Hiding in the Fox's Den. (Liskarr)

[Malachite the Shoki]

Finally. My first real trip on the Malachite Star. Sure, I'd had test flights galore, and with a full crew. But today, I was practically alone, the controls of the whole ship transferred over to the bridge, with only myself and the ship's computers for company. A quiet, peaceful moment away from my work, and away from combat. Wonderful. Time to just drink and mull my life over.

I cracked open a large bottle of cognac, and prepared for what would be a long night of stargazing, pain, and memory.

[member='Liskarr Drek']

 

[Liskarr Drek]

Stealth, if stealth was made of bones and flesh it would take the form of a certain Dathomirian teenager who had managed to sneak into the ship of a blonde man who she knew was traveling alone. She had been a stowaway many times in her short sixteen years of life and so she was familiarized with the process: get in, hide, get out. Simple to explain, hard to accomplish. She always targeted ships that had small crews but when she noticed that only one being would be piloting this space-craft she thought that this would be almost too easy.

Nevertheless, boarding ships this way had its disadvantages. The first one, obviously, was getting caught. Curiously this one didn't bother Liskarr too much, she had been caught before and knew she was perfectly able of escaping the authorities once they handed her in when the ship reached its destiny. The second disadvantage was that she could not do anything to avoid a sudden change of plans, meaning that she often turned out in places that weren't where she had planned to go.

She had already made herself comfortable, she was sitting against a wall where the cargo of the ship would have been, behind some wooden crates and decided to relax, this time the odds of getting caught were in her favor and so she did not bother to consider that she just might be about to be found out...

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

The blip in my mind happened only a second before the computerized intruder alarm activated. I got up from my command chair, and turned off the alarm. I would follow my mind, alone. Just the fact that I could sense this person meant that he or she was Force Sensitive, and probably rather powerful, at that. I walked down the hallway from the bridge, towards the cargo compartment directly across from the bridge. Maybe she'd been hiding inside a sealed box or something. I reached out in the Force, and called to the intruder.

Hello. I'm not going to hurt you, but why are you on my ship?

[member="Liskarr Drek"]

 

[Liskarr Drek]

The Sith Acolyte's eyes shot open when she senses the alarm. Seeing as how he was travelling all alone she had made her bet that the alarm wouldn't be activated for a start, she was wrong and therefore now faced a problem. The Dathomiri hissed, knowing that he could sense her as much as she could sense him and used Force Concealment to hide her alignment. This skill was not developed enough as to completely cloak her presence and connection to the force but yes the fact that she was dark-sided seeing as how this could...encourage people to take violent responses and now she was trying to play the role of an innocent girl who was just trying to return to her homeworld.

Liskarr felt the mind of the blonde-haired in hers and took some seconds to answer, "I need to return home" her voice was soft and child-like, innocent, it seemed that she was worried she had gotten herself into trouble. The silver and blonde haired Acolyte proceeded to hide her lightsabers and stayed sitting in the same place and position she was before, awaiting for the arrival of the pilot of the craft.

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

I kept walking towards the cargo bay, rolling my eyes. So it was a girl, and one who could hide her power from me. I didn't really care that she was here, as such. But she had actually forgotten to hide her mind from me initially. I spread my mind out to her, and mentally did the same again.

Lady, you can't fool me. You actually forgot to hide your power at first. Just come out here, so we can talk. Telepathy hurts my head a bit.

[member="Liskarr Drek"]

 

[Liskarr Drek]

"That is true, still, my powers do not decide my objectives" She replied through telepathy before standing and walking towards the exit of the cargo bay, where se would meet the blonde-haired man halfway. Her steps were so light, mostly due to her small physical build, that one had to strain their hearing in order to perceive the so-known sound of footsteps. One could say it almost seemed as she was walking in the air rather than the floor. Her voice was now displayed, as she spoke when she came across the man, "I do need to return to my Homeworld" She expressed, her real voice now being used. It was far more mature than the first one she had used but it still carried that youthful tone. A curious thing to note was that she was still hiding the darkness that surrounded her, this was because she knew that through it she could unnerve others, specially during those random moments when the strong, deep feelings she carefully kept caged inside her to use when she needed them stirred and made the Force bound to her, that was surrounding her, flow in a savage, violent way.

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

"Well, welcome to the Malachite Star. We'll see where we fly, though I'm not promising anything. This is the first interstellar test drive."

