Private Flesh, and the Power It Holds

[Zaavik Perl]

CORUSCANT // Jedi Temple // Rooftop Garden
Sometime after the Galatic Alliance Invasion of Korriban

​

WeatherNet called for rain. Artificial overcast adorned the skies with grays and blues, glowing with the muted light of the sun beyond. The soft roar of precipitation soared above the constant drone of the speeder traffic in the distance. Those two ceaseless melodies orchestrated together into one softly discordant blare of white-noise. Cold, wet, noisy, it wasn't a day that facilitated outdoor activity.

Good.

The noise had a relaxing quality to it, and Zaavik didn't mind the cold. All of it together culminated to quell the chances of anyone disturbing him. The Padawan sat on his knees beneath a pavilion, an arm's length in any direction from being drenched. Jedi robes trapped his body heat beneath their Stygian threads, giving some reprieve from the soft-frigidness of the outdoor air. Robes weren't a common choice of attire in the New Jedi Order, and even less so on Zaavik. Necessary to keep warm and maintain focus, however.

The latter was easier said than done. Korriban's sinister song had seeped deep into Zaavik's bones. The business there didn't do that lingering anxiety any favors, either. Vermillion eyelids rested shut, tensing slightly with the frustration of non-fruition. He still hadn't gotten the hang of the whole 'clear your mind' song and dance. For what it was worth, he made one hell of an attempt. If he could scrub the distractions and agitations away manually, he would have.

Patience and persistence ultimately proved fruitful. The trance came with time. The Padawan's mind melded deep into the force as the sounds of the rain beyond faded into a hum. A spiritual mimicry of sleep that left him largely unwitting of his surroundings. But that was fine, no one came up here in the rain, right?

Kyra Perl ​

 

[Kyra Perl]

A soft beep pulled from the roof's entry hatch, the machine in her hand flashing green. Kyra looked down, her chest tightening as she stared at the confirmation. So it was true. It wasn't a glitch.

One couldn't begin to comprehend the connections that had been pulled to land Kyra on this roof top. It had all started with Yula Perl 's probe droids she had released that day on Korriban. It had been a flimsy hope, but if there was a chance that Nida was somewhere in that temple, then the advanced, black market technology would be able to locate her.

She didn't expect to find kin instead.

Unknown kin, to boot.

She let out a deep breath, handing the pad to the droid and nudging it to return back to her ship. She'd handle this from here. The rain drowned out her steps, but the saber at her hip and the crystal at her neck bore unmistakable force signatures that she worked hard to suppress. Until she had answers, there was no trust.

She moved forward inspite of the rain, her hair weighing down and turning auburn around her face.

"Ahem," came her anticlimactic greeting, the half zeltron taking the seat on the other side of the bench. There was nothing of note about her, spare the metal hand that peeked out of her billowing robe, and a padawan braid nearly tucked out of sight. There was nothing advertising who she was-- just a pale pink girl clinging to the edge of a bench. She looked ready to bolt.

Or perhaps she just needed the bathroom.

She glanced over at him, smiling tightly.

"Hi."

 

[Zaavik Perl]

CORUSCANT // Jedi Temple // Rooftop Garden
Sometime after the Galatic Alliance Invasion of Korriban

​

The Padawan had just begun to float nearly a foot off the floor as the trance had taken hold. The feminine voice accosting him caused his eyes to come open. Blue eyes faced the soaked stranger that now rested nearby. "Uh- Hey?" He managed to reply before plummeting to the ground ass-first. Unprepared, the impact made his teeth clatter together and expelled enough air to warrant a grunt.

A gust of wind blew rain beneath the shelter of the pavilion, prompting Zaavkl to bring his arm in front of his face. The sable fabric that shrouded the top of his head was flung back onto his shoulders, exposing violet locks to a momentary drizzling of precipitation. A small force barrier stifled the rain, pushing away as the wind died down and the shelter above became sufficient.

