Sand and Water, Tooth and Nail [Serian]

[Blackthorne]

"No," Loxa nodded and smiled despite his answer, "I do not suppose you do."

Trust - a difficult thing to earn. She understood this better than most, not so long ago it had been something very seldom given by herself. Yet now, with the guidance of the Pantheon, she found it more readily available to her, for both herself and her Crusade brethren.

"Where is home for you, Serian Corsair Loria? Was it not Tattooine?" not a wholly odd place for a man such as himself to chose as home, but she could think of few other reasons one might be there...or nearly die there as the case may be. He certainly didn't seem the type to go searching for tailring eggs.

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

His lip curled with distaste at the thought “I would never settle on that misbegotten dustball.” It was such a repellant idea “I reside elsewhere.”

It boiled down to trust, she did not have his and he wouldn’t give such sensitive information without as much of a fight as he could manage. “What brought you to the planet?”


[member="Loxa Visl"]

 

[Blackthorne]

The Priestess chuckled in response. Tattoine certainly was not the most favorable of homes, but there were those who found it a useful place to hide and live. She did not envy those people their tribulations of doing so.

"Tailrings," Loxa replied, "for our Navy." There was a hint of enthusiasm to the woman's voice, one that seemed not at all deterred by the fact that he'd neglected her own question.

"I have never seen one before then, they are most ...interesting creatures. Would you like to see the one I have claimed?"

 

[Serian Loria]

One dark eyebrow rose “You brought an animal into a medical facility?” He made the bed sit up further and nodded “Might as well, I don’t have anything better to do. Why does your navy need such creatures? Surely they aren’t pets. Is it dangerous?”

He had an affinity for felines, though he didn’t think this creature was of any relation, the name didn’t sound familiar.




[member="Loxa Visl"]

 

[Blackthorne]

"Animals can be very therapeutic," Loxa grinned, a shallow laugh of amusement following, she nodded, "and yes, I have brought her. She is here," she indicated a crate near the doorway, extending her left arm towards it with a gentle gesture. The latch on the crate disengaged, allowing the wire mesh door to swing open.

There came a soft hiss as the miniscule reptilian stuck it's horned, black head out curiously.

"Ico," Loxa spoke again, holding her arm in a bend to signal the creature its perch. The tailring chirruped, surged forward and with a flap of its wings sailed to her. It landed there, looking around, tail curling so tightly around the sleeve of her robe that it pulled back, revealing a myriad scars on her tanned skin, including those induced by long-term wear of shackles - an obvious sign of slavery.

"I have not tended animals much before, so I am learning now. This one is known as Ico, the others I have given to the Beast Tamers of Thral to hatch and raise."

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

He saw the scars and understood, he’d seen those marks plenty of times himself to know what all it meant. The reptile was interesting, he’d always liked them, but never could decide if he wanted to care for creatures so finicky. “Its rather pretty, is it cold blooded like a snake? What does it eat?”



[member="Loxa Visl"]

 

[Blackthorne]

"I think so," Loxa said, reaching to stroke a finger along the length of the sand dragon's throat, "they eat mynocks, among many things. That is the reason I have brought them here. The mynocks of the Silken Asteroids are many and make it very difficult for us to travel and work there. A new pilgrim from Kinooine suggested Tailrings. It is what the Space Pirates and Mercenaries use to protect their ships from the parasites. They make good pets, and this new pilgrim will now help us to learn how to raise and train these creatures."

"I do not know how long she lived with the merchant. He may have been her only owner, or maybe he bought her from another. She seems very ... nervous. Maybe depressed. What do you think?" Loxa held her arm towards Serian, just close enough for him to easily touch the dragon without being imposing.

Ico hunched at him, curling her wings along her side and pressed against Loxa's arm.

 

[Serian Loria]

He reached out a hand slowly and clicked his tongue encouraging the creature in hopes she’d come to him. “Mynocks hmm, so these creatures can survive in space like them? I’d very much like to have one myself, do you think I could have whatever info you have on these tailrings and one of the hatchlings?”


[member="Loxa Visl"]

 

[Blackthorne]

"I am afraid all hatchlings produced from the eggs I purchased are reserved for the fleet," Loxa said, watching Ico calmly while remaining very still, "but if Ico has more eggs ... you may have one of them - try holding your good arm like this." The Priestess indicated with her free hand how she held out her current tailring-occupied arm, much the same way a falconer signaled for the raptor to land.

If done properly, Ico would tentatively reach out to the newly proffered perch, her weight settling heavy on his mending arm, tail and claws latching onto the fabric of his sleeve. If he wasn't able to manage, well, Ico would do well to inform the man of her insecurity by hissing, eliciting a raucous noise from her tail rattle.