I laughed, and probed the space around the girl with my mind.

"Don't hide it. The Dark doesn't bother me. Look."

My eyes glowed gold, and flames spread across my body, engulfing me in a cocoon of the Dark Side. I blinked, and extinguished it.

"Well, whatever. You want something to eat?"

[member="Liskarr Drek"]

 

[Liskarr Drek]

Mesmerized was the only world that could describe the reaction of the Dathomirian to the presence of fire. Her yellow eyes followed the fast, burning movements of the flames almost hungrily. Pyrokinesis, the power she desired the most, even more than Force-lighting and the strange, crazy devotion she showed for the Dark-side's electrical expression was already one that could only be compared to the devotion one shows to the deity of his or her religion.

Such love for fire she had was born in her early childhood. She was no older than five or four years old, her extremities where already slim and agile and not chubby and a little bit clumsy as most would expect. By chance she had came by two beings fighting, both veiled under heavy dark cloaks. The battle had drawn all of her attention but then, it only focused in one of the men, for he had expelled from his hands fire. He ran away and his opponent followed, leaving the consuming element behind. The fire had already taken over some flammable things that were there, such as wood planks, and so the little Dathomirian stood, looking intently at the growing pyre. Force knows why, she extended her hand and tried to grab the fire in a similar manner to how the man had expelled it...She got burnt, but this burn had been the most hurtful sensation she had experienced in her life, it continued to be to this date. What was curious about it is that the burn had not been so serious, only enough to leave a scar on her left palm and that she had also felt exhilarated by the sensation it provoked, happy, despite the pain.

Trying to answer a question her obsession grew as strong and deep as the Dark-feeling she naturally had. The blonde haired man would now feel how the darkness within her now flared and moved around her relentlessly, wildly. She was certainly a peculiar being, but not even her could answer the questions as to why she had chosen the life she carried and loved it so much. She quickly dismissed the offer of food, but concentrated in what she really desired, "No, thank you." She said first, quickly and absentmindedly before speaking again, "You can control fire? Right?" Her tone was so determined in knowing that it would remind anyone to that of a child.

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

When I turned around, the girl's now-unshielded mind extended towards me. That was some Dark stuff. I looked away from my mind, pushing the thought out, and looked down at the girl.

"I can conjure fire, shape it, and make it flow like water. It is not control, but it is far closer than others can get."

I flexed my hand, and shapes of fire appeared over my palm. Wolves (my favorite shape), dragons (another personal favorite), birds (meh), and scurrying creatures flowed out around me. The girl seemed mesmerized, and I was happy to show off a bit for a lady, even if said lady was way younger than me. Finally, all the moving shapes coalesced into a miniature image of the girl, which glowed red and gold, and then faded.

"You look like I either scared the wits out of you, or did something impossibly cool. So, which is it?"

[member="Liskarr Drek"]

 

[Liskarr Drek]

Her yellow eyes gazed at the figures intently, giving them all her attention. The man spoke to her and so she answered, her eyes not turning to him until the fire was gone "In your words it would be the second option but it is far more than just that...You can manipulate something that has own will, the will to kill and destroy. It is pure power..." There was so much admiration and passion behind such dark and terrible words that anyone who was unable to sense the level of corruption in her soul would have ran away immediately. Liskarr was a chain bound to fail in maintaining balance, inside her an aggressive and dark power grew with her since she was an infant and gave motive to every single move and thought of the Dathomirian. This power would only yield to the influence of the girl's mind and will, and despite how intelligent and cunning she was, she was utterly insane because her mind was almost as dark as the feelings she kept caged within her. Still, Liskarr was young and had much to learn even if she knew how to use her Force-sensitivity or fight, keeping such an amount of strong and 'bad' feelings with no reason could really drive her into insanity if she did not learn how to properly control them, at every moment.

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

The will to kill and destroy. Pure power. Interesting.

"You show a level of Dark energy that I've never seen in anybody but myself. But you conciously restrain it to avoid overwhelming yourself, yes? Do you mind telling me how?"

I sat down in a chair that was bolted to the wall, and took a sip of the cognac that I had in my jacket.

"You're fascinated with destruction, but you could never harness it in the state your mind's in."

