A Shade Of Your Former Self [Aellin]

[Lief]

There were no words to explain what was happening before her very eyes.

As if it wasn't enough that the air was seeped in the corruption that usually clung to the walls of the ship, it seemed now to envelop him entirely and she was absolutely confused by his lack of outcry. It looked as if he should've been in utter pain, at least from where Asha was stood, her eyes could not tear themselves away from the tiny slither of him she could see between his mask and his hood. Even from her awkward vantage point, after all she could not see him head on, it was horrifying. Yet he didn't care.

If anything, he reveled in it.

Like a madman.

In fact she could see a near-madness in his eyes as he continued to draw upon it. For a moment she was afraid that he wouldn't stop at all, that he would ebb away into the very Force itself as the darkside claimed him.

He told her to watch. She could feel the ship rock and almost buckle as it lurched forward, yet her eyes would not turn away from him. She saw the skin as it burned, and given how small a slither of his face she could see it terrified her to think of the rest of the damage beneath the mask. How was he so okay with this? Did he even realize what had happened? Or did he just view it as the price to pay for power?

Watch, he said again. This time it was a command, and while it felt impossible she managed to peel her gaze from him and settle it onto the viewing port he was stood before. And then, with a rumble, she noticed their ascension through the debris and acid.

From above light rained down. Not the muted artificial glow which radiated from the light sockets, but real true light. It may have been discoloured and hazy from the smog of the world, but it was real. And Asha had to turn her head away in pain. How long had they lingered in such a perpetual state of darkness?

Her eyes stung, yet after a few seconds adjustment she stepped toward Aellin and once again looked toward the sight of Raxus Prime as the vessel broke its way upward. She had never thought it possible.

Perhaps it wasn't just a graveyard afterall.

[member="Aellin Tedronai"]

 

[Aellin Tedronai]

[member="Asha Hex"]

Finally, he ceased.

The darkside ebbed away from him in droves, a great flood of power simply flowing away from him all at once. It was a shock to the system, as if his own muscles somehow all failed at the same time, as though his entire being was simply left empty, hollow, yet he knew that maintaining that power within himself, keeping it all in would be the death of him. The darkside was power, it was strength incarnate, but it was also dangerous. Aellin knew this, he knew the consequences of his actions, knew what it would do to him, but he had no choice.

None that he saw anyway.

His hand came forward, his fingers finally unclenching as his palm spread forward and braced against the viewport. Aellin half fell forward, his head spinning, his body drained and tired. His eyes folded closed for a moment, his stance faltering slightly as he tried to keep himself from falling to the ground. The endeavor had been draining, raising The Bloodhaven had been a task, pulling away the surface of Raxus Prime had nearly killed him.

Aellin's eyes slowly returned to normal, the yellow fading to be contained within his iris', the sunken bite of his sockets pulling back just slightly. His veins returned to their normal pale blue, yet his skin remained gray, as if permanently broken and scarred. A heavy breath shook him, his entire body seeming to convulse as though he were suddenly stuck within a small loop. The Sith Acolyte frowned slightly, holding himself up against the glass for a moment more before he slowly began to straighten, heavy lidded eyes drawing open so that he could gaze forth at the atmosphere of Raxus Prime.

Another breath shook him. "There."

Aellin's palm slowly began to close against the stars, the pale sickly green of Raxus Prime's atmosphere slowly beginning to fade as the stars became visible before them, the ethos of space slowly showing in front of them as The Bloodhaven climbed higher and higher.

 

[Lief]

She didn't care that they had broken free from Raxus; she didn't care that for the first time in what felt like an eternity there was something new to look upon.

In that moment, Asha's eyes fell upon her Master and worry became writ on her expression. He did not look well.

Half slumped against the window, hand bracing him, it seemed as though he was ready to buckle. And given what she had just witnessed, Asha wasn't entirely certain he would get back up again if he did stumble to the ground. It should've been the perfect time to seek her revenge. She should have used it to her advantage, and found a way to escape now that it was very much a plausible action.

Instead she strode toward him, and did something potentially stupid. She reached out to support him, expression twisted with concern.