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

Her weight settled on his arm and all he did was blink, he showed no discomfort at all, though it made the bones in his arm ache. Showing any sort of weakness, to the creature and her owner, wasn’t something he could do. Even before he joined the Sith he was conditioned to show nothing of his pain, it wasn’t even a conscious thing anymore. He reached out with his other hand slowly, putting his fingers where they could be sniffed. After a polite amount of time he gently moved to rub along her head, neck and very gently along her wings. “I would like that, very much. Thank you.”

Two weeks later:

His healing went well and after the first week he was able to move around, though in a limited fashion. By the second week he was able to walk, with the aid of a cane, to the hospital gardens. His energy had returned, though he tried to do as little as possible with them, his aura carefully concealed. He was getting restless, often pushing his body harder and harder, if only to regain his physical strength so he could leave. This of course got him chided by the doctors, but he ignored them. He couldn’t help it, he was starting to feel like he was trapped in some sterile cage and his only chance at freedom lay in how quickly he recovered.

[member="Loxa Visl"]

 

[Blackthorne]

The gardens were always a welcome retreat to the travel-worn Priestess, and so it was she waited, fully content under the bows of a lush juniper tree, for the arrival of her charge one day. She'd taken to visiting him often, even if only for a short while. Some days he was rather quiet, perhaps unsettled, but to his actual emotions she was not privy. If nothing more, her consistent presence was to help reassure him that her word was good.

Ico settled into her role as the Priestess' pet quite readily and traveled atop the woman's shoulders wherever she went. Today the tailring had taken to the branches above Loxa and raided a birdnest for its hatchlings. The Priestess watched for some time, wondering over the growing strength of the aged creature and that of [member="Serian Loria"] who she turned to see emerge from the doorway of the hospital into the garden. A faint smile lightened the expression concealed within the shadow of her hood, Loxa stood to greet him.

"Good day, Serian Loria," she said softly, "I have a gift for you." In her hands was the book of Moross, of which she openly offered it to him, the page detailing Inari the Reviver marked by a gleaming golden sliver.

 

[Serian Loria]

He took the book and smiled at her “I appreciate this, I have been rather curious about your faction. Some of the nurses have been rather chatty and told me a little, I confess this ‘god’ of knowledge of yours is someone of interest. Though I owe you and your Reviver a great debt…”

He looked down at the book and sighed closing his eyes “I find myself at a fork in the road, continue as I have or see if I might find a place here, in the Moross Crusade. I honestly do not know what to do.”

With Isley gone and all his apprentices as well, he was at loose ties and though he didn’t want to leave his faction, he hardly had a place there anymore. The longer he stayed where he was, the less inclined to leave he became, but he wasn’t sure if he’d even have a place here. “I need to speak with someone of rank Loxa, can this be done?”


[member="Loxa Visl"]

 

[Blackthorne]

"Ah, yes, Aesir Neth the Keeper. Elusive but very wise," Loxa nodded, her tone quiet as the man continued, she folded her hands at her back. Saffron eyes gleamed as she listened, an etching of curiosity at his confessions. It was the first he had openly spoken of himself or of his home, and in fact it took her slightly by surprise. Mostly so because he, much like she had been many years ago, was at a crossroads with a choice involving his life and the Crusade. Though, admittedly, his circumstances were vastly different.

Tentatively, the Priestess reached a hand forward to gently touch at the man's nearest forearm. She smiled, a gentle expression. Here, all along, the man had been speaking to someone of rank and didn't even know it. A Steward such as herself, chosen by the very Gods that lead the Crusade, would be ordered only by them and their chosen Hands.

But she knew this was not what he asked after. What this man needed was answers, ones that only an Aesir could give.

"Yes," she said with a slight nod, "there is someone I can take you to if you feel well enough for it."

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

He set the book aside and rested his now free hand on hers and closed his eyes. It was a strange thing for him, at that moment, he wanted very much to move and yet he felt sure he was rooted to the bench. He grabbed the cane and stood up “It is not a question of my desires, but of my body’s. I don’t think I could walk more than back to the confines of my hospital bed, so if this distance is greater than that I’ll need...assistance.”

He was not a man used to speaking freely of his inabilities, it took effort to admit to her than he wasn’t physically sound even though she knew already that he wasn’t. If he was allowed to stay, to join the Crusade, he would ask her if she’d like to be his apprentice. He’d grown to like her peculiar company and he wanted to keep her at his side, he felt much potential from her that drew his interest. That is even supposing she wished to accept his offer or if she was free to do so.



[member="Loxa Visl"]

 

[Blackthorne]

From within her hood Loxa maintained that baleful smile, yellow eyes glowing faintly, "I will help you, Serian Corsair Loria."

