Each Day's a Gift and Not a Given Right

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth bit at her lip a little as she thought about that idea, and just how much she'd like to hang around and make it so. "Mmmm... Could really get used to this." Said as she leaned back against Kaida without hesitation, and reached a hand up to gently run it through the Eldorai's hair.

"Of course.... Breakfast sounds lovely." But waited before moving, wanting to stay closer to Kaida for just a little longer. Then finally she reached out and grabbed her cane, and limped for the door, still quite sore from her wounds ... and perhaps a little more sore from their activities last night.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


Kaida unconsciously leaned into the soft touch but then quickly followed Coryth when she limped to the door. Well, moved as quickly as you could when you were still limping yourself! Especially when you kept in mind that on the day before she had been working out and pushing herself harder than she should have, so it stood to reason that her limbs were making her feel the pain. However, she was so polite to open the door for the short stack of fire.


Outside, however, Kaida was pure professionalism. Unlike some, she was not one for public displays of affection. For one she was a more reserved person and that sort of thing struck her as clingy. One night full of passionate sex did not equal instant dating! Or something similarly mushy like that, in which she had little interest. In any case she would lead Coryth to the cantina where they could have breakfast. Doubtless some folks there remembered them from last night, but Kaida seemed unconcerned by that.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Limping back into the cantina, Coryth couldn't help but notice a few people glancing in their direction and whispering. She did have to admit, Kaida falling back into her professionalism outside her bedroom was nice. Even she wasn't big on the public displays of affection, and really liked to keep such things limited to the bedroom. Or at the very least just kept at home and in private.

Quickly she looked over the menu as they sat down, and chose her food. At least for the most part, they were over that whole awkward thing. Though, Coryth herself was starting to slip back into her shy ways again. "So..." She started, a little unsure what to talk about now, "I suppose, I don't know all that much about you. But I am curious, what is it like with the Angelii?"

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


"I'm surprised Kerrigan has not flooded you with stories about us. Didn't she leave you with the impression that we are all brainwashed into Ashiran warrior-zealots and paired with another Angelii who become sour lover and who fight to the death for. That's incorrect. No matter what the holovids say," she said dryly.


"We're a military unit answeing to the Grand Seraph and the Star Queen. Sciians, or force-users, on Kaeshana all have to receive compulsory state education on how to control their powers and resist the dark side. Most go on to live their own lives after that, those women with the most aptitude for combat join the Angelii. Training is harsh, physically and mentally. So is discipline, to leave only the fittest and loyal. We're asked with protecting the Queen and being at the forefront of Kaeshana's wars, first at the front, last to leave. Ashira's avenging angels, or so the theory says."


In other words, Angelii were quite clear on being part of the military. An elite one, to be sure, since Eldorai culture was strongly geared towards venerating force-users, but still a part of it. One could compare them with templars, though so far they were not into banking! On the alignment scale, the Angelii tended to be more grey than light side. "What is...it like with the Jedi? You're the only one I've met, apart from Alince." Kerrigan did not count.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth chuckled softly, "You'd be surprised, with how little I know on the matter. Kaeshana only became a home for me, because of Siobhan. So, there is that."

It didn't really seem all that strange to her, as Kaida spoke about them. A unique and elite military unit. "The Jedi ...." The redhead bit at her lip, thinking how best to put it. "Guardians of the peace, I suppose is the best way to put it. There are three branches one can follow into. One, being guardians a combat trained grouping, the warriors really of the order. Then there are Consulars, which is what I am considered. We focus on extensive mastery of the force, and diplomatic means to end problems. We draw a weapon only as the absolute last and final resort. And then there are Sentinels, they blend both extensive force knowledge and combat training, becoming akin to investigators of the force. Dark bunch of folks they are though." Another sigh came, "I came into the order when I was fourteen, I'd been alone a long time, on my own. Training was intense, hard and draining. Mission after mission, task after task. And truthfully it was quite lonely. Especially now, as most missions and things I do I am completely on my own for."

"I trained for two years under my Master, and the healers at the temple. At that point, I'd exceeded all the teachers they had when it came to healing so I was sent out to one of the major hospitals on Coruscant, to train further in medicine and surgery. Was a lot of long days and nights, but worth it as I'm one of the few Jedi trained completely as far as a surgeon and physician would be. After that I returned back to my Master, really cold hardass if truth be told. He never seemed to much like me... Or anyone for that matter. But yeah .... just was the nature of it I guess. But back to the point, by the end of it I am a healer, and a diplomat. That's my job at the end of the day, helping people who need it most... Healing the sick and injured, I love that."

