Life in The Jen'ari Empire - Sandbox Thread

[Taru Cadera]

Kao was surprised at what had and was transpiring inside of the room that was to be Khali's. With what he had thought to be a knocked out attacker, was only just a girl who seconds before had held onto the ceiling and was now on his back. He himself twisted and squirmed, which resulted in her fangs sinking not into his neck which was most likely her intended region to bite but into his left shoulder. He let out a tiny squeal, more of surprise than of pain, as he had taken beating far worse than this. "Get OFF of me!" He yelled once more, bringing his arms up to grab [member="Khali Strahd"] and rip her off of his back, fangs still dripping his blood. He dangled her in front of himself, and threw her unceremoniously onto the bed, and once more turned the lightsaber on her. He dangled the point right above her heart, and if she were to move quickly once more, she would skewer herself. He retreated the blade a bit higher, as he remembered within that moment that his Master wished her to stay alive, and skewering oneself upon a lightsaber usually resulted in death. Kao really needed for her to snap out of whatever madness she was in, and to revert back to the timid slave girl whom he had found in the pens...

 

[Khali Strahd]

Her Aim was thrown off slightly, but she didn't care. she sank her fangs deep into [member="Kao Xusros"] 's shoulder, her fangs designed to draw blood from her victims efficiently. As soon as the blood touched her tongue she drank deeply, the strength of the force in him through his blood giving her great amounts of nourishment in every single smallest drop.

Her bite had a sharp pain at first, but then as her saliva mixed with his blood and entered the wound he began to feel slightly light headed and euphoric. as soon as she had drunk two good mouthfuls her mind began to clear, but it was in that moment that Kao grabbed her and tore her off his back, an action that did result in injury to him as her fangs were still in his shoulder and he tore the fangs through his flesh. he then tossed her on the bed with his lightsaber pointed at her.

Khali was in shock, she knew what she did and was conscious for the whole ordeal, but couldn't stop herself as his blood called out to her. but now with some sustenance her mind cleared and she could use her better judgement now. her chin and mouth were dripping blood, her eyes began to return to normal, and her claws began to recede. her suffering seems to have stopped and now she looked up at Kao with a look of sheer horror at what she had done to him, but she couldn't deny the power of his blood which now flowed inside her as well.

She thought for sure now she was going to die. she had attacked a sith and she knew she couldn't deserve mercy for this, no matter how much stronger it made her feel, in fact she hadn't felt this good in her whole life, her eyes were quicker, her hearing sharper, her smell greater. the sound of his blood didn't pound in her ears and distract her anymore and she could hear and smell the presence of hundreds of people in the academy. she reflected on how she might have been trained here, had a chance at becoming sith, but now that was gone because of some freak incident which drove her mad.

She looked away from Kao and began to cry covering her face with her hand, even though she always fully expected to die, she still felt the pain of her hope dying first.

"I-I am so sorry... m-master..."

 

[Taru Cadera]

Kao was surprised at the change of reaction, but seeing as to how this was not the first time he had been bitten by another humanoid, he managed to overlook it. [member="Khali Strahd"] was on the bed basically pleading for her life, but Kao was not interested in taking her life. He had his orders, and efficiency was a direct path to power.

"Get up, Now. And don't do that again!" He barked at her, acknowledging with a slight grin that this was not the first time he had been bitten by another, and certainly wouldn't be the last time. He walked over to a cabinet, ruffled through it, and took out some clothes for the girl. Throwing them beside her, he told her to dress. He did turn away, but kept a hand close to his saber in case of another ambush. When she was done he got up and stood at the doorway, expecting her to follow him out and to another room. The main sparring room.

 

[Khali Strahd]

Khali was in for another surprise. her life didn't end right then and there!
she was snapped to attention when [member="Kao Xusros"] barked his orders at her. she looked up at him with confusion written on her face, but she complied as he tossed some clothes beside her and turned away. she looked with a mixture of guilt and longing at his torn and bloodied shoulder, she wiped the blood from her mouth and chin, the taste was still like paradise to her, but it did not drive her mad.

Her claws were almost normal again and her vision wasn't so black and white anymore, as her muscles relaxed and she became less stressed her fangs receded into her mouth. she quickly changed into the new clothes, the material wasn't the greatest, but it was still the best and cleanest clothes she's ever worn in all her life she can remember. When she had finished she turned to face him and let him know she was done, but he turned and walked towards the door before she could say anything.

But something just didn't sit right with her. Why was she not being punished for what she did? how could biting and drinking the sweat life and nect... the blood... from a sith, ever be excusable? she followed him out the door to the sparring room. but she felt she couldn't go on with this weight on her heart and conscience. she felt lower than dirt and almost couldn't bear not being punished for such a crime... especially against Kao.

