Aboard the Serith, en route to Korriban
Kurin Tonaal, Mahree Mis-Ede, Dashara Horizon
How many days had it been? Mahree had lost count. They all seemed to blend together - space travel didn’t really give good hints as to when the sun had risen or set, and being cooped up in a cell the entire time gave no possible way for one to see the sun set and the moon rise. It gave very little in the way of the meaning of life, too.
Stolen from her home, her mother slaughtered and their farms destroyed, Mahree was now a captive on her way to who knows where. The only indication she had received in the ways of travel were a prisoner transfer to a ship commanded by a Sith Inquisitor by the name of Kurin Tonaal. She could feel the ship move back and forth, indicating they were moving somewhere.
She didn’t speak to anyone. Sometimes it couldn’t be helped, for the Force had the ability to make one reveal their thoughts and speak words they did not wish. She ate, and slept, and ate, and grieved some. The cell didn’t leave much room for lying down and stretching out; so Mahree sat in a sort of fetal position, her face buried in her knees as arms pulled her legs to her chest.
She had hardly slept recently, the young girl too distraught and grieving to even try. Her mind finally caved though as she was under a light form of sleep when the doors to the cargo bay opened. Eyes opened at the sound of the doors, snapping her out of her dozing state. From her cell she saw one of the crew members carrying a smaller form in their arms. Not a moment was wasted before said form was placed into an adjacent cell, the energy field immediately forming a wall to prevent escape. Nothing was said between Mahree and the crew member before the doors were closed and darkness swept through the hold once more.
~|~
Dash's sleeping posture reflected her state of mind state. It was a habit developed from Nar Shaddaa, often to protect herself or look smaller. She curled into a ball as the woman dropped her off, sealing the prison.
Several minutes passed before she began to wake. Dash's mind began to take stock of her surroundings before she opened her eyes. They placed her on something hard and metal, the discomfort obvious to her. She checked to ensure where weight pressed into her figure. The vibro-rapier and her dagger were still there. Their weight gave her heart some comfort that she wasn't completely defenseless.
Hope was all she needed.
Her mind began to digest the information she had collected. From the last encounter to the merchant, it all filled her mind. Details began to slip through her fingers and fall into possible places.
Then the emotions hit her like a rock in the face. Her eyes snapped open and her figure began to sit upright. She flinched at the ache creeping through her muscles.
"Stunners are a foreplay I will never get use to..." She joked then turned to the source of what distracted her.
A young girl, no older than sixteen, sat in a huddled in her own identical cell. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness before she spoke again.
"You know, your mixed emotions are very distracting for me."
Hearing the girl speak, Mahree glanced over in her direction. She hadn't expected her to wake so quickly, nor to address her almost immediately. Mahree didn't say anything back, however, not yet.
The young girl felt it almost useless to do anything besides keep to herself.
Ever since her capture, Mahree's 'fighting spirit', as some would say, grew weaker and weaker the longer she was captive. She had tried fighting back, tried escaping from her first captor - the one that had killed her mother and had their farm, everything Mahree loved, destroyed. It was obvious that the young girl's attempt to escape had failed, both by her presence on Kurin's ship and by the visible and healing scar that ran down the right side of her head. From the crown of her head to her jawline - it wasn't the mark of a lightsaber, but rather a very sharp, claw-like wound that had pierced deep into her skin and was drug all the way from top to bottom.
So Mahree turned away from the girl, speaking nothing. Her eyes closed again in an attempt to doze back off as she had been.
You're going to be tons of help.Dash's mind dripped with annoyance before she decided to ignore the girl. If she needed information, she could get it pretty easily and at a later time. She bit her lower lip in thought as she rose onto her feet.
She tapped the floor. It gave a sound, metal thunk. Solid and she suspected, from the lack of scuffle marks, installed recently. There was little chance of any weakness in the structure there. Still she spend a good few minutes tapping on the entire ground to see if anything was loose. She had been wrong before.
Her attention turned to the top next. It looked exactly the same. Ignoring that fact, she decided to estimate how tall the cell was and reached for the top. It was about a foot or two taller than herself. Impossible to reach even on her tiptoes.
That won't work.
When her fingers approached the top, she had been watching it. It surged and released. That indicated it was drawing energy from a power cell. If she could short it out, it might allow her to exit. The main issue was how.
Dash once more glanced over to Mahree.
"How did you wind up here? Are you force sensitive too?" Her voice was gentle and kind, having a cheery feel to it.
It was a few, long, silent moments before Mahree even moved. She looked back over her shoulder, watching Dash for a moment before simply nodding.
Mahree spoke nothing as she turned back and rested her head on her knees again. Due to the nature of Dash's questions, it was clear that the nod indicated a 'yes' towards her being Force-sensitive.
