Eliana Shan
Character
It hadn't been the easiest year.
Since they had left the Jedi base behind, it had been one system after another, moving further from charted space, deeper into the Unknown Regions. What they had been looking for, she hadn't known. Despite her original assignment as Eliana Shan's caretaker, Jedi Eris Eisahn had often found the two of them moving at the other woman's whim, and just as frequently had found herself in the woman's debt. They had seen their fair share of scrapes together, but the two of them had never let the other one down so far. Eris knew her charge had come in with serious crimes under her belt, but the woman she had grown to know was one she was happy to call her friend. Now, though, Elly had left on a mission of her own, one she'd said she needed to handle herself. A family affair, she'd called it, one that carried a certain level of significance to her; "something to make right," she'd said.
Eris didn't know the full implications of what had happened in her past, but she understood the need to set things right. Elly had been adamant that she make the journey by herself; her Jedi companion had reluctantly allowed it, with the condition of having an open line of communication available. Now, in her solitude, Eris was realizing how much she had gotten used to the company, to having someone to talk to; she had to admit to herself that she had, despite her training, been having fun with the older woman.
Still, there was something to be said for taking a breather for oneself. She had managed to find a quiet section of town, and the bar she had been drawn to on the corner seemed to match in its atmosphere. The lights were low, and as she walked through the front door to the jangle of a synthetic bell, only the bartender's head turned toward her; the sparse few other patrons kept their attention on their drinks and their private conversations. The air in here felt warm and heavy, but not unwelcomingly so: it felt like a weighted blanket had settled over her, and she couldn't help but smile as she walked toward the bar, eyes already settled on a seat there. Whispered conversations blended together into a muffled undertone as she passed, the smile remaining on her face as she took her seat and held up a single finger to the bartender.
"One Corellian ale, please," she said, waiting for a response -- which came in the form of a single curt nod from the Twi'lek behind the bar -- before pulling out her datapad and opening it to her messages. There hadn't been much contact since Elly had signaled her safe arrival and subsequent safe departure with "some old friends," aside from a datafile that had been sent shortly afterward. Curious, she opened that while she waited. Eris wasn't sure what she expected, but the series of images of Eliana in a blue dress, some of them featuring an owl mask over her face, was definitely not it. There was an additional note attached: "Mother spent quite some time on this. I know she'd hate it to go unappreciated. --A." She couldn't help but smile once again; their AI companion rarely showed it outright, but Eris knew she cared deeply abou-..
"You're not from around here, are you?"
The voice to her right almost made her jump. As it was, her datapad slipped out of her grip, clattering to the counter just as the Twi'lek returned with her glass. They seemed not to react to that, though, looking instead next to her: she turned her head and was shocked to see a bearded man settling into the seat next to hers, his elbow already on the counter and two gloved fingers raised towards the bartender. He smiled as they walked away before side-eyeing her and raising an eyebrow. "Everything alright?"
"It's nothing," she said as she reached for her glass, dimly noting his smile widen as she spoke. She hadn't sensed his approach, but she could plainly sense him now: a stark presence next to her, radiating joviality and warmth. Perhaps she had simply let her attention slip.. it wouldn't have been the first time, and though she made a mental note on the subject, she suspected that it wouldn't be the last. "I just wasn't expecting company."
I hadn't even seen company..
"In my experience, company can find us in even the most unlikely places. So I figure, why not seek it out myself?" He raised his hand at that, miming holding a glass of his own, and Eris couldn't help but raise hers now in kind. There was a certain charm about him, and this was a welcome deviation from their standard escapades.. Why not indeed?
"I can drink to that."
"I could as well. Though, sadly, I'll have to be right behind you."
He offered a nonchalant shrug and shook his still-raised, still-empty hand, eliciting a chuckle from her as she took her first swig. For one whose entrance had been so sudden, this man seemed intent on making his presence memorable. Everything she could read from him felt inviting; at the very least, Eris could enjoy some light conversation to pass the time.
"You didn't answer, you know."
The sound of ice clinking accompanied his words, and she lowered her drink to see him holding one at last, with another one on the bar in front of him. The Twi'lek bartender was once more walking away -- when had they returned? -- and Eris glanced properly at her new company. He was staring at the glass in his hand with eyes that matched the deep brown liquid inside, and though his gaze seemed intent on the swirling contents, she could tell that his attention was on her.
"I'm sorry?"
There was that smile again. "You didn't answer. That's okay, though. I think I caught you off guard." He gave his drink another swirl, and the smile tilted upward once more. "I suppose I should take that as a compliment. Not many can sneak up on one such as yourself." On that note, he took his own sip, one which seemed to drag on.. which left Eris to ponder his last words.
What is with this guy?
It's nothing.