 

[Taru Cadera]

They got to the main sparring room, with Kao not saying anything at all. There, he walked up to a rack and took from it a training staff, twirling it in his hand effortlessly. "Take something, Khali... you will need it..."

On the rack there were training staffs, smaller training swords, a chain, and other miscellaneous training equipment. Moving into a ready stance, Kao stepped into a private sparring room, as his instructions were to isolate the girl, not show her off. There he waited for her to join him, to join him for her first test...


[member="Khali Strahd"]

 

[Khali Strahd]

Khali tenetively grabs two short eskrima sticks.
She still felt horrible for what she did to [member="Kao Xusros"] and couldn't understand why she wasn't being punished as was in fact still being trained, but she followed Kao obediently into the private sparring room.

she couldn't look Kao in the eye and kept her head down, wishing she had hair to hide her face from her shame. the smell of his blood hung in the air. she could detect every moving part of his body that had blood flowing it. but his blood, so strong in the force, flowed through her veins now as well, and she could still think with clarity.

She stood opposite him and awaited instructions.

 

[Taru Cadera]

The girl stood there, waiting for his orders, and proceeded to grab two escrima sticks. The sticks, like batons, enabled their user to utilize a flurry of strikes and hard beatings, but that was where Kao's training staff came into play. As a two-handed longer version of an escrima stick, he could utilize its length in both defending against her and its reach in scoring hits. This training exercise had been and always would be, a popular game that helped those in it practice and gain skills in a non-lethal way. Only very painful bruises and concussions could occur, as the stun batons and electrostaffs were in a different part of the Sith Academy, with the electrostaffs being Kao's favorite of the stunning variants of weaponry. Otherwise, a lightsaber would do.

"This shall be your first test, and in this i shall be very lenient and easy... Your goal, Khali, will be to hit me eight times before I hit you ten times. Now these hits can be taps, or slices, or full out beatings. You decide how you shall fight. With this i shall be able to see how you wish to fight and how you actually fight, as these factors are important in a life-or-death situation. Now,... attack!"

[member="Khali Strahd"]

 

[Khali Strahd]

She tensed at the order. Attack him? HIM?!? she already had and she didn't expect to survive that. now he is ORDERING her to attack him hit him eight times. she looked at his stance and the way he held his staff so confidently and her two sticks suddenly felt clumsey and insufficient in her hands.

What kind of place is this? why is she not being treated like a slave with punishment and reward? it felt so strange to her to not be beaten within an inch of her life for every transgression. was this not the Sith Empire? Is this not a sith standing before her? why is he nothing like the monsters she has heard so much about?

She came to a discision after a moment of uncertainty. She doubted very much if she could beat him, or even come close to touching him, but if she can derive some punishment from this sparring match then she could feel satisfied for her transgressions. She gripped her sticks firmly, no longer feeling clumsy or insufficient, with some new purpose and hope running its course. she felt some strength lend itself to her arms from the blood she had consumed from him.

As soon as he said, "attack!" She moved forward, driven by a hope for the pain to come. she didn't expect anything she tried to work, so she went for something she thought she could handle. Anticipating he might attempt to halt her rush with a well placed counter attack she planned to crouch under the swing to her knees, using her momentum to spin on the ground from knee to knee to deliver one blow with her stick to the side of one knee, and the second blow to the side of the other knee as the spin completed and she wound up behind him.

 

[Taru Cadera]

After giving the order to attack, he gripped the staff confidently. Khali had gone for his knees, something which he had not expected at all. She got one of his legs, just below the knee, but as for her other strike, he managed to parry that one and then with the other end of the staff poked lightly at her in the direction of her ribs trying to bring her down to the ground. This would test how she would react...

Overall, he did not show any anger, if anything it was more amusement and memorization than anger that sparkled in his eyes. Kao was memorizing her moves, and how she fought, because if she were to become an acolyte, then she would need to know how to fight, and being able to fight well depended on one's preferences. Preferences to weapons and styles, stances and more.

[member="Khali Strahd"]

 

[Khali Strahd]

She could hardly believe it worked! even partially!

Her shock at having successfully struck [member="Kao Xusros"] for a second time almost distracted her and she was unprepared for the staff about to strike her ribs. but instincts that she still didn't understand took over as she bat the staff back down with her right stick and performed an ascending slash aimed up the sith's spine with her left, following the slash with a back flip that pushed off of Kao's back. The slash was an action that would have been more effective had it been a bladed weapon, but as a stick it wouldn't do much damage.

She was feeling some confidence begin to fill her, feeling an ability and strength she never had before. it HAD to be his blood, that was the only explanation. she felt stronger and faster and healthier than she had ever been in her life. indeed, the unhealthy leanness was gone from her body, replaced by almost a glow of health. her face wasn't as thin anymore and she seemed to only improve the longer his blood flowed through her.

