Private Nod If You Can Hear Me

[Mariel Dawnrider]

Mariel had lost all concept of time.

Months, at the very least. How many? Years? She was molting, but was that because of the circumstances or because, somewhere, somewhere with sun and wind and light, it was the end of winter? A few short weeks of awkward feathers for a resplendent new set, just in time for the sun to warm them and a new season of breezes and turns to take their time in the light?

There was no light where Mariel was.

The Songwing shifted on the perch, her feet numb with cold and disuse. The chain around her ankle rattled softly, rubbing raw there, and she grew still again. Ranging feathers fluffed up around herself, she hunched miserably, left in a mostly forgotten room somewhere in the bowels of a building on Bastion. Remembered enough for food and water (most days), but after the initial amusement of her capture, she had been relegated merely to oddity.....

And slowly forgotten.

She had tried to escape. But it hadn't taken more than a smidgen of void stone in the metal working of the chain that kept her within a meter of the perch, to keep her in line. Besides, what good was the Force when they had cut her off from the larger and integral Slipstream? Not even a window to allow a draft of air into the room. Stuffy, humid, the air still. The only time she felt that ruffle of a breeze on her feathers was when someone opened that door.... and it shamed her how it sparked joy, even if for only a moment.

It was hard to sleep in the dark. But over time, she had learned, because it was either sleep or go mad. So when the first footsteps of approach out beyond the door, and the soft sound of keys started to filter through, she was slow to rouse, blinking blearily at the door as it opened. For a moment, eyes closed, head tipping, as the draft from the hallway ruffled the feathers of her face.

Valerya Tion

 

[Valerya Tion]

Mariel Dawnrider

There were certain advantages to having the Emperor's favor.

Oh, slavery did not exist within the territory of the Empire. It had a different name. Servants, indentured or otherwise, for one. There were probably others, but Valerya did not truly care. All the truly valuable prisoners were gone within the first week. The strong ones to heavy labor camps. The knowledgeable ones to the torture dungeons beneath the Imperial Palace.

These ones?

Mere oddities.

Things to look at and fawn.

It were Lady Tion's oozing influence within the Tion Cluster that kept it mostly in line. Oh, there were politicians, business owners, once upon a time even a cabal of ... no, now is not the time. Either way. They all came and went, but Lady Tion remained. In the background of things, making sure that things were predictable and peaceful.

The rebellion a few years ago had been an embarrassment to her.

But ever since it was squashed? Things had slowly starting to look up again. Even now she stepped down the stairs. One by one. Dainty and carefully, trying oh so her best to prevent the sludge and dust to stain her clothes too much. Beautiful fabrics of silk. It flowed behind her. This was a stark contrast to the darkness of the dungeons.

"At least nobody is screaming here," She muttered to herself as ice blue eyes looked through the cages. "Oooh, what do we have here..." Val murmured with adoration.

She was standing one cage farther from Mariel.

Oh, the bird was pretty, sure. But there were plenty of birbs to be found in the Galaxy. "Would you like to be free, see the sun again? The air... hm, do you even breathe air?" But a translucent statue that could breathe and move? Now that was an oddity worth something. Val wasn't aware that Mariel was a Force User. Maybe that would have peaked her interest suitably.

Sadly the voidstone made her a simple bird.

A beautiful one, but just a birb.

"You merely need to prove you are special enough and then you will earn your freedom with me!" Val cooed. Unaware that some birbs were more intelligent than others.

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

Mariel shifted on her perch, head shaking out. The chain rattled softly.

Inside of her, a past version of herself watched on in horror. A year ago, she never would have dreamed. But now, as the door remained open and the slight draft trickled through - not even a proper breeze, but like a slice of air between the water and the roof of the cave to a drowning man, Mariel leaned into it. And spoke.

"He won't answer you."

She barely recognized her own voice. It cracked, somewhere in the middle. Brittle with disuse and desperation. "He shut down ages ago. Cannibalized his own sentience. I do not think there is any waking for that one."

Early on, she and the crystal had talked. A sentient crystal, carved in a shape more pleasing by one of the Sith. It had been a horrific series of weeks, watching him come back, chipped away slowly, piece by piece. It had been early, when Mariel had still hoped for a chance at escape, or perhaps a rescue. She had encouraged, tried to help him cope. But eventually it had been unable to manage any longer. The voice had gotten quieter, simpler. Regressing as the sith had shaped it. Until one day they brought it back and not another word was uttered. The thing that had once been a friend still shifted sometimes. Still breathed. The magics poured into it by a crafter's hand she had never seen left it more in slumber than gone, but in its way, that had been worse.

Mariel had wept. And then, the silence had stretched.

She shifted, side walking closer to the cooing woman across her perch. Closer to the draft from the door. Closer to Do you want to be free?