Her thoughts echoed and trailed off, her own words reassuring her, and she found herself copying his nonchalant shrug from earlier. "It was nothing, really. I guess I'm having an off day." Her gaze fell back to her drink and the adjacent datapad-..
Oh, dip.
She hadn't yet retrieved her datapad, nor had she closed out her messages. The pictures were still showing; Eris knew a moment of embarrassment on Elly's behalf as she reached for-..
It's nothing.
Slowly, she reached for her drink instead. The pictures were there, she really ought to-..
It's nothing.
She felt her smile falter as her fingers wrapped around the glass, the cold of the condensation a pleasant yet muffled contrast to the heavy, warm air of the bar.
Something is off here.
It's nothing. Really.
"...I'm sorry," she continued finally, "but I must have missed the question."
"That's fine." The reply was immediate. "It was more of a comment, honestly. You're from off-world too. It shows."
"Yeah. I am. Listen, I-.."
"The Jedi bit, that shows too. I'm hoping you realize that though."
This needed to end. "I don't think I caught your name..." she trailed off, probing outwards with the Force to pull this man's name from his surface thoughts... but there were none to be found, only that same jovial warmth, consistently radiating that set feeling. Her eyes widened and her voice petered away, quickly lost in the oppressive atmosphere here. She turned to survey him with a keener eye, just in time to catch him with his eye on the datapad. In a moment, he was glancing her way again from the side, visible brown meeting her hazel, and a smile was plastered on his face.
"Oh, forgive me. Where are my manners? My name is Vilus."
I know that name.
It's nothing.
"And you are...?"
No, I-..
It's nothing. Really.
She winced suddenly as an intense pain lanced through her temple. The heaviness of the air here settled around her and pressed down, and as her thoughts echoed her words through her head, she heard herself start speaking. "My name is Eris Eisahn."
"Pleasure to meet you, Eris." He reached a gloved hand forward and grabbed the datapad, pulling it closer to him, the sound of it scraping the bar only serving to add to her sudden pain. Her fingers tightened further on her glass -- when had she finished her drink as well?? -- as he picked it up and looked it over.
Something is-..
It's nothing.
It-..
It's nothing. Really.
"What is... Oh." A tap on the datapad punctuated the sound of her own voice cutting into her brain, and it was all she could do to focus in on what he was saying. "Oh, that... Eris. Can you tell me where she is?" Vilus turned to look at her then, holding the datapad up and tapping at the center of the image of Eliana, over her necklace; and as Eris's eyes met his, she began to understand. His eyes.. they weren't just brown. One was, yes, but the other was a crystal blue.
The same blue as Elly's.
"You're.. her brother. You're.. Cao."
It's nothing.
Tell me.
The smile he gave her was not one that reached his eyes; they reflected a glistening hunger and a coldness to accompany it. "Of course she told you about me. Tell me-.."
"She told me.. you were troubled," she heard herself continue. She saw him freeze, she felt his presence flicker and then quickly drain away until there was nothing there, she knew she needed to fight, but her own words were drowning her in her mind, almost drowning out the words she couldn't help but keep speaking.. "She told me.. you needed help."
The stillness in the air that followed carried a palpable tension with it. Even with vibroshivs plunging themselves into her temples, Eris could sense that a tipping point had been reached. Her eyes darted around the bar, looking to catch anyone's eye, but her heart fell when she saw her fellow patrons' heads resolutely tilted down still. This was bad. She needed to-..
"Did she now."
He pushed himself back out of his seat, taking a standing position with his eyes locked on the Jedi patron. "Did she tell you what to do if you were in danger?"
Fight it!!
Tell me.
She didn't know what he was after, but she knew now that she needed to regain her control, she needed to reach-..
You will tell me.
"Call.. Call .. for.." she gasped, fighting herself with each word.
"Good," came the immediate reply, silencing her once more. "So call." When she stared back at him without speaking, he leaned in and placed one hand on the bar, his eyes narrowed. "Do it. Call for her."
No no no no fight it-
"Call for help."
His free gloved hand slowly curled its fingers together, and so too did the invisible vicegrip tighten around her temple. A ringing filled her ears, a grey haze filled her peripherals, and the voice that left her throat was ragged and weary.
"Lam- Lambda.. Echo... Echo...."
A light came on on the datapad in response, and her torturer's eyes darted to it immediately. After a moment, he turned back to Eris and spoke coldly.
"That'll do." Vilus pushed himself off the bar top again and snatched his second drink off of it. "Oya," he said as he held up the glass, then put it to his lips and threw his head back; at the same time, he clenched his hand fully, and the haze that had been creeping around her senses now rushed in. His glass and her head hit the bar with a simultaneous thud, and then Eris knew no more...
========
A signal had been issued. An incomplete signal had been received.
Emergency protocols were activated.
An urgent communication was transmitted.
Elsewhere, a datapad chimed...
