Faction Camp: Tree Eater

[Jonu Zihtil]

Marcis Sorr Inanna Harth

The first to appear in the doorway commented on the pair, garnering a hint of a smile from the large woman. The other however prompted him to move forward with what could be guessed was a sign of endearment, or as some not of her own species would call, teasing. After the two moved to a bunk that pleased them, Jonu watched for a silent moment, taking in the scent of both and being slightly baffled before coming to her conclusion.

Both changelings.

And both deciding she was either the least threatening, or at least less hostile choice of the bunch that had offloaded to the camp. Either way, civility in the face of all the blood that was in the air would be maintained as she softly closed the distance between herself and the two on the floor.

Collars were grabbed and both promptly dragged outside before being thrown their bags. They could sort themselves out now that the spiteful parts of their being was tempered. Closing the door, she whispered her own language as four claws closed around the handle.

"Sing and croon, warn of doom, bite what touches to enter this room." She spoke softly as the dark energy passed through her clawed fingertips and settled into the plain handle. A shrill squeal would be heard should anyone try to enter, and receive a rather nasty bit of mental illusion for the effort as Jonu moved and slowly settled into her nest to sleep.

Content that all of them were pleased with the arrangement, she worked on catching some rest herself.

 

[Marcis Sorr]

Aside from the slightest twitch of an arm towards his lightwhip, the amber-eyed Acolyte gave no response to the Pest's latest antics.

Assuming his newly-found spot, his mind began to focus elsewhere only to be pulled back as the Red One placed her defensive sorceries upon the door to their housing unit. Something to scare off rather than maim, how very merciful of her. Mercy had been shown to the Weak Ones as well... or perhaps it had not. Perhaps one did not need to kill a potential foe to neutralise them, merely break their confidence.

Merely establish yourself as something above and beyond their capabilities.

It was worthy of consideration. Certainly, it had the advantage of more closely adhering to the intricacies of social interaction.

Thoughtful though he was, his blank features betrayed nothing of what was going on within as he simply sat there, deathly still, waiting however long it took for something of interest to happen. Some new test the Overseers had thought up, perhaps?

Inanna Harth | Jonu Zihtil​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Try as she might, Inanna couldn’t sleep. Not that she didn’t appreciate Jonu Zihtil ’s protection spells on the door—that was rather sweet of her, especially for a Sith—nor was she not tired. On the contrary, she was sleepy, but also restless and wired and preoccupied with thoughts of mischief.

Have you ever had an overwhelming itching urge to annoy someone to the point of putting yourself in mortal danger? No? Good for you. You’ll probably live a long and healthy life.

Alas, Inanna Hoole was such a fool. In the short time that had passed between her arrival at the camp and this moment, she had completed the transition from wanting to avoid the Changeling seated on the bed across from hers to being determined to provoke a reaction out of him. Since he had shown so little emotion thus far, she sought the pleasure (and the bragging rights) of making him feel something. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter to her what he felt, only that he did in fact feel something and show it plainly in his expression and body language in order to gratify her bizarre and selfish desires.

And so Inanna, fully aware of the fact that she was probably dooming herself to an early (for her species, at least) demise, slid out of bed and strode over to where Marcis Sorr sat cross-legged on his own bunk, his gaze vacant and back painfully rigid. Stretching out her hand, she booped the tip of his nose with her finger, complete with added sound effect. (“Boop.”) Presumably his eyes would become animated again immediately, possibly to reach for one of his knives and drive it into her brain in a killing blow. Or maybe he would just glare at her murderously in hopes of frightening her away, stretching out in the Force to dominate her mind or some other such killjoy technique.

Regardless, Inanna was not one to be put out, and she would definitely not be satisfied with whatever he did within the span of the next turn of this game. So, regardless of what he did after the booping of his nose, she would follow it up without delay by throwing herself at him. Literally—she flopped onto the mattress beside him, then proceeded to stretch her torso and coil around his middle like a serpent. Her grip was no stronger than the affectionate hug of an enthusiastic relative; he could breathe easily and his movements weren’t restricted. His limbs remained free to flail around as her head crept up behind his shoulder and, grinning, she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and whispered right into his ear.