"The rest of the Order ... I don't know. I've been on the out with them for a long time. Never really got along with the Council nor the politics of it. They always had the mind to try and send me, a healer on missions that required a fighter, a sentinel. But that is my problem I guess. There's a lot of politics with it, a lot of it being tied into the senate and the best interests of the Republic and I don't always agree." She gave a shrug, taking a sip from her glass.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


"I understand," Kaida responded as she sipped her drink. "Far as I can tell, the Jedi Council spends most of its time angsting about whether fighting Sith is 'moral', whether they should be tied to the Republic and what not. I'm not surprised it has a habit of alienating its members, truth be told."


Kaida did not like the Order much, from what she had seen. They seemed terribly whiny most of the time. Or the Republic in general these days. "Never mind its belief that it has to meddle in places far outside its jurisdiction. I suppose I cannot judge too much since most of the Star Queens of the past were tyrants and despots in a cliched Game of Stars way. The Angelii have their own cadre of healers and medics, mostly devoted to the worship of Ashira and drawn from her war priestesses. Far as is known, there have been three Eldorai who became Jedi. An ancient Jedi called Fay, Malya Helindan and Adril Tythorin, Kerrigan's teacher."

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"That's pretty damn accurate, truly." Something that did annoy her how the Sith ... the Jedi never could figure out if it was okay or moral to be fighting them. "I tried not to be involved in the politics, as I just was there to clean up the Jedi's and the Republic's messes. Clean up after their wars and what was left behind. It's funny, never thought I'd leave them. But, here I am. And I'm far from the only one that is on the out like this. There's so many of us."

She chuckled softly, "Yeah, seems its the Jedi's job to meddle. I spent most of my time in the outer rim, planets far from Republic space .... managing affairs there. Few people out this far really say no to a healer. Somehow, it felt safer." Though it probably was the furthest thing from it. "I guess its part of why I'm used to no one being there to help me if things go wrong. Used to being entirely on my own by this point. However lonely that can be."

"Ah... I wasn't aware that Adril was Eldorai. I knew ... about her. But beyond that, I didn't know." Said softly, as a few things now made sense to her.

"Don't think I'd trade my experiences as a Jedi for anything. It's given me something to live for. A purpose when I'd otherwise be completely lost in this galaxy." One did wonder, what Coryth would have been like, without the guidance of the order. It was quite a dark future, truth be told. "Even if I foolishly rush into things, sometimes."

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


"Far as I know, her parents were poor farmers. She was among the first Eldorai to be seized by foreign slavers when Kaeshana was, as they say, 'opened up'...to loot and plunder. One of the reasons my people don't like most foreigners," Kaida replied. This had happened in the last stages of the Four Hundred Darkness. Much time had passed since then, but Eldorai have long memories and long lives. Moreover, Kaeshana had only recently achieved a greater measure of stability and strength.



Little did either know that soon disaster would strike the planet and that it was indeed living on borrowed time, but that is for another thread. Doubtless it would be the cause of great pain and trauma. She gave Coryth a short nod. "Well, you are a great healer and woman and very brave. As for the whole foolishly running into things part, well, fortunately you have a shiny collar with a bellow now. You should keep it. It does look nice." Kaida's attempts at flirtation were not getting any better.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth nodded, listening to Kaida's words. "That explains a few things. I can understand the dislike for foreigners given that. Not a fan of slavers either." The redhead said as her eyes dropped to the table for a moment. "I was born into slavery, myself. My mother escaped with me as a toddler. But uh, the Hutt that owned us... Never let it go. He sent bounty hunters after both of us, and we spent much of our lives on the run constantly. Ship to ship, planet to planet to stay one step ahead." She sighed softly, "At the time, I didn't know that was the reason we never stayed in one place. I learned some years later when a hunter finally caught up with me and tried to bring me back to Tatooine." Reaching up she pinched at the bridge of her nose, thinking back to those hard times. It had been a mess then. "At least, he is dead now and I won't ever have to worry about that again."