"They really knocked the wind out of you, didn't they?" Dash commented as she resumed her examination.
Her hands rested on her hips and she twisted about to see if she could make out the cargo hold's contents. The light of the bars provided some illumination, but not much.
As she looked, she suspected the usual. Rations, fuel, and other small necessities for space travel to parts and tools. Her attention noted which box could’ve easily open while she debated on her options.
"You know, when I get out of here... do you want to come with me?"
"
If you get out." Mahree replied, not moving at all. "If they catch you, they might not seem so kind. I thought I could escape too, I almost got away. But I was mistaken." She spoke quietly, eyes closed as that memory of her captor came back. She gently ran fingertips over her scar, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm herself.
"You realize, with an attitude like that it only gives him power." Dash pointed out.
"Our... warden, isn't a monster. That much I can tell, but he's a challenge to my freedom. I refuse to give it up again." She smiled at the girl, then inhaled.
"Do you know how to mediate? It might help clear your head."
Mahree sighed, pushing her face further into her knees. "No, I don't." She said, her voice muffled by her clothing and legs. The girl knew very little about the Force. All she had managed was some simple telekinesis. Pushing and pulling, lifting and putting down. She didn't openly practice it, for being a Force-sensitive in Imperial territory was not always a welcome thing, depending on who you were talking to.
Dash's guilt jabbed at her. No, it did worse. Her guilt didn’t just poke, it stabbed her then it twisted about and sliced at her compassion. It was enough of a sympathy pain that she took a moment from her observations to address the girl. Gradually she crossed her legs and lower herself down, mindful of her weapon. She gestured for Mahree to face her.
"Get yourself comfortable as possible first. Next thing, my name is Dashara. What's yours? Just the first one will do."
Mahree spent a few long moments deciding if she wanted to listen or not. She just wanted peace, silence. She wanted to be left alone to wallow in her thoughts.
Finally the younger girl turned, eyes opening and legs pulling away from her chest as she looked to this other girl, to Dash.
Mahr took in a deep breath as she watched Dash, matching her sitting position.
"I'm Mahree." She said quietly, trying her best as she put a weak smile on her face.
"That was a good first step and pretty name too. All right, let's see if I can remember how to do this. Usually I hate sitting in this stiff posture, but there's nothing I can do about it."
Dash would just be laying on her stomach and letting her emotions swirl her into her comfort zone. She couldn't do this with Mahree. The girl was an obvious wreck and it would likely come out more negative then positive.
For a split second, Dashara hoped their little mediate might poke the Sith. Enough to create some discomfort. With how he reacted to her emotions, there was more likely evidence that it wouldn't bother him at all.
She inhaled then relaxed. "My friend told me to inhale then exhale. Focus on your breathing. The movement of your chest, how your lower stomach moves and the pace. Don't let your mind drift from those things."
Dash watched Mahree. She wanted to make sure the younger girl followed the instruction and not fall asleep. She admitted it had happened a few times and she earned a giggle from Neith over it.
Mahree chose not to say much as she listened to Dash's instruction. She listened instead, focusing on her breathing as instructed, trying not to let her mind wander.
Trying not to think of her slaughtered mother, of the farm she grew up loving - in flames and destroyed in a few more minutes. Running to evade her captor, the fight that ensued. Forced onto the ship, held captive for days on end. Her wrists bonded, the wound on the side of her head stinging and aching.
Mahree's face contorted, accurately reflecting her discomfort and fear as her mind ran through those memories on repeat. Tears started to run down her face as she felt stuck, drowning in her thoughts.
Dashara instinctively flinched at the rising emotions pounding away at her. Great, she thought bitterly, girl experienced some trauma. She gritted her teeth against the rush. This would require a little help from her.
"All right, let's stop that in its tracks." Dash stated as she countered the raging storm with her own dose of positivity.
Mahree would feel a tingling start to crawl across her churning mind. It was warm, soft and pleasant. It spread like water into parched earth, flowing down into her core. Dash regretted it was a slow effect, but it was a balm over a burn wound. A temporary relief until Mahree could find her own.
The girl took a deep breath as she heard Dash's instruction. Her eyes opened, she could feel a cold sweat on her forehead in mere moments. Her mind tingled suddenly as feelings of calmness and peace surged through her body. Mahree took another deep breath before closing her eyes again.
"Okay… what next then." she asked, her voice wavering as her emotions danced around in her head.
"Do you have any happy memories? We're going to try another method, my favorite one." Dash asked, still retaining her empathy.
"Um, yea… yea I have a couple." Mahree replied, nodding her head, mostly as an affirmation to herself before the young girl's eyes closed again.
“Focus on how they made you feel. Not the actual memory, but the positive emotion that came from it.”
So Mahree did just that.
