Private A Few Good Spores

[Jenmae Ophiro]

The voice manifested before the transparent form before her, and Jenmae lifted eyes that were devoid of emotion up to glance at the face that formed as though from mist.

Vanessa was, she assumed, a scary presence for most. A figure that would appear from nothing to taunt you as you lay prone and weak... But Jenmae wasn't so young or so foolish to be worried about manifestations. There had been a night, many months before, when she'd been called from her bed by the baying of the Spirits, and they'd lead her to the Fanged God manifest. Watching as the effigy of one such as a deity form from the remains of countless slaughtered people had been a fair bit more impressive, she had to admit.

When the vision vanished back into nothing, and the door to the small chamber slid open, the only thing that changed was where the Witch's eyes rested. Watching silently as the Sith approached, only her chin tilted up a touch as she kept the woman in her sights, remaining seated upon the bed. There was something moving behind those steady brown eyes, but it seemed as though the Dathomiri witch had no intention of sharing her thoughts for the time being.

As the blanket slid off her lap where it had pooled, a soft sigh of relief was given. It was as though a weight had been lifted and the ache in her muscles seemed to ease and lift as well. Whatever that thing was, it had some magick to it that she hadn't seen before. It's uses seemed limited, but with her access to the Spirits severed, it had worked well enough.

Gingerly, mindful of how small the quarters were and how she had no access to the well of power that normally flowed like a torrent within her, the White Witch lifted herself from the bed to stand before the Sith. Her frame was diminutive, barely above five feet and slight as could be - but there was a weight to her presence, even with the collar snapped firmly around her neck, that was unavoidable.

"Is that why I'm to be here for so long then? Taking tours of your ship?" Her eyes left the blonde and moved instead to the door, her pace measured as she moved to exit the room. The collar would assure her compliance for the time being, and she had no intentions to attempting escape - but if there was an option to see more than just the inside of the cell, she'd take it.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]​

 

[Onrai]

[member="Jenmae Ophiro"]

“No.”

Vanessa smiled as she motioned first Jen to join her, the two of them soon exiting the cell and walking about. “I’m holding you here because I sense there are a couple lessons you have yet to learn. Being able to defend yourself without relying on Nightsister witchery for one.” She said. “As well, I also sense something a bit deeper in you. Something most people but few Sith and assumedly fewer Nightsisters have: the ability to form friendships.” She replied. “Tell me a bit about yourself, Jen. What was your life like growing up?” Such was the easiest way to ask. And if she did not comply, Vanessa could always do as she did beforehand - stimulate the neurons within her brain and utilize her basic knowledge of where positive and negative memories were located in the brain to see if she couldn’t summon something.

If it worked for Kay, it should work for her.

 

[Jenmae Ophiro]

The soft sound click-clack of their feet against the hard metal floors was the only sound for a time.

The pair walked along the corridors, past many more doors that looked identical to the ones that Jenmae had been kept behind. Willowy fingers laced in a simple fashion before her as the girl strode alongside the Sith, her eyes kept forward always, scanning seemingly without interest along the floors, the walls, and the ceiling.

When the blonde mentioned friendship the specter nearly grinned, feeling the edges of her lips twitch. It had been a very long time since anyone had been foolish enough to attempt to get close to her - and her paramour [member="Seren"] wore the scars on his face as a constant reminder of the cost. The memory of his screams as she poured out all that magick into him simply for making the mistake of assuming he could be close to her... That did earn her hostess a grin.

"My childhood?... Pleasant enough." Her response was simple, that faint smile still touching her lips as the screams faded from her memory. The pair took a turn as the hallway curved, seemingly following the curvature of whatever structure they wandered within. Her pace remained even, her voice even more-so. "I had parents who loved me, a community who supported me."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]​

 

[Onrai]

[member="Jenmae Ophiro"]

“What about friends?” Vanessa asked. “Surely you had some in your youth. Unless you were like me and lived your youth as a slave, and even then there are still some of those I would have called friends even then.” She smiled as they would reach an overlook showcasing the various starship manufacturing yards floating above the world below. Such was the opportunity to stand for a moment and observe such peace. “It gnaws at you, does it not? That feeling of loneliness. Of isolation. The inability to even overpower and oppress those wraiths your interacted with on such a regular basis. A sensation of...” she tried to think of the right word.

“Helplessness?”

Perhaps that was it. “A philosopher once said that a master who can do nothing for himself is worthy of contempt. Though the poor man did not have any concept of the Force, such remains true to us. Do you have the capability to do things for yourself without the Force? A silver tongue, a technological intellect, or perhaps skill with a blade?” She asked.

 

[Jenmae Ophiro]

Friends?

As the pair came to rest along the glass that looked out upon the ship yards, the Witch slowly unlaced her fingers and lifted her palms to rest along the railing that stopped anyone from bumping into the glass. Turning those emotionless eyes out into the darkness of space, her head tilted ever-so-slightly to the side, sending a cascade of pale white hair across her shoulders and setting it swaying lightly around her waist. Though her eyes scanned the massive construction yards that lay before them, impressive as they may be, her mind wandered back to Dathomir, to a time when she was still young enough to allow for feelings.

"There were other children... Other girls who I was trained along-side, and boys who were kept from us as they were not permitted to learn the magicks that we were." Slowly her face turned, the sharp angles of her cheeks and jaw in stark relief from the shadow that the window provided. The Sith wondered about friendship specifically... Wondered what her interactions with the other girls had been. For a time they'd been benign enough - something that anyone may have considered friendship. She'd laughed and played with them, shared hardships and victories. They'd been as kind and welcoming to her as they had been to any of the other children...

"I was no slave, but friendship has never been a steady companion in my life." Turning that pale face back to the window, the phantom gazed silently out into space for a long time. It wasn't until Vanessa inquired about what skills she had outside of her magick to pull upon in times of need. "I'm quite sure you can see me, Sith. Do I look like a witch who has a great use for skills outside of magick?" The answer was there, plain as day. No. The girl had no use for anything outside of her magick, as her skills were malicious enough in nature that she rarely needed to rely on anything else.

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]​

 

[Onrai]

[member="Jenmae Ophiro"]

"I see." She said. "Unfortunate to hear. Very unfortunate." She frowned, sighing at the witch's latter comments. "That's incredibly unfortunate. Friends are supposed to be an important part of one's life. Friends. Allies. Whatever you desire to call then. As is... to quote an old philosopher - a master who can do nothing for himself without the Force is worthless." She replied. "Would you like to learn how to not have to rely purely on your magical abilities in order to get through life?" She said.

This would be intriguing.

 

[Jenmae Ophiro]

There was an unending stream of unexpected questions for the Sith, it would seem. Did she have friends? Was she a slave? Did she know how to do anything without the Force?

A soft sigh escaped the creature as she leaned forward a little, rocking up onto her toes as she leaned her weight along the railing she'd been holding. Dark eyes gazed with little interest out across the vast darkness before them, alighting on one ship before moving along to glance at another, never staying long as she considered what the Sith proposed.

"I have lived a very long time, Sith... There has yet to be a time when the spirits have not aided me to success. Certainly, this does not help," her fingers rose to gently trace across the collar that rested heavily around her throat, though she did not appear upset at it, "but this is a small inconvenience to be sure..." Dark eyes left the windows as her head turned, resting those emotionless brown pools upon the taller woman with muted interest.

"Tell me, Vanessa - why have you brought me here? Why not simply snuff me out down on the planet's surface and leave my corpse to feed those spores you so jealously protected?" Did the answer really matter?... Unlikely. But she was curious none the less.

Onrai​