See the sun again?

Valerya Tion

 

[Valerya Tion]

Head tilted there as that voice piped up.

From the .... left?

Eyes tracked and saw the birb again. This time in a different sort of light. "Oh, oh my." Already the crystalline statue forgotten. Instead shuffling on over towards the magnificent bird. "You are a beauty, aren't you? And you can talk?" Val couldn't help herself but clap her hands in delight. "Mm, I can't sense you that clearly in the Force, but w-"

Then an ah as her presence tried to probe deeper.

Every time being cast back, because of mmm voidstone, yes. "So you are a wielder of the Force? Unique." The cooing only got more intense there. Wasn't this exactly what she had wanted?

Something extraordinary to fit her household.

Delicate fingers curled around the bars of the cage. For all her care about the dress? The soot and rust didn't seem to bother her. "You poor thing, look at you, they really mistreated you here... haven't they?" The cage clicked and the door unlocked. Seemingly out of nowhere. Mariel couldn't sense the application of Force here.

"Do you want to come with me, cutie? Leave this awful place behind?"

Mariel Dawnrider

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

Are?

Was.

In the moment Mariel was matted, feathers tattered and torn. Once sleek (if perhaps yes, a pillow of death), she had grown too thin and starved in the perpetual darkness. The active mistreatment had ended who knew how long ago now (Mariel did not), but the continued neglect showed on every feather and line.

That inner past self continued to watch in mounting horror. Because instead of reacting with haught and pride, the kind words brought her low. Starved for more than food, the promise of breeze and kindness was enough to make Mariel ache. Perhaps if this had happened sooner, there would have been enough avian pride remaining in the Songwing but in this moment it was as withered as the sentience of the crystal beside them.

"Please," and even the current her hated the level of pleading in her voice when she said that.

She did not deny she was a Force user. They knew she was a Jedi, after all.

Is?

Was. What was she now?

An owl in a cage, desperate to spread her wings and feel the wind on her face.

She hopped down from the perch to the open door, hesitant there. Stopped from moving further by the chain on her ankle.

"Please, please yes."

Afraid. Afraid that it was all a trick. But wanting, desperately, for it to be real.

Valerya Tion

 

[Valerya Tion]

Mariel Dawnrider

Brows furrowed in sadness.

"Oh, you poor thing. No. You are beautiful." She murmured as she crept closer. Hunching down next to the owl. "Trust me," The Sith Lord murmured with a soft smile. "I know beauty where I see it, after all, I look into the mirror every morning." Laughter reflected her eyes as she carefully reached out to Mariel. In spite of the kind words Valerya was cautious.

This was still a Jedi.... or had been, anyway.

If Mariel let her? She'd softly stroke her head there. Very carefully, before stroking down to touch the chain. "Beautiful things shouldn't be treated this way..." She exclaimed softly while shaking her head.

"You won't make me regret trusting you, will you?" Softly asked there, meeting the owlet's eye.

The owl shrunk down slightly. "No," very quietly. "No, no I won't."

Bright smile in response. Nodding in return, before pulling up the sleeve of her dress. Things became a bit more clear here. Tanned skin, but it was marred with bright white lines. Many of them. Rows upon rows. If it wasn't clear there? Val reached out with her nail and dug in deep. Immediately breaking skin and revealing the bright red crimson underneath.

A gasp there, eyes closing slightly, but the smile never wavering.

"Freedom has a price, hasn't it?" Val murmured between her teeth. She dripped the blood on the owl's chain... murmured an incantation... and then the liquid immediately ate through the metal.

Keys? They had been thrown away a long time ago. Why would they remain for someone who clearly had been forgotten and abandoned.

"Hop on my shoulder, little pretty owl. Let's get you out of here."

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

Her touch was soft and her words were gentle. She closed her eyes, flinching at first as the hand came to her head, then relaxing slowly.

Mariel had a sharp beak and razor talons. She could have shredded the delicate skin of the Sith offering her arm.

Instead, the Songwing meekly stepped out onto the offered wrist. Careful, oh so careful, to not prick the woman's skin further.

Sith? Oh yes. Who would be here in this place, able to offer freedom so casual and light? Who would use blood to start a ritual and see it to completion, not once but a hundred times? The pale lines were stark and Marial suppressed a small shudder at that choice.

At that price.

But the woman spoke kindly and was offering her, even if only for a moment, a chance at freedom.

Make a break for it?

Mariel had nothing left. No reserves. She wouldn't get to the door, in the condition she was in and she knew it. Even that impulse was tiny and heavy in the back of her head.