She landed a couple feet away from him, her eyes alert for another attack.

 

[Taru Cadera]

Kao stopped all thoughts of defense and let her hit him, but it did not hurt at all. It was just a little bump with an escrima stick. As she landed behind him, he ordered her to stop. "Stop! Thats enough of the test. When i first met you a couple of hours ago you were barely sitting up, and now as soon as you've bit me and have smelled power, or at least i believe that you've smelled something. I would just like to know how you have gotten your energy back, and as to why you had attacked me in your room. I am not here to hurt you, just to train and teach. now please, explain..."

[member="Khali Strahd"]

 

[Khali Strahd]

At first she tensed when he commanded her to stop, caught off guard that the fight had ended so soon.

She was confused herself about what had happened and how she had gotten her energy back, but she knew it had something to do with his blood or blood in general. She lowered her sticks and relaxed her stance, inclining her head slightly to speak, looking at his feet as she was always taught.

"Master... I beg your forgiveness... I never meant to attack you, but for some reason I could not stop myself..."
She stopped, realizing she was apologizing and not answering his questions. She quickly got ahold of herself.
"Master. Ever since I entered this temple... no, ever since I saw you. I was suddenly awoken... I cannot truly explain it... I smelled, saw, felt, heard the power in your blood call out to me... I heard the call of your power and my body ached for it... I felt it even more vividly when I was in the presence of the other sith lord... I couldn't handle it... my body begged me to act, and finally my own mind revolted and I moved against you master... but it was as if my body already knew what to do..."
She knelt on the floor, laying her sticks in front of her and looking at her own hands. She had looked at her hands often, watching with dead devotion as her hands swung a pick, pushed a cart, killed an overseer, slaughtered another slave. She knew her hands to be skinny, slender, frail, and dirty. But what she looked at now was not her own hands. They were slender, yes, but no longer frail nor dirty. Her hands looked as if she had already spent a month of recovering, eating and attending to personal hygiene. Her fingers no longer looked weak, but were hands that possessed some strength.
"When I attacked you, Master... My body was desperate, I expended the remaining energy I had in that last attempt... I had fangs... claws... and strength for the first time in my life... and when you blood entered my mouth... it was as if suns exploded in my head and filled me with light... It felt good, and the more I drank the better I felt... it was strength, power... if you hadn't torn me off, I might not have stopped..."
She sniffed and had another thought.
"Ever since I was awakened... I could sense blood all around me... close, far... I can tell where everyone is in this temple... and their blood calls to me too, but I can control it for now..."

[member="Kao Xusros"]

 

[Taru Cadera]

"So I take it that you are some type of Vampire, of which you feed on the Force... Interesting. Do not tell anyone else about this, at least not until I tell you so. My Master knows, but he will not need you to explain anything to him. Now can you tell me this - Do you know where you were born, family relations, personal history, anything? I only ask this because you are a novelty. And you may be exploited for that... "

Kao let her think and answer, and in the meantime he put away his staff and took her weapons, throwing them against the wall, where they landed nicely. He then beckoned for her to follow him, but to not stop her "story". The walls have ears, but only in certain places. They made a small circle as Khali told Kao what she knew, and then ended up back at her room. Inside, lay two comlinks. Kao took one, and showed her how to use hers. He told her to call if she needed any help and then told her that the rest of the day was hers to do as she liked. ""Dinner is at 7:00. If you are late, then you do not get to eat. Otherwise, do as you wish... I, however, have to go..."

[member="Khali Strahd"]

 

[Khali Strahd]

Khali obediently followed [member="Kao Xusros"] out of the room. What was she? Where did she come from? Does she have a family? Who knows her? These were questions she always asked herself and assumed nobody else would care to know.

"I suppose I would be a vampire... though I'm not certain if it's only the force that gave me strength."

She could still recall the taste of his blood, the taste in itself was better than any food she had ever eaten, which isn't saying much since all she had eaten for as long as she could remember was the sludge and rations provided in the slave pens. Which brought her to the question of her origins.

"I... I don't remember where I came from. I know I wasn't born a slave but I have no memory of any other life... Some of the slaves that took care of me told me that I looked like I was ten years old when they brought me to the slave pits... That was eight years ago... In the slave pens I learned I could use the force, and it felt like I knew how before I arrived as a slave... But I'm afraid I still have much to learn, or learn again if that is the case."

She followed him into her room and accepted the comlink, nodding at his instructions. He told her when dinner was and she was determined to not be late for her first real meal outside the slave pens... Though his blood still lingered in her mouth and she noticed that for the first time in her life, she wasn't even hungry. She bowed to Kao as he turned to go. She was more determined than ever to impress and carve out a place for herself in this academy. No more did she feel like a victim but a conqueror.