A scarlet hue once more spread across her cheeks. "Thank you." A hand reached to touch the collar. "I'd almost forgotten about that. Still not sure who put it on or when!" Exclaimed as she shook her head slowly, in disbelief. "Kinda makes being invisible a little harder as I can't mask sound completely. I'm not just a healer after all. My defense does lay in the ability to create elaborate illusions and an alternate reality to confuse and mystify my foes."

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


Kaida looked sympathetic. "I didn't know. Hutts? Disgusting, parasitical slugs. On Kaeshana he would have been drowned." The Eldorai were, coincidentally, fond of putting captured slavers in chains, stuffing them in coffins and then tossing them into the ocean. It gave the scum a taste of the suffering they inflicted on slaves. In the extremely unlikely event that they got out, the Behemoths ate them.


"Good riddance to him. He got what he deserved. And you've shown you're far better than a slave. You're far stronger than the scum thought," she raised an eyebrow when Coryth spoke of her powers. "Illusions, yes? I recall hearing something about that on Gehenna." There may or may not be innuendo incoming about how you could use illusions outside of the battlefield. Depending on how corny Kaida was feeling.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"That would have been a better death than it deserved." Coryth said dryly. "Yeah, it's not something I really talk about truthfully. Just happens to be how I came into the Universe, so it's a part of me I can't completely escape."

She chuckled softly, "Yeah, Gehenna was interesting. It's not often that I get to create an army of Reek riding redheads just to take down one guy who pushed my buttons one step too far." It was straining, had been a pain to do, but so worth it in the end. "After all, he hurt my unit, the people I was watching over. And tried to use a poor Reek to do it." Tracing a finger across the table, she decided to do a small demonstration. As she lifted her hand a tiny reek formed and appeared on the table to ramble about, knocking the salt shaker over before it returned to Coryth's hand looking real as ever. "Can really do whatever I like with Illusions. They can be as real as you and me if I put the thought, effort and energy behind it."

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


Kaida looked at the display, seeming impressed. "Nice work on Gehenna then. We don't really have illusionists amongst the Angelii, though I imagine the Investigators did. Our powers are mostly elemental-based - fire, earth, lightning, ice and water." The Investigators had been Kaeshana's secret police during its darker times, enforcing the will of despotic Star Queens. Officially they had been disbanded long ago, but every government, no matter how benign, obviously had people to do its dirty work.


The Seraph cocked her head slightly. "You can do anything you like with illusions? You'll have to demonstrate that to me. Somewhere less crowded." That was as close to making corny innuendo as Kaida got. At least in a public setting.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

With a wave of her fingers the illusion faded into the table disappearing completely. "Thank you." She nodded, "Illusionists ... they seem to be a rare breed of force users to begin with. I've only known one other, and he could only do a hundredth of what I can."

"I have no talent for any of that really, nothing elemental. I always thought it was rather amazing to alter the environment that way. All I can do is play with light, and put the force behind that to make things appear real. Can do some truly nasty things that way ... When I have to."

The redhead chuckled, catching on, "Oh honey, I can do that. For certain." A playful wink followed.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


Kaida still felt terribly awkward about making presumably rather lame attempts at flirtation in public, but she found that she liked Coryth's more...playful side. "Then I'll be sure to test those skills out soon," she said playfully, though she felt a bit...weird about it. She might have actually blushed a bit.


Coughing slightly, she managed to regain her composure and focus on more serious things. "I've no doubt you can do nasty things with illusions. As for elementalists, pyromancers are the most common among us. I'm a cryomancer, as I guess you know, so I can play with ice and water." To demonstrate, feeling unnaturally frivolous, she looked at her glass of water. All it took was a small exertion of her Sciia, and within moments the water inside was frozen. "And since coincidentally the average human body is filled with water, it can get quite nasty. I have learned some very basic healing."

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"I've love that." Said with a cheesy grin as she caught Kaida's slight blush.

She nodded slowly, her attention drawn to the glass as the Eldorai froze it solidly. "That is amazing." Spoken as she reached out and took the glass for a moment, examining it. "I ... I'm curious as to how exactly you can manipulate the molecules in water to make them do that. Very interesting." Even Coryth still could get curious about things that were so new to her. "No kidding, freezing the water in a human's cells can be used to a devastating effect." She smiled softly, "If you are interested, I could probably teach you more when it comes to healing. At least I'd love to show you a few things, even if its not directly related to force healing, there are some medical and surgical techniques that can help save lives and require little on your part." Always happy to share her skills with anyone.