The young girl, eyes closed, recalled the first time many years ago she had learned she was Force-sensitive. Despite living near Imperial territory, and knowing very well where Force-sensitives went if the Jedi or Sith picked them up. Her mother had been so happy, had encouraged Mahree to keep working at it. Her mother had wanted Mahree to grow strong, the young girl was talented and her mother wanted nothing but the best.
Soon, fond memories filled Mahree's mind, effectively calming the girls nerves and helping her mind and body to calm down and reflect more positivity… and hope.
"Can you hold onto it? That feeling? Let it fill you to the core and be your center?" Dash hoped the girl could, it would allow her to feel less anxious about letting go of her empathy.
"Yea… I- I think I can." Mahr said, her eyes closed tight as she thought long and hard on the memory, trying her hardest not to let a find memory of her mother turn into something of negativity and grief by thinking about her death.
"Now what do I do?"
“Keep it, and slowly relax. If the memory became hard to keep focus on, turn your attention to the emotion. This can be anything from love of a parent to your first sensual experience. Just focus on that sensation. I’m going to pull away my empathy and let you take the reins. Ready?”
"I think so…" Mahree said quietly, nodding both to herself and to Dash. She focused hard on the emotion the good memories brought, pulling them closer to her core and holding them steady.
She started to feel happier, hopeful. The fear and dread and grief that had overcome her ever since her capture was slowly being drowned out by positive emotions.
Dash withdrew her empathy. The positive emotions were a much needed relief compared to the toxic ones.
"Isn't that so much better?" Dash chuckled.
A soft, gurgling interrupted her thoughts and caused her peer down at her middle. She was hungry. It was no surprise since the sith's pursuit forced her to skip a few stops, including meals. What she wouldn't give for some nerf jerky right now.
"A little bit, I think." Mahree said, smiling a little as she held onto the good memories and the emotions that followed. She heard the sounds of a hungry stomach coming from Dash's cell, one eye opened to look her way before her head and the other eye followed.
"They might be bringing another meal soon… I don't remember the last one. I haven't really been hungry lately…"
"They might be bringing another meal soon… I don't remember the last one. I haven't really been hungry lately…"
"I hope so. I haven't eaten decently since three days ago. It's hard to replenish your rations when you're being chased." Dash glared at the security camera, considering her next goal.
She inhaled then continued, hoping to distract herself.
"Since being brought, what have you learned?"
~|~
Kurin sat in the conference room on the opposite side of the ship, watching several of the security feeds now that his cargo were both awake. He would let them speak for a while first. It might provide him additional information.
It seemed the last prisoner was trying to teach the first about meditation. Useful, if it had not been for the problem that it was the weaker Jedi variant. A user of that variant would suffer hard at the Academy. Unnecessary suffering. He heard one of them mention not having eaten properly in several days. That would not do. He had no plans on releasing them, but he would not starve them.
He had a few suitable meals prepared then carried them into the cargo hold. No doubt the feisty one was up to some sort of mischief, if her previous words were anything to go by.
~|~
"Nothing really," Mahree began, adjusting her position on the floor as she leaned back against the side of her cot. "The first Sith who took me mentioned Korriban - but that's all of what I've heard. I know it's not much, I'm sorry." Mahree said, looking up to Dash apologetically, one of her hands subconsciously tracing the healing wound along the side of her head.
Dash nodded, but she wasn't pleased by the information given. It wasn't very useful. She needed to teach the girl some quick and dirty tips about intelligence collection. Dash adjusted her legs, stretching them out as she spoke.
"Alright, I'm going to ask some specific questions. I need to remember as much detail as you can. I'll try to narrow down the details I need, but it's all right if you don't recall. We'll figure it out later."
She waited a moment, then began.
"Did you see the ship when you were brought onboard? Can you describe it? From your statement, I can easily conclude this guy didn't catch you like me. That means you were transferred which means I can get a better idea of the ship's make and model."
Dash’s voice was low and quiet when she spoke, her eyes aware of the camera now.
"Mm, I don't remember much. The wings make up most of the length, but I know it's not a very big ship. The main hold isn't very large either. I saw it before we turned and they brought me here." Mahree said, trying her best to describe the shape as she thought about what she had seen.
Dash leaned in, listening intently to the specs. She frowned, not enjoying hearing they were on what she assumed was an Imperial warship. She exhaled her frustration then focused on Mahree again.
"That doesn't sound promising. What can you tell me about the individuals on the ship? How many crew, gender ratio, and if there appeared to be more?" She needed more information.
"There was one taking a corridor to the bridge that I saw. And one brought me to the cargo hold. That makes two, I'm not sure how many more. I think it was a woman walking to the bridge. And another woman who brought me to the cargo hold." the young girl explained, keeping her voice quiet as she tried her best to recall what she had seen.
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