[member="Liskarr Drek"]

 

[Liskarr Drek]

"I would destroy myself. I am highly unstable." She said, she knew it and it made the anger stir a little inside her, because she was still incapable of controlling fire but now again, there weren't so many apprentices, or even force users in general, that could. The darkness around her calmed down, it was still there but present in the same way as it would be sensed in any other Dark Force user. The obsessional and passionate look abandoned her expression and it suddenly turned serious and solemn. Apparently the girl had a cold and rational train of thought behind the savage façade, that was obviously the first thing that most noted. She thought before answering and finally spoke, "Because unlike most, I have always been like this, therefore I have always been able to contain it and only let it out when I need it. Sometimes it is hard, it is like any impulse you have to stop yourself from yielding to, call it self-control if you may, although I lack that in many other aspects" The Dathomirian explained, "I embrace my darkness and therefore, are able to control it despite the fact that sometimes I am obliged to look for a way of release it. To what my mind respects, I am obsessed and violent yet capable of thinking and analyzing correctly, at least for now what many mistake for insanity is just the way I am and was raised to be." She finished answering the question, why did she answer? Simply, as stupid as it may sound, the power the blonde-haired man held was of more value to her than almost everything, only being behind the Sith-ways and the Dark-side, "Now I ask, do you know what caused this?" She extended her left hand, in the palm the scar of the burn was visible, in a diagonal line. Surprisingly the scar emanated some darkness from itself, it clearly didn't have anything to do with Liskarr nor was the girl capable of manipulated that small amount of dark energy that remained even after twelve years. She would never forget that fire, it was as though it was mixed with harmful dark energy but she had never heard of something like it and thought that maybe all the practitioners of pyrokinesis could do it, after all she had only been burned once.

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

"There are ways to reorder the darkness in your mind. I had to, in order to not kill myself."

My grin faded as I looked at the scar in the palm of the girl's hand. It surprised me, to say the least. Everything about this girl made her skill and intelligence evident. But this scar belied a strange curiosity. Yes, it was a burn. Yes, it had been caused by the Force. But the burn had been made from uncontrolled dark fire. An amateur, maybe? The girl didn't strike me as the cultish type.

"You ran into an amateur, is what caused this. Anybody with an actual control of pyromancy would have enough control for their dark energy not to come flying out like this. Nobody I've ever burned had a mark like this, simply because I unconsciously stop myself from channeling dark energy into the wounds I create. I hope whoever did that to you is dead, or else I would find him and kill him myself."

That thought made me grin. A real battle of steel and fire.

"Basically, you got burned by an idiot who was trying to show off in a fight. Nobody would ever intentionally do that. Stuff like this is the reason you can't learn to channel fire in your present state."

[member="Liskarr Drek"]

 

[Liskarr Drek]

The Dathomirian listened to him, paid attention. His mood was light and relaxed until she showed her left palm, moment in which his green faded and so the attention she was paying him from the start multiplied. She had always been curious as to what had caused that burn to be so painful and severe when she had almost not-touched the fire and here there was someone who knew and was able to answer her question. He proceeded to explain, her burn had been provoked by an amateur, one only learning how to use the power of the flames. It was something that partially disappointed her but she was more interested in the fact that fire could be induced with the Dark-side in order to make it more powerful.

Nevertheless, she decided to hide this thought from him from the very moment in which it spawned. If he had been so upset with a man no one knew as to kill him for using that sort of fire he would most certainly try the same with her seeing as how she was right there, right now. She nodded in reply and then spoke, "So this burn was made by an amateur...Interesting." After speaking she returned to the blonde's first words "So there are many ways to reorder my mind...Could you mention any in particular?" She asked, the thought of the Dark-induced fire left her thoughts but would remain in her mind forever.

[member="Malachite Avachei"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

"Weeeeell..."

I wasn't about to tell the girl to do what I did... Basically, I'd drank, and drank, and drank, until my mind simply wasn't troubled by the Dark energy, and then conjuring the fire without damaging my mind had been easy. All I had to do was replicate that feeling. Or maybe the girl was troubled enough that she deserved the help...

"My method had nothing to do with the Force. I drank until I was almost at the point of passing out, and then something just clicked, and the energy didn't cause any damage to me any more."

I grinned and shrugged. Then I noticed an odd sense playing across my mind. She still wanted the dark fire, not the kind I used.

"If you don't want the cleansed fire, I won't help you inflict the dark kind on yourself. You'd probably end up burning yourself to death."

[member="Liskarr Drek"]