“You’re the Sword-Swallower from Dromund Kaas, aren’t you? Say, you don’t seem as green as the rest of the acolytes here." She nodded respectfully to the resting Crimson Chin. "She's not so bad either, although I've seen spells like hers barked out in carnival attractions by people who barely even know what the Force is. Where are you from, kitten? How’d you learn all this sorcery stuff so early? Oh—I don’t think I caught your name, either, so who are you?”

If all this failed to incite him to the point of homicidal intent, she began petting him as she spoke—running her fingers through his ashen hair so that it stood up like a duckling’s fluff on the top of his head. Of course, her proximity presented a perfect opportunity to Slay the Pest™, though Arrik might at least deign to answer her questions before dispatching her to the Nether.

 

[Jonu Zihtil]

Inanna Harth Marcis Sorr

Her eyes closed, and she had little more than to wait a short time for the fun to begin as the second, more boisterous of the changelings began to move and speak. There were word about the magic she had done being done in cheap side shows. Which was an irritating thought that some would think the ancient sith magics were something to be used as a sideshow. Perhaps the sword swallower knew something of it. Then the nickname hit her ears, and she thought better about interrupting the pair.

What was it about this camp that made the lot of them act so strangely? The proximity and whispering was one thing, but the petting?

 

[Marcis Sorr]

It was not an easy thing to drive a patient predator such as himself to frustration with fleeting idiocy, yet the shapeshifter seemed exceptionally dedicated to her self-imposed task. For a moment, he wondered whether she was actually less inept than she seemed, whether she actually had a higher purpose unknown to him, perhaps trickery most cunning, but that thought was quickly discarded.

Even a cursory examination made it clear that she represented no threat - and yet he was nonetheless at the edge of his considerable patience.

Lips twitching upwards in something that could be considered a smile but would more aptly be described as the beginnings of an animalistic snarl, his eyes turned a deeper shade of amber still, lean body inflexible in the face of her unwanted presence.

For the briefest moment, a demonic visage composed of swirling shadows was superimposed upon his pale features, amber eyes shining through the smoke as his previously quiet voice all-but hummed with otherwordly authority.

"Leave through a window, enter the woods, seek out the beasts. You are their prey, you are their food."

There was no hesitation in his voice, no hint of mercy or compassion, only his will hammering into hers like a sledgehammer.

Inanna Harth | Jonu Zihtil​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Marcis Sorr Jonu Zihtil​

"Oh, you're not interested in... people... Why didn't you just say so in the first place, kitten?" Inanna murmured, her brow furrowing first in pain, then in a kind of dazed confusion as her will was overridden.

Uncoiling herself from around his body, Inanna promptly did as the weird little sword-swallower commanded, heading for the nearest window. She attempted to dive out gracefully and instead got stuck for a few seconds in the narrow space. With a bit of wiggling she managed to crawl through, though both Arrik and Jonu probably heard a muffled "guah!" as she hit the ground face-first outside.

Spitting out dirt, she clambered to her feet, and walked a little ways away from the cabin, just enough to enter the very edge of the woods. She then began fulfilling the other part of Arrik's command, seeking out the beasts. Her idea of accomplishing this involved yelling and waving her arms in an effort to draw their attention.

"Hey! Prey here! Anybody hungry? Helloooo!"

She clapped her hands as loudly as possible and jumped up and down, screaming at the top of her lungs. This went on for some time. Other acolytes in other cabins peered out at her through their windows, wondering what all the ruckus was about, but too scared of being eaten to venture outside even just to shut her up.

Eventually the window to the cabin eased open again, and Inanna slipped back inside, in tears. "None of them wanted me," she sobbed. Then she staggered over to her bed and flopped into it, facing the wall as she sniffled in the dark.