[center]~| Day 2,  01:03 - 01:25 GST |~
~|Kaggath - Sith Quarters: Zanna and Jayda|~[/center]

Zanna woke up immediately to the sounds of someone moving about in the room. Opening her eyes, one hand already going to her lightsaber, she saw it was Jayda. Slowly getting up and moving about. [i]Damn the Zabrak and their pride.[/i] She thought wearily, considering just letting Jayda go. But she knew she couldn’t just risk Jayda pushing herself too far. Sitting up she spoke softly, watching the Zabrak. “You really shouldn’t be standing after losing that much blood. Much less preparing to go wherever you plan to go. You can barely stand, by the Force. It’s not a sign of weakness to realize your limits and to know when you need to rest and when you need to push yourself.”

Jayda was shivering, inside and out, her mind drenched in more questions than her body covered in sweat. It was poisoning her.  All thanks to Sish, she needed to collect and calm her mind, there was only one thing that give her peace. Movement mediation, physically gathering her conflicting emotions then storing them away for another time.

The only problem was her body was failing to obey. Jayda's body stumbled a bit and immediately her hand came out, steadying herself against the bed fame. Her knuckles were pure white in their grip when she heard Zanna's voice ring out nearby. The Zabrak's head turned to spot the Red Sith sitting upon another cot, her body postured in a nonthreatening manner, as her legs settled over the edge and used it like a chair. It was then that Jayda's eyes drifted downward. She glimpsed the makeshift patches and blue traces of the goo lining the uncovered wounds, realizing slowly what had occurred.

Jayda edged from the bed frame towards Zanna. "I've suffered much worse from him. At least this time, I wasn't left hanging on the Kashyyyk forest floor." 

She closed her eyes, fighting the edging vertigo, as she added. "Now why are you here?" 

“Congratulations. The only problem is, this isn’t Kashyyyk. You’re in your room with someone who doesn’t want to kill you. I think you can afford to stop pushing yourself. Blood loss isn’t helpful, and I suspect that some of the other Sith will take Nyiss’s relaxation of the rules as ‘open season.’ If you walk out there, they’ll smell blood in the water. And when the swarm you, how will you kill him then?” Zanna replied, eyeing Jayda’s state. [i]I could kill her now.[/i] 

“We had an agreement, remember? I get to sleep in your room and not have to worry about people stabbing me in the spine, you train me in lightsaber combat, and I teach you how to better use the Force. Besides, I overheard Sish’s...lesson to you, and got a little too close. After Sish left, I managed to actually apply helpful goo to your wounds rather than leaving them to their own devices. Then I went to sleep. If you had died, then who would have taught me lightsaber combat and [i]not[/i] killed me?”

"You should never had gotten close. You're lucky he didn't do much worse." Jayda growled as she noted the patch over Zanna's cheek. 

Her eyes lingered over the likely to scar injury before her vision became blurry and she closed her lids, her stomach curled. Immediately her balance tilted backwards causing her arm to whip out and catch herself, stopping her path to plant her face into the floor. Knees threatened to give out from under her making her hiss internally at the weakness being shown. She knew if Sish been present, he would've sent her through a wall because of this. 

She huddled out a sarcastic reply. "The trouble can't be worth teaching a simple lightsaber combat. You would've gotten sloppy if you managed to end up in having to engage someone." 

“I’m well aware how lucky I am.” Zanna gave a slight smile, before her eyes widened with alarm and she shot to her feet as Jayda nearly hit the ground. “By the Force Jayda swallow your pride and get back in bed.” Zanna took a careful two steps towards her, ready to catch the Zabrak should she fall again. [i]And here I thought pride would have been weeded out under Sish.[/i] The Red Sith couldn’t help a slight chuckle at the sarcastic reply. “I have a weakness. One of these days this weakness is going to kill me. You’re the only one I trust to not kill me while helping me fix this weakness, because you need me to help you fix your weakness. So yes, the trouble is worth it. I like living.”

"Then why encourage it? How, for complete certainty, can you so sure I won’t kill you one day? I won’t get tired of trying to overcome [i]your[/i] weakness then end your life in a sparring accident?" Jayda hissed out, her mind trying to right herself. Her voice sounded strained with a mixture of anger and pain. 

“I don’t. But I do know you don’t like [i]your[/i] weaknesses. And I do know that I can beat you through your weakness, and you know it too. Any ‘accidents’ I’ll be able to stop with my own Force.” Zanna retorted.

[i]Damn it…[/i] She internally cursed, feeling her lids become heavy, as her knees began to wobble underneath her. Her fingers tightened their grip to steady herself, determined to manage her own weakness, baring her teeth through it. All the time she continued to ignore Zanna’s reasoning. She wasn’t about to let Sish’s damage win and her mind was too stubborn to merely give up, her feet instinctively inching toward the door. Her emotions swirled in a chaotic energy about her thoughts causing her no sense of peace or control. All she got from it was pure, unmanageable rage at the thought he might win. 