His hand dropped to the floor, propping up a lean. "Yeah? Did you need something?" He asked. His legs sprawled out from their previous cross-legged orientation. His brow furrowed as he surveyed the water-saturated stranger. The tight expression gave way to an inquisitive raising of his left eyebrow. His own cybernetic hand, which must have been in fashion for Jedi at this point, came up to brush some of the now damp hair from his face.

The Zeltron couldn't help but notice her odd demeanor. Did she need to piss, or was she just cold? Something about the smile seemed feigned to him. "Uh, you alright?"

Kyra Perl​

 

[Kyra Perl]

"Uh, you alright?"​

Right, Zeltron. He was reading her like a book. She had almost grown lazy with that. Funny how a few short years away from something makes it fall off your radar like it never was there. She cleared her throat, finding no point in lying as she answered.

"No. Can't say I am."

She readjusted her coiled posture and loosened her grip on the bench, buying herself a moment for the question she knew would follow. She took a deep breath in... and clarified.

"I was at Korriban," she uttered quickly, ripping off the bandaid. Maybe she might make more sense to him now. More than likely it would just confuse him further. She struggled to provide more context, no manuel provided for “how to feel out if your secret relative is a sith spy.” On second thought, that had to exist somewhere.

She paused instead, watching him as he blocked out the wind. There was another way to do that. If you skipped the bubble and focused on the air-- well... some people had success with it. This tidbit caught in her throat, the causal comment witheld for a better time... another place.

A little more clarity.

Not that he'd know why she was wary of him. Or maybe he did. Maybe he was part of it all. Maybe he was playing dumb right now, and Nida-- "What were you doing there?" She asked sharply, the friendliness leaving her tone.

 

[Zaavik Perl]

CORUSCANT // Jedi Temple // Rooftop Garden
Sometime after the Galatic Alliance Invasion of Korriban

​

A slow nod followed her declaration that she was on Korriban. Many Jedi were, wasn't really a surprise she was too. Or at least, he assumed she was a Jedi. She was on the roof of the temple, after all. Perhaps she was still shaken up? No one could really blame her, Truthfully, Zaavik still was too. Korriban's atmosphere had soaked down to the bone. That kind of thing didn't scrub out. If there was a cure for that feeling, time was probably the only real candidate.

Zaavik, thinking he knew what she wanted, began to speak. "Well if you're-"

"What were you doing there?"
​

Oh. Zaavik made a face, his eyes narrowing with a suspicious furrow of his eyebrows, lips pursing slightly in tow. It would have seemed an innocent enough question if her tone hadn't suddenly taken that of an interrogator. His eyes wandered up and down, surveilling and sizing up the stranger who suddenly became so assertive.

"Same as anyone else. Fighting Sith," he declared matter-of-factly. Objectively, that was the truth. But more accurately, the exact details of the operation were classified. He'd be answering to Allyson Locke and Alliance Intelligence if he let anything slip.

"What about you?" He tried to counter calmy by steering the illusion toward nonchalant smalltalk.

Kyra Perl ​

 

[Kyra Perl]

Her nostrils flared, the cautious walls that erupted over his answer speaking volumes. He was withholding something. The empath felt it in her bones. Never mind the fact that this wasn't her temple-- her order-- her invasion. Never mind that she had come at him like a ton of bricks sniffing for blood.

His lock up, however subtle, was all the validation Kyra needed that something was off here. The months she spent in the shadows stalking answers had left the once trusting girl sharp and paranoid. It was so easy to flip the boy before her into yet another enemy.

She nearly pulled her saber on him then and there, the engrained reaction jerking through her. What were social skills, anyway? It took every ounce of herself to think twice... to relax her shoulders again... to breath.

Maybe bits of Korriban were still in her too.

She looked away from him, continuing to focus on her breath as she pushed through the adrenaline she had lived under for so long. He had to think she was crazy. How could she even begin to explain? She picked her next words very carefully, her eyes trained on the spattering puddles beyond the pavilion, while her mind zeroed on on the energy of his next response.

