Dathomirian Holidays [Circe/Fabula] (COMPLETE)

[Onrai]

What you call deficient, I call useful. Circe smiled as the two of them began to walk back towards the stronghold. Warriors and witches have always needed one another, in order to balance the abilities of one another out. Far too often, though, they make a mistake and choose to align themselves with people of their same type. Only together can the blade and the sorceress balance one another out, becoming nearly invincible as a team against all who would dare threaten them.

She paused for a moment, thinking before raising an eyebrow at Fabula. Being a warrior, I'm guessing you use all sorts of weapon types. Perhaps you and I could scour the galaxy together and find every type of blade, train you to use any knife, sword, or other melee weapon. You'd gain a great deal of respect from your peers for becoming so skilled in battle.

Not to mention of course that Circe would have Fabula all to herself. Maybe she'd come out of her shell more if Circe was around her.

 

[Fabula Caromed]

There was a lot that Circe said that was dubious. Most of it was probably manipulation, and Fabula wasn't exactly vulnerable to that kind of manipulation. Her mother was the only one she gave two craps about anyway. "Travelling does sound fun." She'd be doing it alone, if she did. She was always wandering around the planet with only the sounds of the forest to keep her company. She would probably do the same thing if she ever got her hands on a ship.

Most of the rest of it, though, was just sucking up and attempting to convince her to ally. Fabula tried to respond in the most polite and civil way possible. "The soul has greater ambition than the body has potential. Invicibility is an unachievable goal. It's impossible to make yourself impervious to all threats, even on your own. Adding a second person to that simply multiplies any weaknesses that the single person has." She shrugged. "An army is only as strong as its weakest soldier."

That came off far too dismissive. "We still have much training to do here. There will be plenty of time to grow familiar with each other, and I will always be there for any Nightsister who needs me." Provided Petra didn't say otherwise, she added mentally. Petra's wishes overrode anything her "sisters" could ask her to do. "So don't worry about forming an unbreakable bond. As long as you stay true to the Book of Shadows, our bond will always be unbreakable."

 

[Onrai]

I must respectfully disagree, Fab... When people are capable of covering for one anothers' weaknesses, they both grow stronger, together. At least, that's what she'd learned during her journeys up to this point. She always chose to befriend and otherwise work with people whose weaknesses she could counter, and who could help deal with her own weaknesses as well.

Then she started to understand. Fab... Why does it feel like there's a shell around you? Like you feel uncomfortable with some of the things I say or do? Did something happen to you long ago that caused you to put up these walls of worry?

She moved in again, giving Fabula a frontal hug as her chin briefly rested on the Nightsister's shoulder. Please tell me... Her sympathy was showing, the Zeltron urge to deal with unhappiness by finding out about it and dealing with it.

 

[Fabula Caromed]

Something Fabula had discovered early in her short and brutal life was that she did not enjoy having her mind picked at. Her mother did it, the other Nightsisters did it, and even she did it on more occasions than she was comfortable admitting. Her face found a bit of a pouting scowl, and she turned away again, ignoring Circe's hug as well as she could. "Not a lot has happened to me, and that's the problem. I don't need help with it. I'm deficient, and it's not likely to change."

How could she explain being a clone of a woman who was centuries dead? She had already sort-of led into her lack of experiences. Why wasn't that enough? And why was this blasted woman wasting her time on her? 'Ugh, I need to get out of here.' Yes, stupid girl. Run from your problems. That will surely fix them. "I feel uncomfortable when people pay attention to me. And you're paying a great deal of attention to me right now."

 

[Onrai]

Trust me, Fab, you're someone worth paying attention to. The hybrid pulled away, noticing the walls she was remounting. Fabula, did I ever tell you about my stake in Subach-Innes?

In her observation of this peculiar Nightsister, Circe had almost forgotten about her company. That was bad... but why didn't she feel like anything was wrong?

 

[Fabula Caromed]

That was an entirely pointless question. "I've known you for less than an hour and you haven't yet mentioned it. So no, I didn't know about your Soobakenns." Subak-Enns? Well, it was probably some kind of weird off-world business that didn't have anything to do with Dathomir or her mother's plans. Why would she be imprinted with that kind of knowledge?

Still, Fabula visibly relaxed, at least a little, when she wasn't being touched any more. She didn't have to worry about being hit, or stabbed, or shocked, or any of a large number of other violent things. She knew that she wouldn't need to worry about them anyway, but there was very little about a dead-clone-Witch-Knight that was logical.