"Also I probably should mention, I am an Empath naturally, without the Force. The Force just amplifies is ... so if I don't keep guards up at all times I feel everything of the people around me. Just figured I'd put that out there."

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]

"Oh, I see...," for a moment Kaida seemed tongue-tied when Coryth mentioned her empathy. It was not because she was creeped out, feeling suspicious or anything like that, she simply very awkward and a bit embarrassed. You see, Kaida tended to be a very reserved woman who kept her emotions on a tight leash or tried to at least. That obviously did not mean she did not have any emotions, she simply tried to control them, sometimes to the point of repression. However, it went without saying that her self-control was not perfect and, as a matter of fact, she had been feeling some rather lusty thoughts when it came to Coryth, hence the alcohol-fuelled romp.


And so finding out just how empathic Coryth caused a certain amount of embarrassment. "That must be handy and...terribly awkward sometimes," with a brief exertion of her Sciia she made the ice inside her glass break and took a long sip from it. "Apologies, I'm not creeped out. I'm just used to having...better self-control, instead of spluttering like a schoolgirl." The short stack of fire should feel proud of herself. She was truly a special snowflake! "Anyhow, I'd appreciate some lessons on Force healing, if you're offering."

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth nodded, her eyes dropped down to the table as she pushed her food around with her fork a bit. "No, it's fine. It's how most people react to that." No one really liked the idea that someone was capable of knowing exactly what you were feeling, despite the front put up to prevent such. It left people feeling vulnerable. And in a relationship, it could make things rather complex, which was why she disclosed such.

The redhead shrugged, "I understand that, I do. Believe it or not. It's just as uncomfortable for me, on this end. And it certainly isn't pleasant all of the time."

A sigh passed the redhead still not looking up, "It's why I take deaths so hard, especially if I was with them. Because I feel that, feel everything in their last moments."

Pushing the thoughts away, she sighed softly, "And yes, I am offering. I'll work on arranging some work with the local hospital, and we can start whenever you are free." A smile started to form on her lips as she looked up at last. "I actually love showing others how to heal. It's one thing I do miss about not being with the Jedi Order any longer, I just ... don't get many trainees. I mean, a few Eldorai healers here and there but nothing long term. So, I cherish when I can teach."

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]

As Coryth's eyes dropped towards the table, Kaida, after some awkward hesitation, reached out with her hand to gently lift up her chin. Yes, it was a public place and there were plenty of people around, but at present she did not care. Not like she particularly cared about what other people in the first place.


"It's fine, really. I imagine this must make..being in big crowds awkward for you. Or battles. Says a lot about you that you still go out to help where you can," she said softly. After all, healing wounded soldiers on a hellish planet like Gehenna while people were dying all around you could not be pleasant for an empath. "I appreciate you telling me. And if we can set up some training, I'd like that. I've mainly been focused on cryokinesis and some defensive techniques." There may or may not be kinky applications of cryomancy somewhere down the line...

 

[Coryth Elaris]

As Kaida lifted her chin, Coryth managed a sweet smile. The simple action made her feel a lot better about it, truth be told. A nod came, "If I'm not, one hundred percent on my game of keeping things out, keeping my walls up .... A crowd can be agony, or incredibly confusing as I can't sort their emotions from my own. When I was younger, there was a few times I passed out from being overwhelmed by the emotions of others in a crowd." A soft sigh followed, "Even now, I can't block completely powerful emotions. Especially if I'm close by."

She nodded, "I figured I should, I didn't want you finding out second hand... But yeah, training we can set that up. Actually, speaking of defense... Would it be too much for me to ask to train with you sometime? I'm not ... exactly a fighter by any means. My stature does kind of make it a little difficult to hold my ground one on one, in close quarters." A great mentalist she was, but as for combat, not so much. Even her saber training was severely lacking.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


"On the contrary, I can imagine close quarter situations where your stature is perfect." After all, the space elf had...assets and the short stack of fire fit so well! Kaida flushed a bit and coughed slightly. Her attempts at flirtation were not getting any better, but apparently Coryth was managing to defrost her a bit and make her feel awkward. Truly an achievement for the little redhead, but then she was a special snowflake.. "That was...corny I guess. Seriously, I'm...not really the teacher type, but I'd be glad to offer you some training. What are you looking for?"