"I was saving my sister. Nida Perl." She turned, a pained edge to the gaze that bore into him.

"She's Sith."

 

[Zaavik Perl]

CORUSCANT // Jedi Temple // Rooftop Garden
Sometime after the Galatic Alliance Invasion of Korriban

​

Nothing about Kyra immediately came off to Zaavik as unusual. Sure, this was a strange interaction, but Zaavik's comparatively lacking sense of empathy failed to discern any ulterior motive, sinister or otherwise. He humored the awkward conversation with feigned politeness, figuring she'd just had a rough time on that cold, dark rock. Sometimes you just needed to get things off your chest. Maybe confiding in strangers was easier. No real stake in them, so who cares what they know? Maybe he'd find his own strength to confide something as well.

Not likely.

Zaavik nodded slowly. He empathized internally with the stranger. Familiar to him was the idea of having a Sith sibling. That was probably rough on most people, not to mention a Jedi. Though, he was oblivious to the context or parallels of Zhani's story and that of this 'Nida'. 'Save' did give the impression that something had gone right, though. Still, Zaavik doubted that was a bygone endeavor, as he couldn't think of any other reason she'd be bringing it up.

"That's rough," he replied charitably. "I know what that's like, though. It's effortless to be zealous against the dark, easy to put it to the sword, that is until it envelops someone you care about." The Padawan offered a hopeful, reassuring smile. "You said saving though, so I hope it went well."

Kyra Perl​

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra's brows pinched ever so slightly, his authentic response boding nothing out of the ordinary. Even for her honed senses. Either he was that good, or he really knew nothing. She didn't know what to do with either reality, the path already feeling like it hit a wall.

She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but 'approach him and get all the answers to the universe' had certainly been an entertained hoped. She looked away, frowning down into her legs as his words of empathy were delivered. They didn't make her feel better. Words didn't heal the rift that Nida had created.

Words didn't heal a Sith.

"I hope it went well."

"It didn't."

No word yet if the husk of her sister would survive the move Kyra had pulled on her. Force light was harmful for sith, never mind a blow of that quality. Nida had fallen deeper than Kyra had ever expected. Guilt burned through her throat, the bucket of emotions threatening to uncap and boil over at the slightest reminder. She swallowed it back, focusing on the one thing she could do while she waited for news of Nida's survival.

Get answers.

She should have come clean then and there, it would only going to get more awkward to reveal their relation the longer she delayed. Something he said tipped her off though, her head tilting as she cautiously turned back his way.

"You have Sith relations?" For all the implications that single line could deliver, there was no malice in her voice. One didn't need to be an empath to read what would come next. Tell her more.

 

[Zaavik Perl]

CORUSCANT // Jedi Temple // Rooftop Garden
Sometime after the Galatic Alliance Invasion of Korriban

​

Zaavik grimaced when her response was contrary to a confirmation of his hopes. Tight expression faded into a frown. "Oh, uh, I'm sorry to hear that." Was she grieving? That must have been it. Grief can make a person do things they wouldn't normally. Maybe that's what brought her out here? Maybe she just needed an ear lent to her? He would oblige, knowing all too well what that was like. Gifting solace to others, even when you could not receive it was part of what being a Jedi was all about, wasn't it?

The Padawan rose to his feet slowly. He called a small device to his hand with the force. The small cylinder extended into an umbrella when he pressed down on the activator. Releasing his grip, he allowed the repulsor to hold it afloat. A small shove sent it floating over above the stranger, adding extra security to the pavilion shelter. He shed his outer robe, revealing a Stygian take on the standard Jedi garb beneath. The black ostrich Corellian cowboy boots which his trousers were tucked into were either, depending on your point of view, horribly out of place or insanely fashionable.