Honeyed words. Hiding poison? Mariel neither knew nor cared. Carefully, she hopped up, wings spreading wide to help her keep her balance until she could settle on the woman's shoulder as requested. Gentle with her claws. The cuff of the chain itself was still settled on her ankle, but the weight of the rest of it almost sang in its absence. Still muffled in the Force from that small bit of void stone smelted into the metal. The skin there was raw, opened again and again by the cuff, but for now, just the loss of that WEIGHT was enough.

It had been so long since she had spoken regularly to another sentient, that conversation was slow to start. It wasn't until they were leaving the room behind and her head swiveled to see one last glimpse of her friend who had not made it, that she really believed that it was happening.

"They.... will just let you take me out of here?" Hesitantly as they continued down the hall. There weren't even any guards here, she realized, a little dully.

Valerya Tion

 

[Valerya Tion]

Mariel Dawnrider

"Of course, little owl, the Emperor is quite pleased with my service." Val murmured frankly. If there was any deceit here, it wasn't in her words. Those were truthful. She didn't try to act she was anything other than a Sith Lord. "He has allowed me a single servant from these dungeons. The curio, the forgotten and lost..." A sad shake of Val's head there. Rising up to pet Mariel's head again.

"Truly he musn't have known what he had in his cells. Such a beautiful creature."

They walked through halls, decript and abandoned, passing locked cages after cages.

Most of them still occupied.

These were the ones that had no clear worth. The more the Empire expanded, the more their numbers increased. Some would be destined for the Raykkan Cartels, others sold off perhaps in time. The only measure was this. The Sith were jealous and possessive. Even if there was no purpose? They would not easily let go of their prisoners.

Up the stairs.

The light was already coming through the doors, but Val didn't immediately go through the door. Instead she paused a few meters in front of it.

The air already breathing through. Promising.

"I trust you, little one, but I am quite a cautious person." Leaning in to brush her cheek against Mariel's wing. A tactile individual, this Sith was. "The voidstone will remain for now, but we will find you a nicer bracelet around your leg. That seems fair, yes?"

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

The idea that the Emperor knew she was there sent a small shudder through the Songwing. A glance over her shoulder at all of the cages as they passed. Not every creature in them was still moving. Given up? Or worse.

"Only one?" She asked tentatively. "Where.....what happens to the rest?"

But the question was forgotten a moment later. The barest whisper of a breeze, ruffling the feathers of her face. Her wide eyes closed, leaning slightly forward into that feeling of fresh air. Of wind, even if only the hollow shadow of it. Her wings fluffed out, ever so slightly, brushing the woman's cheek as she leaned in, feeling the wind on her flight feathers.

Mariel couldn't fly right now, even if she had wanted to. She was too weak, her feathers too tattered. But the yearning in her breast made her ache.

"If I can feel the wind once more I can accept the voidstone," she murmured without thought, eyes half open and face drinking in that stale breeze. One did not need the Force to be held in the drafts of the Slipstream. Mariel could give up the Force. She could live without it. But not without the Winds.

Valerya Tion

 

[Valerya Tion]

A light shrug there.

"Does it matter, cutie? You are free and finally able to feel the air on your wings." Her eyes cast towards the other cages. Brilliant blues measuring, as she wondered if there was anything more interesting here than a talking, Jedi owl. It could be. Pausing there, right before they would step outside. Because Mariel did make her wonder.

"But perhaps there is something more interesting to find in these cages... I suppose..."

That train of thought was derailed rather quickly however. Because the owl wilted slightly. A pause, but not a long one before, "N-no. There's nothing." Just as Val was about to approach one of the cages.

Instead she nodded slowly.

"Well, you'd know better than me, little beauty. You have been here far longer. So, I will trust your judgement." Cheerful tone as instead? They finally approached the door. There was no malicious teasing here anymore. She opened the door and they stepped out. Into a courtyard. There were Imperial guards here, a skeleton crew.

This was not a prestigious post whatsoever.

"...and here's the wind." Val murmured after a moment, before closing her own eyes to feel the sun on her skin. A delightful sigh there as she basked in the sun and the fresh air.

It was a stark contrast to the darkness and damp of the dungeon.

"Do you want me to levitate you through the air? It's not the same as flying... but then you can get a taste of it at least." Val offered this freely.

Mariel Dawnrider

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

It wasn't even a calculation. It was pure desperation. For that moment, there was nothing Jedi-like about Mariel Dawnrider. For that moment all she was boiled down to a creature kept too long in a cage, the basest desire to not return to that still darkness. There was no higher meaning or cause, no light and goodness in that moment.

With it came shame. But the shame wasn't stronger than her need for more.

The first real test of her professed convictions, to order and kindness and generosity.

And Mariel failed it.