 

[Onrai]

Okay... Pronounce it with me. Soo-Bawk In-nes. Pause between the Subach and the Innes. It's a company that builds all sorts of amazing things, from starships and starfighters to droids and weapons. They make the most wonderful things...

Circe sighed before suddenly going off on another tangent.

I'd love to know if there's any sort of weapon you'd want to learn to use. Perhaps my company can manufacture that for you.

 

[Fabula Caromed]

Why would she need a new weapon? Raising her hand, Fabs indicated to the twin, leather-wrapped lightsabers hanging by their charm-chains from her belt. "There's only one weapon I need to learn, Circe. While it's not a bad idea at all to be capable of doing more than one thing, I am dedicated to mastery." She smiled just a bit and took a deep breath, now visibly more at peace. "If I were to stop before I learn every single thing about these two beautiful machines that there is to learn, I'm betraying them and myself."

Fabula picked one up by the chain and hung it from her finger, letting it swing a bit and following it with her proud little eyes. "I made both of these on my own, about a day after waking up. I know them well, and if I were to stop learning of their secrets and techniques that are exclusive to them alone, it would cripple my potential." Her expression was a bit more pained when she met Circe's eyes again. "I'm good at one thing. I'd prefer not to take that thing away, too."

 

[Onrai]

Circe's eyes lit up at the lightsabers with the charm chains on them. They're beautiful... You did an excellent job making them.

She focused, Dark Force energy coming into her hands as she began to shape it into something interesting. Her focus was engaged on the precise duplication process as every single piece formed into shape. After a few moments of concentration, in her hands were an exact replica of Fabula's lightsabers. She activated them and swung them around, hearing the nearly silent rattle of the chains as the blades vibrantly swirled. I could almost dance with these if they weren't extraordinarily deadly.

 

[Fabula Caromed]

Fabs laughed a little sheepishly, her free hand coming up to scratch the back of her neck as the other replaced her weapon on her belt. "I don't think I've reached the point of 'dancing' yet. But one day I hope to, and when that happens, I think I'll truly be happy." Her smile got a bit sharper, her eyes focusing for a moment. "Happy, but not content. Content leads to weakness. You can always be stronger."

One thing that a total lack of ego tended to lead to was an unquenchable drive for self-improvement. In the two weeks she had been alive, Fabula had learned spells, built lightsabers, fought slave warriors, and killed folk legends. She had no intent on stopping, ever. There was no reason to stop moving forward when you had that kind of momentum, and if she ever did stop, she might forget how to move again.

 

[Onrai]

Dance is one of the most beautiful ways to express your abilities as a warrior. Once you have mastered dance, you will be able to cleave through your enemies effortlessly.

To demonstrate, Circe began a complicated series of strikes, slashes, jabs, parries, and aerial maneuvers, along with a mix of Twi'lek slave dancing and some maneuvers she had picked up from the other slaves. It would put most Rutian and Lethan Twees to shame.

I haven't done that since I was enslaved... It felt refreshing.

 

[Fabula Caromed]

Fabula just chuckled. It was adorable how one could take an idea or a compliment and blow it entirely out of proportion. "That's...not exactly what I meant." Fabs brought both of her lightsabers up and stepped back a few feet from Circe. "Battle isn't just a dance. The more masterful fighters are sometimes described as dancers, but simply the ability to dance grants little in the way of actual technique."

She ignited her weapons in perfect tandem, the snap-hiss much louder in stereo. "For example, simply dancing around," she began, and took a few light, artsy swings around her body to form a cute little pattern in the air. "Doesn't give you much presence. There's no power behind it for attack or defense. All it is is showy and 'graceful.' A dancer and a warrior both have to practice their maneuvers to bring power and precision to them."

Her next few movements were simple, but extremely fierce. Right cross, left slice, twist and two to to the midsection. Each one created the violent humming sound of a lightsaber cutting the air, and she moved with enough power to dislodge her hair slightly. "Each attack is like a dance maneuver, only your partner is trying to kill you. Each block and strafe is a stepping pattern, but if you fail you die." As she stood, Fabula released her lightsabers and floated them back to her belt again. "There are similarities, but simply being a dancer makes your movements pretty, not deadly."

She smirked a bit when her geek surge subsided. "One of these days, though, I'll have enough of a grasp on swordplay to make it look like a dance while still being deadly. I hope I'm still able to appreciate that when it happens."