Casually, he threw the mostly dry overrobes into the stranger's lap. She was soaked, and that likely only made the cold worse. There was no offer, only a committed insistence to his aid. Zaavik sat himself down on the bench beside her, making a conscious effort to tuck himself as far to the opposite as he could. If she was a touchy griever, well, that's where he drew the line.

Then came the question. He nodded. "I reunited with my sister after- A really long time. I found out her path to having been similar to mine, only, she'd fallen." Zaavik frowned again. "She's estranged from that life currently," he added with a short pause. "But she'll see the light. I'll make sure of it."

Kyra Perl​

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra watched him out of the corner of her eyes, half frozen in confusion as he moved to set up an umbrella over her... and gift the coat off his back.

She didn't have words to follow a gesture like that. It had been some time since she had been around the untempered thoughtfulness of her people. Despite her skill with tapas, she accepted his kindness. She shrugged on the duster, shivering into its warmth. After a moment of quiet company, his butt sliding to the far edge of the bunch, her shoulders relaxed. Some of the iciness melted away. Kyra was easily bought.

"I see," was all she said, struggling to puzzle it out. Could it be then that his sister was involved in Nida's time as a sith? Would he know? Instinct had cleared him of guilt, her thoughts already reaching beyond the stranger to find another parallel that would explain it all.

It couldn't just be a coincidence ... right?

The awkward reality of the situation slowly dawned on her, the answers not forthcoming. It was almost like, gee, she needed to work with him a little more to get somewhere. Which meant fessing up to a truth that was rightly his to have. She sighed, reaching into her pocket.

"I have something I need to tell you..." She hesitated, the irrational urge to keep this close to her chest fluttering through her. What if this somehow hurt Nida? It was a fair worry, but until she had something to go off of, it was just something she had to risk. She let out a long breath... then pulled out a thin holopad. It was slid across the bench to him, let open for him to take when he was ready. On screen would be a DNA comparison, two faces matched. Nida Perl's... And a fresh snapshot of a boy floating serene on a bench.

Her body tensed, bracing for any variety of response.

 

[Zaavik Perl]

CORUSCANT // Jedi Temple // Rooftop Garden
Sometime after the Galatic Alliance Invasion of Korriban

​

Zaavik took the holopad, holding it over his lap as he stared down at the data on the screen. Nida Perl. Zaavik Dagoth. 20.5% DNA match. Cousins? The Padawan blinked quickly a few times, refocusing his eyes to be certain that this was in fact what he was seeing. He tapped on the screen, expanding several fields to look further into the presented data. He wasn't exactly knowledgeable and genealogy, but disbelief made him search in vain for a different explanation. There wasn't one.

"I uh-" Zaavik handed the holopad back, dropping it lazily into her lap. There was a small pause. "So that's your sister, Nida? The Sith?" Given what had happened on Korriban, the fact that this data claimed he was related to one of them was less than reassuring. The Zeltron turned his eyes from the rain-soaked ground back to the stranger next to him. His brow raised as a small frown washed over his lips. Hesitance. Doubt.

"So, that's why you came up there, then?" Zaavik scratched the back of his head. "Because we're, uh, related? Apparently?" He had conflicting feelings about this. There was a lot of doubt, though also a sudden joy to meet one of this own. They fought with each other, manifesting on the outside as an apathetic facade. "Well-" He turned towards the stranger and held out his hand. "In any case, I'm Zaavik, but I guess you already know that."

Kyra Perl ​

 

[Kyra Perl]

"Kyra," she breathed, reaching out without hesitation to take the hand. The intrusion was immediate. At least, to those tuned to sense it. Her energy reached out to his, entangling like two hands in greeting.

It was a rare and vulnerable exchange, one that hid nothing about herself as she reached to learn from him in turn. She was good, but she was not that good.

What she saw left her gasping, their energies nearly mirrored. It wasn't all light. But it wasn't all dark, either. She jerked back her hand, the holopad clattering to the ground at her feet.