At seeing the movement outside her vision corner, Jayda’s hand jerked upward. A surprisingly powerful force energy caught the fellow apprentice’s figure and pushed her back a few feet, the Zabrak casting a warning glare in the Red Sith’s direction. Her voice was thick with leashed anger when she warned Zanna off. “Don’t push me… he’s not won yet. And this...energy isn’t for you, so make me use it.”    

Zanna skidded back before her own Force came up and pushed back. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but she merely prepared herself better. She wasn’t going to let the damn Zabrak get herself killed because of stubborn pride. She tried a different tactic. 

“The Zabrak are a warrior race, right? Warriors know when they need to rest, and when they need to push themselves. When you’re tired, you push yourself. When you’re sore, you push yourself. When you’re about to fall over and can barely walk without falling you rest. [i]Think[/i] Jayda. You’re smarter than him. Stop thinking like a brute and start thinking like a warrior. If you push yourself like this, unnecessarily, you’re liable to kill yourself. And then where will you be?”

Jayda refused to let herself fall. Though her knees were clearly about to give and her bitterness clawing at her mind, needing an outlet she was being refused. Zanna didn’t understand she [i]couldn’t[/i] take the mellow or relaxed form of mediation. Her fingers dug into the bedside and pulled herself upright, her legs twisted into water within while threatening to bring her back down. “I might be smarter but that hasn’t done me much good. It didn’t in Tattooine and it hasn’t here. Besides, you don’t understand and I don’t need your help.” 

The Zabrak took another step toward the door against Zanna’s advice.   

Zanna took a step, before rolling her eyes in exasperation and pausing. She didn’t want to fight the Zabrak, certainly not in as a public manner as the rage wafting off of her would seem to suggest. “You’re right. I don’t understand Jayda. But that’s because you haven’t told me anything.” Her mind stored that Tattooine was significant away for later, as she continued. “Everyone needs help at times. It’s one of the Sith’s faults, that we are so ambitious, so solitary that we often can’t trust each other beyond mutual hate. At the very least do whatever you plan to do here. That way, your weakness won’t be there for everyone and their friends to see, and I’ll be able to help you should you collapse. Fair?"

"Even if you knew, it won't make a damn difference...unless you can use it or it benefits you. Neither it will do.” Jayda growled.

She foolishly tried to increase her pace only to have  her knee immediately give out and pulled her attention to her sudden drop. The knee hit the ground hard, sending pain into her focus,  causing her to bit back a cry.  She was hanging by her arm now and unable to get back up. One of the bandages had started to drown itself in red, clearly ripped open again by the her recklessness. Jayda reached her hand to stifle the leak as she gently lowered herself to the floor. 

Zanna sighed, walking carefully towards Jayda. “You’re barely going to make it outside the door. Much less to where ever your going. I’m already well aware you’re about as threatening as a child right now. [i]I[/i] won’t do anything to take advantage of it. But the other Sith don’t have anything to keep them in check. You think Jakali won’t  use this? Or the other human? Lord Jewel? Stay here and do whatever you need to, but [i]think[/i] for a moment and realize you’re only making your situation worse by going outside.”

Jayda’s head whipped up, her eyes narrowed and teeth bared in a low growl. Her nose snorted at the mention of Jakali, knowing he would no longer be trouble to anyone, her arm tensed while she gently edged into her bed. Her other hand feeling the wetness seep into her hand and lowered her gaze to see the damage. Her palm was stained red from her own blood. The bandage had already started to peel away and come loose into her hand, the wound still tinted blue. She slowed her breath, careful not to slip into a meditative state, when she tried to stop the wound’s bleeding. “Unless Jakali could come back from the dead, he can’t harm anyone. You were lucky to escape Sish because he ended up taking his wrath out on me before he got to you and killed the foolish apprentice. “ 

Zanna blinked, her only physical reaction to the news of Jakali’s death. Mentally, she was ticking  off another enemy killed and removing him from consideration of her plans. “He wasn’t careful enough around a Sith Lord.” Zanna said simply. “I was.”

The Zabrak clutched her hand tightly to her side to ease her wound’s bleeding. Knowing she was losing more by the minute, her “Shit…”     

The Red Sith raised an eyebrow, sarcasm entering her voice. “Oh, have you finally realized walking around and reopening your wounds is a bad idea? And here I thought you were going to ignore all those pesky and annoying things, like blood loss and your distinct lack of being in any condition to do anything, in favor of sheer stubbornness.” Zanna held up her hands, and the nearly empty jar of blue goo flew into one while bandages flew into the other.

“Shall I or can you do it yourself?”

“I can do it myself.” Jayda nearly snapped, her tongue held back as she tried to rise upright. 

The attempt failed like the others. Her foot crumbled underneath her and the zabrak knee hit the bed frame, bring a sharp pain for her trouble when she slammed into the floor. It hurt like hell. Her hand, covered in blood, reached out to stop her and all it managed was a bloody smear on the mattress’ surface. She was down on her back and breathing harder, unable to purge her mind of the dizziness. Not the best place to be in when she was this weak, her instincts screamed at her, as she tried to rise back up.  

