First Reply Twice Bitten, That's It

[Alina Tremiru]

"No."

Alina turned, let the saber pass her by as she reached out to snatch Thelma's wrist with one hand, and punch the girl with the other. Anima fueled her body. Even a punch could be lethal with the sheer strength she had behind it.

"Is what you'd like me to say, right? A trail of bodies just brings attention. Do you think I'm some kind of idiot? It's easy to target fools like the one you wanted to bury. Why do you think he followed me in that alley you found him in? No one will miss scum like him, and I don't gave to deal with some holier than thou Jedi chasing me down. Or so I karking thought, huh?"

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

Thelma couldn't prevent her from grabbing her wrist, nor could she free herself from the Sangnir's superhuman grip. She turned her head in the nick of time; her fist clipped her cheek, leaving a painful bruise along her jaw.

"You’re no better than the people you kill. If they are deserving of death, so are you."

Quick as a whip, Thelma placed one foot on Alina's thigh, kicking off it and driving her other knee under her chin. Hopefully the acrobatic Ataru move would stun her into letting go.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Of course I'm better. They're food. That's all these people are. You think you're better just because you don't have to kill for it? It's annoyingly lame take, damnit. At least be original!" The knee struck, but it didn't send Alina back or reeling. She was fueled with her Anima, fueled with the strength of her most recent meal and then some. But if Thelma wanted to get away, Alina would oblige. By twisting to throw the smaller woman by the grasp she had on her wrist.

"Stop bothering me with your half assed convictions you spout like a trashy holovid!"

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

To a less patient person, Alina’s continuous mockery would’ve been infuriating. It was plain that she was delusional, blind to her own hypocrisy. She believed her own lies and excuses for her cruel and selfish actions, because to do otherwise would no doubt be unbearable.

Thelma didn’t get angry. She pitied this lost woman, even felt sorrow in her heart for her. But she couldn’t allow her to continue killing people.

Alas, her conviction didn’t translate into brute physical strength. Alina withstood the blow to her chin without budging, then twisted Thelma’s arm. Thelma cried out in pain as she was tossed away like a ragdoll.

She landed hard and rolled across the pavement. But still she got up, her dress torn and her skin scraped raw in several places. “I don’t think I’m better than you,” she said. "Why do you make value judgments of people? What makes one person more worthy of life than another?"

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

The glow of Alina's gaze faded some. Conservation. Using all of her Anima on this little Vampire would be quite the waste from what she could see. A lesser vampire, truly. Or perhaps she was just so weak because she hadn't fully embraced what she'd become. Something more. Though, that was if she even changed in the first place.

Too many species, truly.

"Why are you asking me that? I'm not the one who lets the bodies on this world go ignored. I'm just here to take advantage of it. Go queen to your Jedi if that's the hill you're going to die on."

Alina sighed before again just lifting a hand. Rather than lightning though, orange pooled between her fingers. She reached it out, letting the tether erupt for to try and catch Thelma and drain her of her life.

Anima was still anima, after all.

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

"Why are you asking me that?"

“You just said the people you kill are unworthy of life.” Thelma kept her distance. She had Alina’s attention now—was there any getting through to her? “You’ve decided that some people are expendable. Why? Because you can leave their corpses behind and no one will care? Who will care for you when you die?”

There was no cruelty or malice in her tone as she posed her question. She had been told for years that Alina was dead, yet here she was alive. Thelma had no idea that the Sangnir had in fact been deceased and resurrected only recently, so long after her demise.

The other vampiress continued to ignore her, deflecting her words. It was terribly frustrating, facing a philosophical opponent who was unwilling to engage with your ideas, but it couldn’t be helped. She couldn’t make Alina listen and understand.

“I’m not a Jedi anymore,” Thelma said softly, blocking the attempt to drain her of life. She had been eating properly ever since she left Coruscant, and was much stronger for it—especially in the Force. Still, she could only hold out for so long…

A ring of fire suddenly erupted around Alina. Thelma wasn’t responsible for the use of pyrokinesis. A third party had made itself known; a figure was emerging from a parked speeder nearby, walking closer. The flames began to close in, licking the Sangnir’s body.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Someone who was willing to rip me from the Nether."

Though, she wasn't a Jedi? Alina sighed. That explained why she was here, at least, as annoying as it was. "So, what, you're just bothering me out of a guilty conscious? Trying to use me to justify yourself and the fact you're no longer part of the order? No wonder you're wasting time spouting drivel like-"

Fire. Alina's expression changed completely from the sheer uninterested expression she'd been holding. Her eyes narrowed in focus before the tether she had dropped. And Force around her muffled. The flames barely got a spark before the void she created spread far and wide, much farther than how far she could make it before her death. Idle hands and unlimited time meant for a lot more practice.

"Whoever the fuck you are, I'm done here. Enjoy being a white knight."

Then she turned. She had no intention of spending any more time on this.

Thelma Goth

 

[Thelma Goth]

So Alina did die, but someone had brought her back? Even Thelma couldn’t help but groan irritably at this latest tale of ill-advised Sith resurrection.

Fire erupted from the pavement, distracting Alina, who rushed to put it out by using some sort of Force-voiding power. Thelma looked around in confusion, before her gaze settled on a figure stalking out of the darkness toward them. With his sharp teeth, pointed ears, and eyes that glowed in the dark, he was certainly another vampire, but his scent was unlike theirs. A different species. Thelma had seen him before in passing... on a completely different planet from Nar Shaddaa. Was he following her?

“A white knight?” the figure echoed Alina mockingly. “I just hate Sangnir. Your whole shitty race is so convinced of your superiority, yet you can’t even control your bloodlust. You give the rest of us vampires a bad name.”

A red light bloomed in his hand, then streaked toward her. The disruptor beam was on the lower end of intensity, coming from a mere pistol rather than a high-powered rifle, but still quite deadly. Thelma’s eyes widened, momentarily conflicted about the use of such a cruel weapon... before she drew her sonic pistol and started firing at Alina as well, both determined to send her back to the Nether where she belonged.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Racism, how fun."

Alina raised a hand, pulling up various objects as she walked away to catch the shots. The first dissolved. Ah, disruptors. Another object was pulled. Then a person. They'd been cowering nearby, but they were haphazardly used to block another of the shots. There were still people here, and the pair of would be justice doers were shooting. Hell, Alina just slipped into the now screaming crowd, smiling just a little as she tugged the Force to keep said people as a barrier. Then she was gone.