"Sorry, I-" Yet she wasn't sorry. If he had any awareness of what she had done, her intention would have been as clear as his own. She wanted to save her sister. Nothing more, nothing less. She moved forward unapologetically, a wild edge to the actions that would one day carve regret into her conscious.

But she wasn't sorry today. And he? He was equally weighed down. Korraban sat in them both.

She pulled her hands into fists in her lap, hot flashes tinging her cheeks red. "It's not so simple." About why she was here? Or the truth behind the darkness they both shared? She struggled for words. For the first time in her life, emotions caught in her throat. Nothing came easily.

Regret overtook her, her confidence shattering as she jolted up. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come."

 

[Zaavik Perl]

CORUSCANT // Jedi Temple // Rooftop Garden
Sometime after the Galatic Alliance Invasion of Korriban

​

Empathy was never something Zaavik was too good at. This had already been established. But, when she reached in, he did too. He could feel it. The strife, the duality, the grey. She was like him. If that holopad wasn't lying, well, guess it was no surprise.

Kyra. It wasn't familiar. It wasn't like Zhani, so they'd certainly never met while they were younger. Maybe she was a chance for answers. Maybe she was a chance for Zaavik to find his origin. Maybe. But something told him it wasn't going to be that easy. It was never that easy.

"Wait," he implored, reaching out to snatch at her forearm. "You're gonna come up here and tell me we're related and then just ghost?" Zaavik frowned. "What's with the cold feet all of the sudden?"

Maybe this was just some kind of prank in poor taste?

Somehow that wouldn't surprise him.

 

[Darth Daiara]

.

 

[Kyra Perl]

"No-No!" She protested, cutting through him. "It's not a prank, it's not a-" Her words cut off, hanging on the edge of her lips as stared at hand on her forearm. His needs rang though her, echoing like whispers across the contact. Answers, connection, identity. They were primal and they ran deep. Who was she to deny that?

The easy way in which he expected the worst --the ready sense of defeat-- left her frozen. He couldn't know how dangerous it was to touch her. He couldn't know the information he was feeding her as he locked her down. He couldn't know what he was asking from her.

If she could be anyone but herself in that moment, she would. But she could not shuck the empathy from her mind and she couldn't turn from the pain she had cause. Not only because it was wrong, but because... he was family. Just not by blood. He deserved to know.

"Nida is adopted." She reported numbly. She gingerly pulled her arm away, not wanting to feel his response. She lowered herself though. She wouldn't leave him to sit inside that revelation, even with it not relating to him-- fact bombing him and leaving was what Nida had done to her.

She sat perched on the edge of the bench, her back rigid. "I cannot give you answers. I don't have them myself-- I've been searching-- I've been trying to understand, but we're both so fecked up-- Don't you see?" She implored tightly, turning to look at him. Guilt coiled in her cut.

"I think I've just made everything worse."

 

[Zaavik Perl]

CORUSCANT // Jedi Temple // Rooftop Garden
Sometime after the Galatic Alliance Invasion of Korriban

​

Zaavik blinked. Did she hear his thoughts? Wasn't exactly unheard of, but it still took him by surprise. Maybe it was the physical contact? The break of contact was mutual, Zaavik releasing his grasp as she tugged away. His lips formed a contemplative purse as Kyra explained further. There was some disappointment in the adoption revelation. Here he had thought he was on the first step of finding even more family. But it was only Nida. The Sith. Having Sith relation was not unfamiliar to Zaavik. Though, he was starting to fear this would be a trend.

"So," he began with a pondering tone to his voice. "I'm related to your adopted sister somehow. But you don't know how or why. Because you don't know where she comes from?" He nodded slowly to himself. The Padawan was no empath, but he could feel her guilt. The source of that guilt wasn't easy for him to pinpoint, though. Obviously he didn't have the full picture. A reassuring smile crept across his face, features softening.

"You're tense. Relax. Kyra, was it? I don't think I've got full context here. To me this is just you telling me I'm related to a Sith. Which, isn't anything I haven't heard before. But, to you, I feel it's something greater. Care to elaborate?"