Zanna sat crosslegged across from Jayda, sliding over both the bandage and the blue goo to the Zabrak with the Force. She didn’t want to get too close to Jayda when she was dizzy and liable to lash out at anything. Now that she was certain Jayda wasn’t going anywhere to do anything stupid, she felt a slight amusement at the Zabrak’s struggles. [i]How many times will that happen, I wonder, before she gives up?[/i] Zanna thought idly, watching Jayda attempt to climb back up again. “If you keep trying that, you’ll lose more blood and not be able to patch your reopened wound. Soon to be wounds, at this rate.” She noted.

Jayda frowned at the Red Sith's amusement as she passed over the goo and bandages. The Zabrak's eyebrow raised in question and natural suspicion, her hand cautiously reached for the items. Still lying on her back, she took a few cleansing breaths when her fingers clasped  the hard surface and dragged nearer. 

Gingerly she pulled herself upright into a sitting position, Jayda paused to look at her wound. Her hand pulled away sticky and red. Her wound still bleeding profusely while she gritted her teeth through the pain. Removing the flimsy, soaked patch, she tossed it to the side then hoisted the goo in front of her. Mentally she was weighing the risk.

Jayda popped the lid open and coated a little on her finger tips, smearing it over it. She flinched and hissed at the flaring ache she caused. The apprentice inhaled and braced herself again, tending to another wound. The bleeding had clotted well leaving her to place the bandages on them, a practiced skill since she was often left to tend her own wound then usually cared for. 

"How long have you been here?" Jayda asked through grinding teeth. 

A light, amused, smile crossed the Red Sith’s face at the Zabrak’s suspicion. She applauded Jayda for it, but found it funny how blatant she was about it. [i]You haven’t been in this world long, have you?[/i] “I assure you, it’s the same jar from before. Doesn’t even have anything added to it, if that’s what you’re worried about. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it while you were unconscious. It’s remarkably easy to break something important to someone’s breathing while they’re asleep.” With that disturbing comment, Zanna idly checked the time, mentally searching for when she had arrived. “Around five or so hours. I tended to your wounds and my own and then went to sleep. You woke me up as you struggled to get up and move around.”

"You should've just left after tending my wounds." Jayda growled, her attention aware of the wording used. 

She didn't like the fact that Zanna had been in a prime position to kill her and continued to patch herself up, tightly. Sish had made the same mistake once and she chased him halfway across the galaxy. He never made that error again. She chose to keep silent about it as she flinched when her fingers pressed too hard, her bleeding budded again, and pulled back her hand. Her eyes lowered then thudded her head back. Instead of closing the wound on her shoulder, she had made it worse in her distraction causing her to growl in frustration. She cursed in Zabrak quietly.

“Perhaps.” Zanna agreed, eyeing the Zabrak. “But then you’d be bleeding out on the floor and I’d be wide awake waiting for a Sith to try and kill me in my sleep. You’d be dead, and I’d be out of a teacher for lightsaber combat. All in all, it’s better that I was here, don’t you think?” She looked on in exasperation as the Zabrak made her wound only worse. It was almost as if she wanted to hurt herself more.“Would you like help? I’m going to assume no because of your stubbornness, but it really seems like you’re only making things worse.” She didn’t move towards Jayda, waiting for the Zabrak’s expected denial. 

Jayda's eyes were becoming difficult to keep open, weighing down over her sight. She was breathing heavier as she leaned further into the bed, feeling the weakness spread in her body. The realization partly worried her. It was a feeling she had only recalled a few times in her life and many times, she was close to dying. She couldn't die now. Not on this ship and certainly not before she killed Sish. 

"No... I can... Do it." Jayda stated frankly and again proved Zanna correct, though she couldn't lift her hands. 

“Oh by the Force you’re such a stubborn one. I wonder. Will you let pride kill you or will you give into sensibility?” Zanna smirked, watching as Jayda slowly began to pass out from the blood loss. Carefully she got up, walking towards Jayda. Once she was within arms reach, she picked up the forgotten bottle and dredged up the remnants of the blue goo and beginning to apply the alchemical substance to the Zabrak’s wounds. She ignored any of Jayda’s protestations, giving another amused glance at her unwilling patient, while waiting for the Zabrak to pass out.

When Jayda finally did pass out, Zanna breathed a sigh of relief, stopping in her movements. Critically, she examined the Zabrak’s broken body. “You’d better really appreciate this.” She muttered under her breath, hands above Jayda and moving in intricate gestures. The dark side grew in the room, though no more than if one was meditating with the dark side, as The Red Sith began to mutter in her native tongue. 

When she was finally done, breathing hard and exhausted, she used the Force to move Jayda’s unconscious body back onto her bed. Crawling tiredly into her own bed Zanna muttered aloud, “We’re both going to get large breakfasts, and then work on killing each other in the morning.”