She watched as he almost fell during the time it took her to do this. Her hand settled against his arm, tentative and trembling with uncertainty. "Master..." her voice quivered. She saw his stance begin to right itself, but refused to step back. He did not look well, not at all, and when he finally spoke and directed the vessel she was in half a mind to stop him.

For his own sake.

"You need to sit down."

Perhaps it wasn't the best of things to say to a man such as he, it wasn't that he was weak - she most certainly did not view him as such - but everyone had their limits. And he had very nearly reached his from the looks of things. "Please..."

Why did she care? What reason did she have to be concerned for his wellbeing? Had he really done her any good, or was he truly just her captor?

At the end of the day, she looked past all of that. Because he was a human, beneath it all, he was a person and he looked as if he was about ready to pass out. Despite everything, there was a little voice within her that longed to fix it. That longed to help.

And it would not be ignored.

[member="Aellin Tedronai"]

 

[Aellin Tedronai]

[member="Asha Hex"]

He growled slightly, aggression peeking through exhaustion. Normally he would have punished her for such presumption, pulled at her throat and shown her that he knew no weakness and sought no aid from anyone. Yet the darkside had taken it's toll. The power that he had used had a price to it, and the strength that normally carried through him so well, the power that drove him and the abilities that he held in such high regard all cost him dearly. Aellin could feel it in his skin, could feel it in his bones. With the darkside having left him he felt...weaker...empty, as though a passing wind could have knocked him off his feet. He frowned slightly, looking to Asha.

The Acolyte knew that the darkside was his path to power, knew that he needed it, needed the strength that it gave him. There was no other way to achieve that, no other way to do what he needed. That was why he had taken The Bloodhaven why he had raised it and why he would stay upon this ship for the next decade. He had strength here, power that he could siphon and build upon. It was what mattered, what made him strong and what would allow him to conquer those who stood before him.

Yet for now.

For now it was dangerous.

"Very well." Aellin relented, looking at Asha for a moment and releasing another growl from his throat. This one was not of anger, not towards her at least, but towards the weakness that he was showing. Aellin did not like appearing like this, he did not like needing help. Yet he had his limits. He knew that. He knew that for now he couldn't push himself too far. He did not yet have the strength to contain all that power, did not yet have the strength to control what the darkside wished to grant him.

It was a horrid realization.

One that he would have to come to terms with and understand as the years went by. The Acolyte gritted his teeth, grasping onto Asha and slowly wandering towards the back of the Bridge. There was a chair there, more a throne than anything else really. It was a thing made of rusted metal and broken sheets of The Bloodhaven itself, constructed by the droids at the behest of Aellin. His servant took him there, slowly leading him and then sitting him down upon the graveyards throne.

 

[Lief]

For a moment Asha feared the consequences of her actions; she flinched as his growl punctuated the air, and had to force herself to stand strong as his gaze fell upon hers. Rather than a snarl, his expression was one of fatigue and instead he simply frowned. Somehow, miraculously, she had dodged a bullet.

It took a little while longer for him to actually give in, though, and when he did he did not seem at all pleased about it. She would have to make sure to scrub this moment from her mind, and never let it see the light of day again. That would not be a reminder he would be pleased about.

Carefully she walked him toward the twisted throne he'd had commissioned by their entourage of droids. Asha hadn't seen him sit down in what felt like forever, not properly at least, he was a man who always seemed to be busy. So it was a strange sight indeed when he finally settled down into the durasteel seat.

"I'm sorry" she quietly said, realizing her impunity in that moment; she released him to his seat, and took a very slight step back. Her gaze scrutinized what she could see of his for a moment, it didn't seem quite so horrific as it had during the ship's ascension but it still looked bad. Different. The Darkside had taken its price, and no doubt it would ask more of him still.

Asha reached out toward him, without really thinking about what she was doing, and attempted to remove the mask. For all she knew it was a lot worse beneath; maybe there was something she could do to help. She had never dealt with the effects of corruption before, but she had seen it first hand on the girl her Father had rescued. The agony, the physical trauma...

She had gotten much better at healing during her time aboard this graveyard of a ship; there were many times she'd suffered at his hands, at the hands of the ship itself when clearing out junk, and even so far as working away the damage he'd sustained back on Thule and her silly attempts at fixing it with a lightsaber. There may have been something to be done.