LE-03 (Leigh)
|
Adelle Bastiel
Since they had left the Jedi base behind, it had been one system after another, moving further from charted space, deeper into the Unknown Regions. What they had been looking for, she hadn't known. Despite her original assignment as Eliana Shan's caretaker, Jedi Eris Eisahn had often found the two of them moving at the other woman's whim, and just as frequently had found herself in the woman's debt. They had seen their fair share of scrapes together, but the two of them had never let the other one down so far. Eris knew her charge had come in with serious crimes under her belt, but the woman she had grown to know was one she was happy to call her friend. Now, though, Elly had left on a mission of her own, one she'd said she needed to handle herself. A family affair, she'd called it, one that carried a certain level of significance to her; "something to make right," she'd said.
Eris didn't know the full implications of what had happened in her past, but she understood the need to set things right. Elly had been adamant that she make the journey by herself; her Jedi companion had reluctantly allowed it, with the condition of having an open line of communication available. Now, in her solitude, Eris was realizing how much she had gotten used to the company, to having someone to talk to; she had to admit to herself that she had, despite her training, been having fun with the older woman.
Still, there was something to be said for taking a breather for oneself. She had managed to find a quiet section of town, and the bar she had been drawn to on the corner seemed to match in its atmosphere. The lights were low, and as she walked through the front door to the jangle of a synthetic bell, only the bartender's head turned toward her; the sparse few other patrons kept their attention on their drinks and their private conversations. The air in here felt warm and heavy, but not unwelcomingly so: it felt like a weighted blanket had settled over her, and she couldn't help but smile as she walked toward the bar, eyes already settled on a seat there. Whispered conversations blended together into a muffled undertone as she passed, the smile remaining on her face as she took her seat and held up a single finger to the bartender.
"One Corellian ale, please," she said, waiting for a response -- which came in the form of a single curt nod from the Twi'lek behind the bar -- before pulling out her datapad and opening it to her messages. There hadn't been much contact since Elly had signaled her safe arrival and subsequent safe departure with "some old friends," aside from a datafile that had been sent shortly afterward. Curious, she opened that while she waited. Eris wasn't sure what she expected, but the series of images of Eliana in a blue dress, some of them featuring an owl mask over her face, was definitely not it. There was an additional note attached: "Mother spent quite some time on this. I know she'd hate it to go unappreciated. --A." She couldn't help but smile once again; their AI companion rarely showed it outright, but Eris knew she cared deeply abou-..
"You're not from around here, are you?"
The voice to her right almost made her jump. As it was, her datapad slipped out of her grip, clattering to the counter just as the Twi'lek returned with her glass. They seemed not to react to that, though, looking instead next to her: she turned her head and was shocked to see a bearded man settling into the seat next to hers, his elbow already on the counter and two gloved fingers raised towards the bartender. He smiled as they walked away before side-eyeing her and raising an eyebrow. "Everything alright?"
"It's nothing," she said as she reached for her glass, dimly noting his smile widen as she spoke. She hadn't sensed his approach, but she could plainly sense him now: a stark presence next to her, radiating joviality and warmth. Perhaps she had simply let her attention slip.. it wouldn't have been the first time, and though she made a mental note on the subject, she suspected that it wouldn't be the last. "I just wasn't expecting company."
I hadn't even seen company..
"In my experience, company can find us in even the most unlikely places. So I figure, why not seek it out myself?" He raised his hand at that, miming holding a glass of his own, and Eris couldn't help but raise hers now in kind. There was a certain charm about him, and this was a welcome deviation from their standard escapades.. Why not indeed?
"I can drink to that."
"I could as well. Though, sadly, I'll have to be right behind you."
He offered a nonchalant shrug and shook his still-raised, still-empty hand, eliciting a chuckle from her as she took her first swig. For one whose entrance had been so sudden, this man seemed intent on making his presence memorable. Everything she could read from him felt inviting; at the very least, Eris could enjoy some light conversation to pass the time.
"You didn't answer, you know."
The sound of ice clinking accompanied his words, and she lowered her drink to see him holding one at last, with another one on the bar in front of him. The Twi'lek bartender was once more walking away -- when had they returned? -- and Eris glanced properly at her new company. He was staring at the glass in his hand with eyes that matched the deep brown liquid inside, and though his gaze seemed intent on the swirling contents, she could tell that his attention was on her.
"I'm sorry?"
There was that smile again. "You didn't answer. That's okay, though. I think I caught you off guard." He gave his drink another swirl, and the smile tilted upward once more. "I suppose I should take that as a compliment. Not many can sneak up on one such as yourself." On that note, he took his own sip, one which seemed to drag on.. which left Eris to ponder his last words.
What is with this guy?
It's nothing.
Her thoughts echoed and trailed off, her own words reassuring her, and she found herself copying his nonchalant shrug from earlier. "It was nothing, really. I guess I'm having an off day." Her gaze fell back to her drink and the adjacent datapad-..
