liriael (liriael) wrote in thegalaxy, @ 2016-04-20 09:06:00 |
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Entry tags: | !locale: naboo, issan ren, liriael d'lander |
Habit forming
Who: Liriael D'lander & Issan Ren.
What: Issan follows up on her master's orders to track Liri, and gets a face full of fist.
Where: Naboo.
When: Following the events on Coruscant and this holonet post.
Rating: PG; some violence
Issan was glad for the holonet contact with Glasya; one, for the knowledge that she wasn't simply some First Order lackey, which was what her current assignment made her feel, and for the opportunity to practice some of her spellcraft. The idea that she could prove her coven's worth to him both delighted and demeaned her; her creation of the group had never solely been for him. But she could not suppress the desire to return to Nar Chunna, to reconnect with her students and truly see what her aunt had managed to make of them.
First, though, she had one quick item to tick off her to-do list. She lingered near the docking area, waiting for the return of the ship Liri apparently owned. Issan believed this to be a quick and simple affair; even if Glasya had made previous contact with the woman (and Issan could well imagine it hadn't been favorable to her sometimes-nemesis), Liri had never posed much of a threat. Issan wanted this to be dealt with and over before it began. Varying her path, Issan made eyes at several of the security guards, forever waiting to be informed of the Vagabond's return. Finally, her persistence paid off; the ship returned under the cover of night.
Imagining Liri licking her wounds from whatever had previously transpired, Issan took it upon herself to find a watchpost near the ship's parking spot, waiting for Liri to appear. She could have easily sent out a network of people to do this job for her, but she was going to handle it personally. After all, she thought with no small amount of amusement, Liri deserved that much.
When Liriael appeared, her very look seemed to confirm all of Issan’s expectations. Her blond hair was pulled into an unkempt ponytail, her jacket settled over a wrinkled and engine-grease streaked tunic. She wore gloves, but she was peeling them off as she walked down the gangplank, her boots making a little noise across the metal. Her dark blue pants had a tear in them, at the knee. If Issan peered, she could see that Liri’s eyes were reddened, bloodshot. Overall, she didn’t present much of a picture.
Another disembarked with her; Caine. Their words were too low for Issan to catch, but he departed soon after, looking grim. The hatch remained open and Liri paused only to check one of the docking rings; then she palmed the hatch closed and headed off in the opposite direction as her crewmate.
Issan waited a few beats, letting the second crewmember distance himself from her quarry. Then, with light footsteps that seemed nearly nonexistent, Issan began to follow Liri wherever she was heading. If she were to make a clandestine meeting, there was no better circumstances for it; but Issan felt the woman was probably headed to her quarters, to rest and take stock of what had happened. For a moment, she felt jealous that Liri had the opportunity to do so, but smothered the emotion before it could spike too high. Her dark clothing made it easy to stay out of sight, and though she walked slowly, she still managed to keep time with Liri's step.
For a little bit, it seemed that Liri was utterly unaware of the shadow she had picked up. She headed unconcernedly away from the docks, then away from the center of Theed, apparently headed somewhere on the outskirts. The darkness was deeper here, allowing for Issan to blend in even better and remain unseen behind her. Liri’s steps were determined, and she tugged her coat a bit closer around her as she walked down one street and then another. After roughly ten minutes, she had reached a residential area outside the quiet, shut down marketplace, and disappeared down an alley beside the building.
Issan continued to follow at her own pace, attempting to track Liri via her Force abilities amid the dotting of mental voices throughout the area. Even if there was no one up and about, there were still silent life signs everywhere.
She turned the corner, as calm as ever, believing she had the situation completely under control.
She was wrong.
Liri’s hand came out of nowhere, wrapping itself around Issan’s throat and lifting the other woman nearly off her feet as she was pressed back against the wall. The Malastarian’s grip was fierce, and her eyes burned even in the dark, her breath rapid and angry. “Issan Vox!” she ground out, through gritted teeth. “You just can’t leave well enough alone, can you?” Liriael seemed ready to crush her larynx, but hesitated. “Why are you following me? Because you should know, there’s someone else on your path as well.”
Issan struggled for breath to answer Liri's sudden barrage of questions. She forced her hands to her sides, unwilling to give even the slightest sign of weakness. Instead, she forced a smile to her face, as though the whole assault was just a joke.
"Can't an old friend simply make sure you get home safely? Really, D'lander, you're getting paranoid," she commented back hoarsely, her throat struggling to push the words out. She immediately wondered just what Glasya had done to Liriael back on Coruscant, but quickly covered the thoughts before they grew too deep.
“Old friend?” Liri snorted. “I’m sure that old friends like to break ribs and steal things and otherwise make each other’s lives difficult?” All the same, she let go of Issan, stepping back several feet, although her aggressive stance had not changed. “Fine, old friend. I’m not kidding around. One of my crewmates, Dee, took off, and someone from the First Order is trying to locate her. And you.” For all that Liri’s expression was distraught, there was a glimmer of actual concern in her tone. For Issan. “Someone you don’t want to mess with, Issan. It’s not a joke.”