If he had been any ordinary man, willing to accept further aid.

[member="Aellin Tedronai"]

 

[Aellin Tedronai]

[member="Asha Hex"]

His reaction was more harsh this time, far more punishing. His hand reached up to grab her wrist like a viper, his fingers curling around her flesh and his gloves tightening almost immediately. There was a limit to the kindness that the Sith would show, a limit the kindness that he could show. It was not that he didn't understand what she was trying to do, not that he didn't even really appreciate it. He knew that she was loyal, that she wanted to serve and beg, that she wanted to do nothing but ensure his safety and health.

Yet right now, her touch would not do that.

The Darkside, though it had abandoned him for now, would soon return. He could feel it within himself, could feel the lingering power that still flowed within his chest. He knew that soon it would come back, that he would have power to stand and more, he knew that he didn't need Asha's touch, knew that it would only prevent him from taking the power that he needed.

His fingers tightened, bending her wrist.

There was a yelp of pain that escaped from her lips, a slight gasp as she fell to her knees before him. His eyes wandered over her, his yellow gaze settling on her own as his lips thinned beneath his mask and formed into a curved scowl. Aellin looked down at her. He knew that she was only trying to help, but he didn't care. She was taking liberties with him, ones that she did not yet deserve, ones that would undo all the work that he had done. The Darkside came to those most desperate.

Aellin needed to be desperate. "No."

He told her, his voice Echoing out through the ship as he brought her to her knees.

 

[Lief]

Her hand did not close around the mask the way she had intended.

Instead her wrist was snatched mid-air and fingers dug into her skin. In her rush to help, she had misjudged her place. She had forgotten that it was she who was beneath him. And now, as her wrist was painfully bent back the girl could do little more than yelp as she dropped to her knees before him.

Clenching her jaw tightly to try and refrain from anymore whimpers, though it was more than difficult to not cry out, Asha sucked in a breath and tried to shift her body to ease the discomfort. But it was almost impossible.

Her eyes welled up, fixed up at his, and for a moment she felt as though her wrist was about to snap. Her whole body quivered under the strain, and after his gaze intensified against hers, as the scowl came to be, she dropped her head into a submissive bow and begged for the moment to end.

"I'm... Sorry."

It was difficult to even talk at this point, truth be told he probably didn't want to hear her whimpers. She had forgotten that he was not just an ordinary man who looked to heal the wounds he bore. That had been her mistake.

She sucked in another breath, trying her best to adjust to the odd tingling sensation which ran from her wrist along her arm. If he pressed down any further she knew that her wrist would break... And that was not a thing she wanted to happen.

Composing herself, despite the situation, Asha exhaled slowly and closed her eyes.

"Please... Forgive me, Master."

Even after so long, she could anger him so abhorrently without intending to. It was times like these that she realized she knew so little about him.

[member="Aellin Tedronai"]

 

[Aellin Tedronai]

[member="Asha Hex"]

For a moment he simply considered.

Asha had been loyal these past two years, very loyal in fact. Over the last six months she had run errands around the surrounding sectors, spoken with dignitaries and even met with a few important figures from several criminal coalitions. She had been valuable in that, something that Aellin appreciated. He had shown that appreciation several times, a gentle touch, a compliment, a nice lesson to improve her skill in one place or another. He had been kind to her at times, or as kind as he could force himself to be.

Was snapping her wrist worth it?

He would need her uninjured still.

A frown pulled over his lips, and for a brief moment the Sith looked away from Asha and towards the viewport that lay ahead of him, his hand still tightly wrapped around her wrist, bending it. The pale green atmosphere of Raxus Prime had dropped away, the stars now showing ahead of them and the thin ring of junk that floated around the planet slowly passing all around them. He frowned slightly, his eyes slowly wandering back towards Asha as he considered what to do with her. She had paid him an affront, but she had not known, perhaps just this one he would allow her no punishment, just this once, because it was a good day.

"Very well." He released her palm.

"Remember you place, servant." Aellin said with a hiss. "You do not take presumptions, or must I break you with chains once more?"

The question was raised with a bite to his voice, an echo of memories.