Kyra Perl ​

 

[Kyra Perl]

A breath caught in her nose. "I am doing a chit job at this, huh?" She leaned forward onto her knees, her hands cupping the back of her neck and rubbing repetitively.

"I'm sorry. I practiced this too. I was excited to meet you and now-I- ugh- I can't my-thoughts are just-" she rattled, her hand shaking as it pulled out her padawan braid and smoothed it down.

"I think I killed her." A tight laugh dissolved into a noise of pain. She wasn't suppose to be thinking about that.

Her expression collapsed, coiling up and locking down. "One day everything was fine. She was fine. We go out-- and then she just... abandons her post. It was like night and day-- she leaves my sister and comes back a sith. It doesn't make sense. And she says mom kidnapped her, but she didn't. And she says she's the Darklord's daughter.

But she's not. Nida is good. Or she- she was-- but you should have felt her on Korriban. There was no Nida left. And if you don't have answers and I'm fecking-- hearing it in my head." She pushed against her temples, trying to banish the corruptive edge that pulled on her.

"What good am I? Why am I here, I just-" Her voice cracked, the stranger shown more vulnerability in that moment that she had shown her pillow in months.

She was in over her head.

 

[Zaavik Perl]

CORUSCANT // Jedi Temple // Rooftop Garden
Sometime after the Galatic Alliance Invasion of Korriban

​

Zaavik slowly moved to place his hand reassuring on Kyra's shoulder. He hesistated at first, trying to mask his grimace with a smile. "Relax," he insisted. "No one is ever too far gone. You can't be too hard on yourself with these kinds of things, it's unproductive."

He nearly gasped in relief as he drew his hand away. There was a moment of silence before he finally spoke up. "Well, I don't know my father very well, if at all, but I'm pretty sure he's no Dark Lord. At least, I hope not." Zhani being a Sith did instill some flicker of doubt in him.

"And I really doubt I'm related to one otherwise. But, I know where I come from. If you're looking for answers, as in, where she came from. I dunno, uh, I can do my best. This is all under the intention of helping her, isn't it?"

Kyra Perl ​

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra let out a shaky breath, winding down somewhere between the shoulder touch and the silent interim. She was slipping. She felt it. She didn't like it, but it felt so largely out of her hands. Everywhere she went, something horrible happened. Every time she turned on her holopad, it contained bad news.

Her leg shook, the only part of her to show the struggle she tried to lock down.

"Yeah," she confirmed, her tone going flat. "Just trying to help." Poorly, but...

"I'm sorry," she repeated again, embarrassment biting her. "I'm not usually..." Like this. "I don't know why..." you brought it out of me. She held the words back, her cheeks going red as she ran her fingers over her padawan brain in a repetitive stroke. The bumps grounded her, the silky strands giving her tactile feedback as she continued to work through her breathing.

"Did I say my name's Kyra?" She followed up poorly. That embarrassed look skimmed up to him, containing the realization that she could never redo a first impression.


She winced.

 

[Zaavik Perl]

CORUSCANT // Jedi Temple // Rooftop Garden
Sometime after the Galatic Alliance Invasion of Korriban

​

Zaavik chuckled diffusively. "Yeah, you might have mentioned it." The conflict and unease that radiated from Kyra was easy for even the most novice empath like him to feel. A blind, deaf, lobotomy patient could probably sense it. "Man, you really are tense, huh?" Truthfully the extent and full source of her demeanor was lost on him. Maybe he just handled things differently.

As a contrast to Kyra's demeanor, his arms and legs both crossed as he leaned back leisurely. A facade that said he lacked any hindrance himself.

"So, what now?" He asked casually. Surveilling the red flush and restless leg, Zaavik wondered exactly what the deeper issue could have been. "I'll help you, if that's what you're wanting," he declared, though still not solidly certain of what was going on.

"But, I don't really have to full story. You're gonna have to tell me where to start."

Kyra Perl ​