Private Soup

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ashin blinked more than once as she took in what must have happened.

"You're talking about that cauldron Velok's great-grandson is tending over that way? You had him mix fresh Drengir with your bowl of soup? And he did it? And now you can actually feel them coming?" Her face tightened as she watched the skies of Tash-Taral.

"I don't know exactly what you do for work, but if you survived the mess that chased me to Abherin, and you can get even a whisper of their hive mind's presence or intentions, you're as hired as you want to be. We've lingered too long on this world. Avalore , whatever you're doing with that undead man..." Ashin rubbed her temple. "...do it quickly. Call the ship and tell them we take off in an hour."

 

[Avalore]

Avalore's smile faltered, then died.

"Wait, you believe her?"

Ashin Cardé Varanin Mercy

 

[Mercy]

Ashin Cardé Varanin Avalore

"Sounds about right, sure. Dunno about sensing them com-"

Mercy paused in the middle of that. Head tilting up and to the side as if she was listening to something. A brief moment and then she shivered, shaking her head.

"Kay. So maybe they are coming. I have been 'earing their trademark for a while now."

Her attention shifted to Avalore. Only then a smirk. "Told ya, kid. Lotsa chit out there that will blow ya mind." Finally Mercy shook her head. "I am a merc, but if ya wanna hire me, I want something other than cash."

The next part burst out of there as a surprise to all three.

"Teach me. I wanna be yar apprentice."

What the actual kark?

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Ashin's mouth went tight with disappointment. "Of course I believe her," she said. "Velok the Eldest was one of my deputies when I was Empress, and later he was the Sith Empire's chief scholar. He and an old friend of mine stole the Empire's entire archive, every scroll, tome, and holocron. His son, Velok the Younger, wrote more than a dozen books, some of which make scholars poison each other for a better place on the hold queue. The youngest iteration, Velok Brokentusk, was exiled for sins and crimes in search of...well, I believe it involved an alchemy cauldron much like what's set up over there, and a concoction much like the one our friend here drank. Or so it's said."

She refocused on Mercy . "I have an apprentice already. It's been thirty years since I had two at once. Avalore earned her apprenticeship the hard way. Can you?"

 

[Avalore]

Avalore was struck silent by a wave of palpable panic. She never liked earning Ashin's disapproval. It was even worse to have it follow those brash set of words . I want to be your apprentice. That couldn't happen, could it? She wasn't sure. Her world rocked and she was struck by a sense of helpless. She hadn't felt that way in years.

Her fist clenched, but before a single fear could come to fruition Ashin declared her hers. Avalore should have been relieved, but she just stood there... reeling... Her vision growing tainted with each passing moment.

She still had the snake's venom in her.

Ashin Cardé Varanin Mercy

 

[Mercy]

Ashin Cardé Varanin Avalore

A snort.

Heedless of the girl's current mental state, because sense had never come easy to her. Then again even if it had? She wouldn't have held back then either.

"Anything the soft girl can do, I can do better." Declared easily without a trace of doubt.

To Mercy this was not boasting. It was reality being asserted.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

"The soft girl," Ashin said very quietly, "has earned her seat beside me a dozen times over. She has pursued what she wants most with unflagging will and no fear of anyone, not even me, not even when I gave her tests that have broken Masters. And with none of your natural gifts, she has carved out a place as the only Sith below the rank of Knight with a berth on the Pomojema."

Avalore was swaying, Ashin realized: dizzy, conscious, injured or poisoned or ill. Still on her feet for the moment and not many moments thereafter.

"Get her safely aboard and ensure she gets the necessary care, and we'll talk." Ashin turned away. One hour to liftoff gave her a minimal opportunity to look in on a curio or two.

Such as, for example, a certain Whiphid...

 

[Mercy]

Avalore Ashin Cardé Varanin

Mercy's face grew impassive.

Anyone else would have been chastised by that rebuke. Their tune shifted violently towards somewhat begrudging regard for the young girl next to her, but this was Mercy we are talking about.

Impassiveness suggested anger that was just about maintained.

There was a shift in regard however. The one Mercy had felt for Ashin, but she supposed it was true what they said. Never meet your idols because they certainly would disappoint. "Yes... Master." The woman murmured silently, inclining her head, but it was a far cry from the bow she had done at the first sight of the Empress of a thousand worlds.

"Let's go." As the large trunk of a hand moved to settle on Avalore's shoulder. She'd have to be careful, if Avalore expired under her watch? Well, mother hen over there might just execute her just to soothe her tender feelings over it.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she was becoming.

 

[Avalore]

Avalore watched Ashin leave with silent regard. What might have been a simple statement for the master would prove to be a defining moment for Avalore in time.

She breathed easier but her blood still boiled. A cold sheen had broken over her skin. Maybe she was about to collapse. She will herself to keep it together, fueled only by the venom, and look up at Mercy. She didn't buy her new display of obedience. Avalore knew all to well that any predator worth their salt bid their time before going in for the kill.

She shrugged off the woman's hand and ordered bluntly, "Pick it up."

The soft one walked herself towards the ship, leaving Mercy and the corpse behind.

Ashin Cardé Varanin Mercy

 

[Mercy]

For a brief moment Mercy paused there.

The tendons in her neck bulging out as her hands curled into fists.

one, two, three, fo- meatmeatmeat.

Mercy shivered and picked up the body, slinging it over her shoulder. In her mind of minds she made a note however. There would come a time when Ashin Cardé Varanin 's protection ran out. When that day came Mercy would be there. Maybe standing over Avalore while she was asleep, or waiting for her in a dark alcove after her dinner.

The graphical images flashing through her mind warmed her right up.

Even made her grin again. "Sure, babe." She murmured warmly with ease as her long legs caught up with Avalore just as easily. "Gotta know where yar strengths are after all."

Cheerful chirp that didn't belong with someone like the boulder walking next to her.