Issan restrained her hand from checking her throat, but a look of disconcertion crossed her face all the same. She quickly covered it with apathy, though a hint of a smile still played around her lips. One eyebrow quirked in mock curiosity.
"Aw, you're worried about me? You really shouldn't be. Whatever you find worrisome, put it right out of your little mind."
Liri gave a disbelieving laugh, with no humor in it. “Always too tough, aren’t you? I should have guessed.” She shook her head. “Tell me about the Knights of Ren, Issan. Why do they want you, and Dee?” Liri’s eyes narrowed. “In fact, maybe I should have come and asked you first. You’ll always tied up in these messes.”
"I'm flattered that you would think of me first," Issan started, "but I really have no idea what you're talking about. I don't even know this Dee person. Was she a friend of yours?" Images of Dee flashed through her mind, and a small note of realization flashed across her face as Issan connected the dots between Dee's previous employment and the captain Issan had told her not to speak with. She needed to put this to bed, immediately.
"I really must be turning heads if the First Order is looking for me." She flipped the subject. "I suppose I should ask you why you were consorting with denizens that they'd be interested in."
If Liri hadn’t been watching Issan like a hawk for any quick movements, she might have missed the brief recognition. She didn’t trust Issan; one only needed their ribs broken like that once to learn the lesson. But her response rang of lies. Without thinking, Liri delved directly into Issan’s thoughts, something she had never imagined herself capable of before. But there was something unpleasant and cold roiling in Liri’s gut, and she felt as if it was all coming to a head.
“You know her,” she breathed, and then suddenly she was on Issan again, her grip even tighter than last time. “You know her and you know what happened!” This time, her tone was thunderous with anger and…..betrayal? “All this time….you.” Liri’s throat worked, as she tried to force her words out. “I always thought that if circumstances had been different, you and I would have been friends, but…” She shook her head. “Do you know Glasya? Is he there in your mind as well, lurking?” Deeper, she went into Issan’s mind, ignoring the warning bells in her own head, urging her to stop.
Issan pushed back against Liriael's intrusion, ejecting the woman from her mind; she followed the mental defense with a physical one, shoving the taller blond a step back. A wicked grin creased her face.
"To be perfectly honest, I've never much cared for dissembling. At least now we can be honest with each other." She canted her head, studying Liriael like a bird might a worm. She kept away from the question of Glasya, eager instead to rip open the fresh wounds Liri was presenting to her.
"And I don't know which would sting worse -- the idea that I took Dee away from you, or the fact that she picked me?"
Although the push sent Liriael back one step, it certainly wasn’t far enough. Not by a long shot. She didn’t reply with words, where she might have before. All the anger and grief and pain that had been churning inside her was seeking an outlet, and she felt the power come to her fingertips easily, so easily that it should have scared her. Instead, her expression simply got colder.
Without warning, she lashed out, her palm flat, and the dark energy of the Force slammed into Issan, driving her into the wall as if a mag-train had hit her.
Issan was splayed flat against the wall like an insect stuck through with a pin. She struggled to move her head up, and then her whole being collapsed to the ground. Pushing herself up to her knees, Issan glanced up toward the now impossibly tall Liriael; hair cascaded over her vision, but her voice was amused.
"Is that all, Liriael? No soft words, no diplomacy? That's quite unlike you." She seemed to struggle for a moment, but it was merely a decoy; she sprang to her. feet by pushing off the ground with her own Force abilities, and darted to the side, needing to get out of Liri's direct line of fire.
“You're not going anywhere,” Liri growled, and reached out just like Glasya had, grabbing Issan’s shoulder with the Force, twisting as she pulled. “You tell me what you know!” She followed her grip, her fingers seizing in Issan’s clothing, as her mind drove into the other woman’s, searching for images of Liri’s tormenter.
Issan struggled to keep moving forward, but the opposite forces her body was being subjected to forced her shoulder from its socket with a wet pop. The wave of pain that washed over her made it easier for Liri to impose a firmer grip on Issan's person. Despite all of that, Issan couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of the whole situation.
"I see...you learned...some new tricks," she teased, pushing a hand up to grab a fistful of Liri's own shirt. She pulled down, bringing another surge of pain from her injured shoulder, and pushed her knee up toward Liri's stomach.
For some reason Liri couldn’t explain, the idea that Issan dared to fight back just fueled whatever it was that drove her. Something buzzed at the back of her mind, something shrill, and she pushed it away as she blocked Issan’s knee with a savage strike down with her hand, then grasped both of Issan’s shoulders and bore her to the ground, landing atop her, knees on either side of Issan’s waist. Her face was twisted with rage and grief. “Tell me,” she ground out, her mind again stabbing into Issan’s, like a cudgel rather than Glasya’s elegant knifepoint search. Dee’s image floated atop Issan’s mind, but it didn’t sate Liri’s ragged search; she pressed until a certain image, black robes and dark reds, came at her like a vision seen at the corner of her eye.