Oh, dip.
She hadn't yet retrieved her datapad, nor had she closed out her messages. The pictures were still showing; Eris knew a moment of embarrassment on Elly's behalf as she reached for-..
It's nothing.
Slowly, she reached for her drink instead. The pictures were there, she really ought to-..
It's nothing.
She felt her smile falter as her fingers wrapped around the glass, the cold of the condensation a pleasant yet muffled contrast to the heavy, warm air of the bar.
Something is off here.
It's nothing. Really.
"...I'm sorry," she continued finally, "but I must have missed the question."
"That's fine." The reply was immediate. "It was more of a comment, honestly. You're from off-world too. It shows."
"Yeah. I am. Listen, I-.."
"The Jedi bit, that shows too. I'm hoping you realize that though."
This needed to end. "I don't think I caught your name..." she trailed off, probing outwards with the Force to pull this man's name from his surface thoughts... but there were none to be found, only that same jovial warmth, consistently radiating that set feeling. Her eyes widened and her voice petered away, quickly lost in the oppressive atmosphere here. She turned to survey him with a keener eye, just in time to catch him with his eye on the datapad. In a moment, he was glancing her way again from the side, visible brown meeting her hazel, and a smile was plastered on his face.
"Oh, forgive me. Where are my manners? My name is Vilus."
I know that name.
It's nothing.
"And you are...?"
No, I-..
It's nothing. Really.
She winced suddenly as an intense pain lanced through her temple. The heaviness of the air here settled around her and pressed down, and as her thoughts echoed her words through her head, she heard herself start speaking. "My name is Eris Eisahn."
"Pleasure to meet you, Eris." He reached a gloved hand forward and grabbed the datapad, pulling it closer to him, the sound of it scraping the bar only serving to add to her sudden pain. Her fingers tightened further on her glass -- when had she finished her drink as well?? -- as he picked it up and looked it over.
Something is-..
It's nothing.
It-..
It's nothing. Really.
"What is... Oh." A tap on the datapad punctuated the sound of her own voice cutting into her brain, and it was all she could do to focus in on what he was saying. "Oh, that... Eris. Can you tell me where she is?" Vilus turned to look at her then, holding the datapad up and tapping at the center of the image of Eliana, over her necklace; and as Eris's eyes met his, she began to understand. His eyes.. they weren't just brown. One was, yes, but the other was a crystal blue.
The same blue as Elly's.
"You're.. her brother. You're.. Cao."
It's nothing.
Tell me.
The smile he gave her was not one that reached his eyes; they reflected a glistening hunger and a coldness to accompany it. "Of course she told you about me. Tell me-.."
"She told me.. you were troubled," she heard herself continue. She saw him freeze, she felt his presence flicker and then quickly drain away until there was nothing there, she knew she needed to fight, but her own words were drowning her in her mind, almost drowning out the words she couldn't help but keep speaking.. "She told me.. you needed help."
The stillness in the air that followed carried a palpable tension with it. Even with vibroshivs plunging themselves into her temples, Eris could sense that a tipping point had been reached. Her eyes darted around the bar, looking to catch anyone's eye, but her heart fell when she saw her fellow patrons' heads resolutely tilted down still. This was bad. She needed to-..
"Did she now."
He pushed himself back out of his seat, taking a standing position with his eyes locked on the Jedi patron. "Did she tell you what to do if you were in danger?"
Fight it!!
Tell me.
She didn't know what he was after, but she knew now that she needed to regain her control, she needed to reach-..
You will tell me.
"Call.. Call .. for.." she gasped, fighting herself with each word.
"Good," came the immediate reply, silencing her once more. "So call." When she stared back at him without speaking, he leaned in and placed one hand on the bar, his eyes narrowed. "Do it. Call for her."
No no no no fight it-
"Call for help."
His free gloved hand slowly curled its fingers together, and so too did the invisible vicegrip tighten around her temple. A ringing filled her ears, a grey haze filled her peripherals, and the voice that left her throat was ragged and weary.
"Lam- Lambda.. Echo... Echo...."
A light came on on the datapad in response, and her torturer's eyes darted to it immediately. After a moment, he turned back to Eris and spoke coldly.
"That'll do." Vilus pushed himself off the bar top again and snatched his second drink off of it. "Oya," he said as he held up the glass, then put it to his lips and threw his head back; at the same time, he clenched his hand fully, and the haze that had been creeping around her senses now rushed in. His glass and her head hit the bar with a simultaneous thud, and then Eris knew no more...
========
A signal had been issued. An incomplete signal had been received.
Emergency protocols were activated.
An urgent communication was transmitted.
Elsewhere, a datapad chimed...
LE-03 (Leigh)
|
Adelle Bastiel
Last edited:
