Private The Blood Is the Life

[Kai Bamarri]

Temporary Refugee Camp, Tython

Night had fallen over the camp. Hours after his encounter with the ghost of Carnifex, Kai was finally allowing himself a moment’s peace. He knew being on his feet all day wasn’t doing his leg any favors, but then fighting a former Sith Emperor probably wasn’t very conducive to his recovery either.

He sat down in a chair (he didn’t dare take a bed or cot that a refugee might need) and leaned back, intending to just rest his eyes. But as usual, he underestimated the needs of his very human body. Sleep overcame him before he even knew what hit him…

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

There had been a rumor about it. A Sithspawn that was no longer a Sithspawn. Curiosity, pure and simple, brought her outside Kai's tent. It'd been a while since she last saw the boy. And from what Amani had said, he'd overcome his.. Issue. Perhaps she would've even felt jealous, if not for the raw power she could now feel at her fingertips. She watched him as he slept in his chair, simply observing him. How the flow of blood coursed through his veins.

A body once dead, now alive. She could see it. Interesting.

After a moment she reached a hand out. Called over a chair for herself. It flew faster than she'd like, but she caught it regardless and set it down so she could sit across from him. Golden eyes stayed focused. His time for dreaming was over.

"Wake up, boy."

Kai Bamarri

 

[Kai Bamarri]

For once, Kai was actually having an enjoyable dream. A very enjoyable dream involving Iris and a red snow cone, though he couldn’t remember much about it when he was rudely awakened.

His eyelids fluttered and he groaned, shifting in his chair as if trying to get comfortable again. A few moments passed, and he suddenly sat up straight, his eyes open wide.

<Alina? What are you doing here?>

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Still not used to your voice in my head, but yeah. That's me. Why are you so shocked I'm here?" Alina pretty blatantly mocked any offence she would've actually taken otherwise. In truth she'd been avoiding Tython like the plague. The Maw, her old master. He died here, right? Her gaze drifted out of the tent, tracing through the echoes of the darkness that wanted to consume the planet.

Interesting. That she could see it anyway.

"Since when did you need to sleep, anyway?"

Kai Bamarri

 

[Kai Bamarri]

<’Cause this planet was almost destroyed, and that means everything’s kinda crappy now?> He shrugged.. <I wouldn’t be here unless I had to do something important.>

There was something not quite right about this situation. The Force issued a vague warning, but until something actually happened, Kai didn’t know what to make of it.

His next response was delivered in a much dryer tone. <I got a new body that needs to sleep. Since when do you like sneaking into people’s tents and waking them up in the middle of the night?>

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"That does explain why you smell like a corpse." Not him specifically, but something about him. Alina leaned comfortably back in her seat, hands folded together as she just.. Watched. Curious. So this is what it took for him to overcome his Sithspawn nature and stay a Jedi? A whole new body? How messed up must that of been, for whoever originally held the body.

Or the people who knew it.

"I'm hungry. Just point me to where I can get a proper meal and I'll be on my way. Sithspawn's oath, or whatever the Sanctum gave."

Kai Bamarri

 

[Kai Bamarri]

"That does explain why you smell like a corpse."

Kai lifted an arm to sniff himself, then shrugged. <I haven’t had a chance to shower.>

She asked for food. Kai blinked, anticipating that she wasn’t asking for typical fare.

<You really came to a refugee camp to hunt? That’s pretty brazen, even for you.> He stood up, hopping a bit on his uninjured leg, but still endeavoring to look somewhat stern and intimidating. <You’re not eating anybody on my watch.>

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina's head tilted to the side. The smile she'd held in kindness to the who was an ally faded to a frown of annoyance. Then, cold. She raised a hand, as if telling him to stop.

"Did loosing your old body make you so cold to those who shared your fate? I only asked for food. Blood. This is a medic camp, no? Surely there's blood on hand. Something to tide me over while I do what I came here to do. But you have the gall to say you'llstop me from eating someone like that was my goal? You in this weak little body of yours?" Anger grew. Too quick, at that. Alina stood, lowering her hand as she did. And the Force bent to her will. Pressure atop the boys shoulders, trying to force him back down.

"It's like you're in a dream, forgetting the hardships of your brethren just because you got a new body. Now apologize."

Kai Bamarri

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Shoved into his chair, Kai leaped back to his feet in a blazing fury. His gaze had grown so intense his dark eyes seemed to almost glow.

He had heard the reports. A creature has been murdering people in the camp, drinking their victims’ blood. It had to be Alina.

<I am not weak,> he said, the coldness of his tone belying a boiling anger just beneath the surface. <And I will not apologize!>

Thrusting out his hand, he blasted her with a wave of telekinetic energy.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Anger?"

Alina stood unmoving. Looming over the Padawan. What should have thrown her back never reached. No, worse. Her influence spread throughout the tent, oppressively shunting out the Force from around her. Not even his voice reached her any longer. The moment he stood in defiance, no, the moment he accused her of being the creature feasting on scraps, she'd gotten furious.

Her golden eyes narrowed as she took a step forward, trying to swallow him in that void.

"You dare to be angry? About what? How weak this human body is of yours? You chose it, didn't you!? And you're going to look down on me like you're something special? Unique?"

She stepped forward again. Faster this time. Swinging a fist right for his face in sheer, annoyed anger.

"You don't even use you're voice now that you have one! What's up with that!?"

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Not only did Alina appear shockingly unaffected by the blast, the very atmosphere around her seemed to grow oppressive. Kai’s eyes widened as he felt the Force being cut off—a truly horrible feeling for a being born from energy.

Her fist collided with his face, knocking him to the ground. Stunned, he tried to respond, but without the Force he couldn’t use telepathy. She had ironically forced him to speak with his voice.

“I hate talking,” he growled, licking the blood from his split lip. “You come to a refugee camp that’s been having trouble with a bloodsucking monster killing people, you can expect to raise a little suspicion.” His gaze darkened once more. “You just struck a nerve in me, sister. Didn’t you ever want to be normal? Are you really going to insult and degrade me because I chose to leave all the baggage that comes with being a Sithspawn behind? Or is this just jealousy on your part?”

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"For all my life all I wanted was to be normal. But jealous?" Alina straighted. Wiped off her knuckles as a wider, crueler grin took over her features. She reached down, moving to pick him up by his collar. Lift him right into the air.

"You can't even protect yourself like this. I'm pissed you think I'm the one responsible. So now I'm going to break your arms. But those don't heal so quick anymore, do they?"

 

[Kai Bamarri]

"Yeah. They don't."

In a last desperate attempt at fighting her off, Kai activated his lightsaber and slashed at the arm holding him up, hoping to burn right through the limb.

As soon as he was free, he took off running as fast as his broken leg would allow, yelling for help.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Do you remember what it was like to see things so clearly it was like they were moving in slow motion?"

Alina turned, spinning on a heel as Kai pulled his saber. And went to just throw him away. It didn't matter at this point. Whatever help he wanted, he could get it. The void dissipated as she stood straight again, her golden eyes scanning for him.

"You're a pathetic human now. Mortal. How are you ever going to be the Jedi you wanted to be?"

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Before he had a chance to slice off Alina’s arm, Kai found himself flying through the air, having been thrown away by the vampiress. He narrowly managed to deactivate his lightsaber and avoid hurting himself upon impact with the dirt outside the tent.

Pain thrummed through his already injured leg, so severe this time around that he thought he must have undone all the healing it had done in the hospital. He certainly couldn’t stand on it now.

No one had come to help despite his hollering. But at least the Force had been returned to him. He drew upon it for endurance.

"You're a pathetic human now. Mortal. How are you ever going to be the Jedi you wanted to be?"

<Plenty of Jedi are pathetic mortal humans. It’s all just a matter of training and bettering myself.>

Did he believe the words he was saying? Sort of. He was parroting what Iris had said to him, not speaking from the heart. But Alina didn’t know that. Unless she could “hear” the uncertainty in his telepathic “voice”...

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Yeah, they are. And I bet they tell themselves that. I bet they were telling themselves that when a monster came to Tython and ripped the moon from it's orbit. I bet they held hands and used each others strength to win." Alina stepped from the tent, rolling her shoulders. Cracking her knuckles. She was angry. So, so angry. Kai should've been the one to understand. Monsters need monsters to fight them. That's what they were. One fighting beside the Jedi, the other fighting to control the Sith. Did he even know what she had hoped for him?

Did she?

She paused, more in surprise at her own train of thoughts. Then got furious.

"Fuck that. What good is relying on the many to protect? How many lives have to be sacrificed? How much of a person needs to be lost? You were perfect. You could get hurt and not loose anything. How many of your Jedi friends can say the same? How many of them are scarred and broken? Now you're normal. Like all of them. And when you get caught alone-" She moved. Raised her hand to put her anger to use. An invisible grip to take hold of the injured leg, rip him from the ground by it.

"You die, painfully, to monsters."

 

[Kai Bamarri]

<I wasn’t perfect. I wasn’t even really a person. I was just a tool to be used!>

But she wasn’t listening. Too caught up in her dream of monsters fighting monsters and winning. Saving lives. What did she care about saving lives?

She reeked of death.

Agony shot up Kai’s leg as Alina picked him up, dangling him upside down. Blood began to rush to his head, adding to his discomfort.

<You underestimate me,> he snapped, though he was whimpering in pain. Lightning suddenly lashed the ground near Alina. The air tasted of metal and ozone.

He just wanted her to go away.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"And?"

The lightning struck, but Alina didn't so much as flinch. Kai wasn't aiming for her. Did he just want to scare her away? Did he hold back because they were friends? Her frown deepened as she swung her arm down. Dragging Kai by his leg for the ground. Break it, or worse, didn't matter. She was pissed, annoyed. Too many angry emotions popping through her head like fireworks.

"Peace is a lie. By being that tool, you could've spared people from ever knowing that truth. If you could've been a Jedi, who else of us could've been? Even as a tool you were a hope!" Were.

Ah. Were. The word struck a cord more with Alina than anything else. Her grin returned as she let him go. Walked forward. "But you still can be. It's not even Sithspawn. I can make you strong, fast. I don't care what you do with it, so long as you keep fighting the Maw. No corruption. No darkness. Just immortality and power." She held out a hand, her grin widening to an unhinged level.

"What do you say, kid?"

Kai Bamarri

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Kai grimaced soundlessly. He was in terrible pain, and yet her words were far more cutting than her manipulations of his broken leg.

He could sense the disappointment at the core of her anger. She had held him in higher esteem than he realized. A Sithspawn who stubbornly fought as a Jedi. He had beaten the odds, hadn’t he? Until he threw it all away for the sake of freedom and some misguided conception of purity.

There was nothing pure about him now, housed in a corpse’s flesh, addicted to the same drug that had evicted the previous tenant. All that he had was hope.

You can’t live forever on hope.

His face turning dark red from all the blood rushing there, Kai barely registered that Alina was making him an offer. He raised his head, his dark gaze dulled by impending loss of consciousness.

<Just kill me already,> he replied.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

".. What?"

Alina stared, blankly, at the former Sithspawn. The hold around his leg dissappeared as she instead stepped forward. Annoyance filled her eyes instead. Narrowed in contempt on Kai.

"You're not that naive. Sure, I kill you. But then you just get a new body, right? Or maybe that's what you're hoping for."

Kai Bamarri