been minor and they hadn't suffered casualties.


Meanwhile, Elpsis had apparently realised she'd used her empathic gifts for something useful. It still gave her a headache. She gave Aba a cheesy grin. "Told you I was bloody awesome," she exclaimed immodestly. "Thanks...ma'am...Tegaea," she quickly corrected herself.