But as the wind and sunlight (had she ever greeted sunlight as a friend before? It hurt her eyes and yet the warm as she closed them, feeling that balm of what should bring sleep for her kind for the first time in months, oh, oh the sun) hit her face there was no amount of shame that could overcome that feeling.

"No... no thank you," Mariel said softly. "When I fly again, it will be under my own power.... or not at all."

Her wings stayed out, fluffed away from her body, letting the breeze shift through her feathers. For the first time in months, Mariel remembered peace.

But at what price?

Valerya Tion

 

[Valerya Tion]

Mariel Dawnrider

"Mm, of course, I respect that."

More than Mariel could have known.

Contempt was reserved for those people, sheep really, that had to rely on others. No not even had, but wanted to. Who had their own abilities and instead decided to cling to someone stronger. Like a leach. A parasite. This included much of Galactic society in her eyes, of course. By declining her offer at the sheer bottom of her life? Mariel .... well. Perhaps not respect, but certainly earned some regard there. However meager that was worth.

They's stand there for a little while longer.

Letting Mariel soak in the heat and the air whistling past them. The guards around them grew more anxious. They weren't used to this. The presence of a Lord of the Sith for this long. This close. Presumably the ones they had been in the presence of weren't like Val either. Old ancient creatures. Gnarled skin and foggy amber eyes.

Not a woman who seemed more home at court than in a dungeon.

"And now we go to your new home, little one." Val murmured eventually. A soft chuckle that seemed to echo through the courtyard. "The boys here are growing anxious at my presence." Tone sweetly even as those words made them stiffen up. Just before they were about to slip out towards the landings pads, Val reached out... and brushed the armored shoulder of their leader.

"Thank you, captain, I appreciate your patience." Sweet like honey, but it made the Captain take a step back regardless. A coughed o-oh of course, ma'a- my lady, anything you need.

A smile there in return.

"Anything? I will keep that in mind." Presumably the Captain grew inches of pale under his visor. Sadly Val was already on the move. As they climbed the stairs the wind picked up here. Higher, flowing freely. "Much like the Force..." She breathed as they went. "...a flow of power, invisible, but always there to your sensations, no?"

Once they were at the top of the stairs Val paused again.

There was a great view now.

The city surrounding them, but it seemed to come from far. This place. The dungeon of the lost was away from the entertainment zones or the investment regions. It was a district just as forgotten. It did mean the air didn't have that putrid taste of ash to it. Or at the very least it wasn't as bad. "Mm, you will need a name."

Ignoring the fact that Mariel already had a name.

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

Her wings spread a touch wider, almost- ALMOST able to feel the lift there- but no. The flight feathers too tattered to launch, even if she has the strength. If she angled her wings just a touch, she would end up for a moment in that air, and then toppling in an undignified mass on the ground at Valerya's feet. Not even remotely desirable.

While the air here was still thick and unpleasant, in comparison to the stale air she had been breathing for months, it was positively clear.

Settling her wings back against her body, she shook out and fluffed up her feathers, wanting to feel the breeze through every part of her.

She needed a bath, she realized with some chagrin.

"A na- my name is Mariel Dawnrider," she said softly.

It still felt as though this were a dream. Not entirely real. As though if she spoke too loudly or moved too swiftly the moment would shatter and she would be back in the dark in that cage. Alone.

Valerya Tion

 

[Valerya Tion]

Mariel Dawnrider

Val, of course, knew that Mariel came with a name.

That was understood.

A soft sigh. "Darling, that is your Jedi name." She murmurs lightly as they approached her shuttle. It was quite a luxurious one. Latest Tionese model, but that made sense. Tionese Values and Tionese Traditions. "And a Jedi is a threat to me." Her cheek softly brushing her wing there. Very lightly, gently, letting them stay in the wind for a while longer.

"You aren't a threat to me, are you?"

That's what it all hinged on, of course. A threat couldn't be taken from the prison. Threats were either eliminated or put in jail. They weren't allowed to roam free.

To whisp through the air.

 

[Mariel Dawnrider]

Mariel blinked. Feathers ruffled. Looking affronted.

Probably because she was.

"I am a Songwing first. Dawnrider is the translation of my name into the common parlance."

A sniff there. Yes, she had chosen the first name as a Jedi but that was, to her, the less important part anyway. But as Valerya Tion continued, she wilted slightly.

"Mariel is more.... a nickname. To help those who could not pronounce my name in the language of my kind," she continued on, a little in a rush. Yes, she had chosen it after a historical Jedi but it was not important. Not REALLY. She was not prepared to claim she was not a Jedi but neither did she need to wave it in this place where being such was deeply dangerous. The Slipstream understood bowing to the winds when self preservation was necessary, and the Songwing believes in that deeper than the more recent teachings of the 'Force', after alll.

"I am not a threat to you. I do not need to be called Mariel."

Here.