The Priestess then reached to take up the book he'd left on the bench and motioned for him to join her. She walked slow, allowing the man the ability to keep pace, Ico winging back to her shoulder just before they reached the doors back into the hospital with birdfeathers stuck on her claws.

"Would you like that we find you a fine robe to wear?" she asked gently after him as they walked.

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

He shook his head a somber expression on his face “I would not feel comfortable wearing robes, when I have not earned the acceptance needed to have that right. Going as I am is just fine...in my current state its hard to have any dignity left when half the staff have seen me in such deplorable condition or worse.”

He did draw the house robe closer, the hospital was cold and the chill was uncomfortable after the warm of outside. Under the house robe he was wearing light loose grey pants and a matching lighter toned long sleeved shirt. The robe was suitably warm enough and didn’t add extra weight to his body that he had to cart around.


Loxa Visl

 

[Blackthorne]

"Very well, then let us go now."

Loxa was no doctor, but if life had taught her anything it was that a bit of travel and adventure was as good for one's body as it was for one's soul. After a short while she had arranged for his leave of the hospital under her care and soon they were in a taxi speeder, drifting through the sky traffic of the capital of Exocron. It would be the first time he'd seen any of the planet outside of the hospital, and in knowing this Loxa reminisced of her first impression of this wonderful place.

The grand Temple of the Divines stood as the centerpiece and very heart of the city, rising along the slopes of a mountain, the flame of Moross burning brightly at the heart of the massive structure.

"It has been two years since I first saw the temple," Loxa said on a hushed tone, "it is still magnificent."

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

At last he was on his way away, the city unfolded around him and near it heart a temple. The elegant structure seemed reminiscent of an older world despite the modern city flowing around it. “How long has the temple stood? Do you know who built it and how long ago it had been?”

While his primary desires stemmed towards the collection, care and retrieval of knowledge lost, he also had a hobby, architecture. The old world temple design appealed to the part of him that was still from an era so long past. “It almost reminds me of a flower, the city around it the petals, but the heart, the temple itself. The temple where I first started my training, long gone to dust now sadly, had had such elegance too, even if at the time it had been crumbling around us.”

It would probably be startling news to her, that the man she’d been caring for was a force user. His talents always had been aimed toward subtlety, his aura carefully hidden and masked. One could easily mistake him for the scholar he was and nothing more, for how can one think differently when he does not wear his power like a mantle? It would be hard to see him as a Jedi, he didn’t carry himself like one, but he didn’t act like one who had been Sith either.

True he was incredibly independant, at ease at giving orders and above all very careful at showing any hint of weakness or of thing closely personal. Yet he didn’t have the classic cruelty or arrogance that one of the Dark path usually had. He was arrogant, but it was born from his noble upbringing even though he’d started off treated less than a slave. He was an enigma, his accent and manners out of place and, so it would seem, his lack of displaying of his Gift.


[member="Loxa Visl"]

 

[Blackthorne]

"This temple is quite young," Loxa replied, still watching it from the shadow of her hood, "it was built not long before my own pilgrimage to this place. But the pantheon is ancient, the Aesirs timeless."

A saffron-eyed glance towards Serian and Loxa nodded, "When you are well I will show you our worlds, if you like. You can see the temple from the skies - it is much like how you describe."

They arrived at the temple a short while later, disembarking from the speeder at a side entrance that permitted the Priests and Priestesses easier access. Helping Serian to his feet, Loxa stayed near the man to offer assistance should his body give out on him. Maintaining a slow gait, the pair stepped inside and joined the throngs of converts and pilgrims as they entered the main grand hall from the side corridor. Loxa kept them off from the heavier foot traffic, but Serian would catch himself an eyefull of the varying colors of robes and suits of armor that denoted followers of the different sects.

"Are you well, Serian Corsair Loria? Do you need to rest?" Loxa queried gently, "we are almost there."

[member="Serian Loria"]

 

[Serian Loria]

He kept his mouth shut refraining from commenting about the assumed ancientness of her so called gods. He wasn’t about to get into an argument or at the very least insult her, but he didn’t believe that those who led her faction were divine. The crowds weren’t a surprise, but at the same time they annoyed him, too much noise. He had to let the murmur of voices roll over him, focusing on them might end up being a distraction. The talent he had for recalling what he knew could be triggered by something as innocent as a word spoken, by a picture or even something written down.

His head was filled with all sorts of thing that he had gleaned in his travels and pair that with the fact he didn’t forget the things he read, even if just a glance, could prove to be a great annoyance. “I am fine Loxa, if I should need assistance you’ll be the first to know.”

He couldn’t recall the last time someone had fussed over him so. Injury was part of life, especially for one who walked the Dark path. True, he’d nearly died, but here he was alive and mostly whole again.


[member="Loxa Visl"]