“You’re one of them,” she breathed, harshly, her eyes going wide. “You’re a Knight.”
Issan bit her tongue in the process of Liri's takedown, and blood stained her teeth as she laughed again at her opponent's attempts to carve out her mind like a day old melon. She stopped struggling under Liri's weight, instead merely lifting her head to meet Liri's gaze.
"Took you long enough to figure that one out," she replied, her hands grasping dirt. The pain of her dislocated shoulder hitting the ground had made her eyes roll back in her head, but Issan was no stranger to difficulties; she pushed through it, and instead grazed over Liri's mind.
"Oh you poor thing," she teased. "Did you lose another one of your friends? You just can't make them stick, can you? I think that says something more about you than about them, doesn't it? I wonder what, though..." She grinned widely, her red crescent of a mouth lending true deviousness to her words. "Poor little lost Liri. No one to help you with your abilities, let alone help you fly that piece of shit you call a ship."
“Shut up,” Liri growled. Issan didn't need to pull the images of Cassie to the forefront of Liri’s mind; they rose to the surface on their own, accusatory and lurid. Issan’s face swam in Liri’s vision as hot tears came to her eyes, but the anger was fast on the heels of the guilt. Swelling like an eager wave, the rage poured over that, commingling into something dark and terrible. “You and he,” she choked out, her throat constricted, “you destroy everything good. Everything.” Liri’s hands burned, as she connected her fist with Issan’s jaw. ”Everything.” She wasn’t even aware anymore of her actions, as they were deep into fighting, Liri blocking Issan’s attempts to get free, and beating her senseless.
Stars exploded in Issan's vision, her teeth grinding to the side as her head was thrown back into the ground. She struggled to swallow, and pushed on.
"Maybe it's everything you touch, Liri," she goaded, nearly unable to stop herself. It was a rare treat, seeing someone like Liriael lose control. Issan had to admit that she wanted to see how far the woman would go. "Did you ever think about that? Blame me all you want, but that won't change anything about you."
“Me?” The words dug deep, created another wound, but the anger attempted to douse it, to keep her going. “I didn’t prey on rift travelers, those who have nothing to do with our world, who don’t deserve to be punished…” Again, she brought her fist down into Issan’s face; her hand almost slipped, it was so covered in blood. Issan did nothing to fight against the blows, her face contorting under Liri's strikes. The cheekbone she'd repaired after having it cracked by Kylo Ren broke again, this time in two places. Her left eye socket cracked, and her nose broke as well. “Don’t deserve to be tortured...”
Again, Cassie’s still face exploded into Liri’s vision, but it wasn’t the anger that followed it. Instead, she heard Cassie’s words to her, echoing. I just want to get away from all of that, she had said, with that sad, sheepish smile. Liri went still, almost jerking to a stop, her fist raised in the air to bring it down on the Knight once more. In the back of her mind, that keening noise swelled, resolved itself into a scream.
She was screaming at herself to stop. Abruptly, she shoved away from Issan, coming to her feet unsteadily.
Issan remained on the ground, staring upward to the dark night sky -- or at least, what little she could see of it. Her nails were dug into the dirt, her face a horror produced by Liriael's rage. Slowly, she brought her gaze down to her attacker, and smiled; red teeth bared in an antagonistic gesture.
"How do you feel about yourself now?" Using the arm that wasn't injured, Issan pushed herself slowly to sitting, her hoarse voice wobbly as it eked out words. She spit, a red splotch hitting the ground not too far away.
"Did I deserve that, D'lander? I had nothing to do with whatever happened to your friend, but I guess that doesn't matter, does it?"
“You’ve done enough,” Liriael spat back, although she was staring down at her bloodied hands, the anger misplaced. Looking up, her eyes were red again, although this was perhaps from more than the emotions coursing through her. “Over the years, you’ve done enough.” Her breath came, shuddering, the horror at what she had done finally registering, even as she felt her connection to the Force twisting, corrupting, and she tried to shut it down, close it away. She couldn’t let go of the rage; it refused to be released. “Maybe I owed you for breaking nearly all of my ribs.” No, no….this wasn’t the way. But she couldn’t even remember, right then, what the right path felt like.
Closing her bloodied hands into fists, she forced them down, to her sides, away from Issan. Even looking at the damage she had done, her body itched to do more, and it was scaring her, terror warring with the anger. “Stay away from me, Issan Ren,” she finally spoke, her tone scraped raw. “I don’t want to kill you.” She knew as she said it that it was true; even knowing what Issan was, she didn’t want to end her life. But the desire to visit that pain on her remained. “I hope I never see you again.”
Turning away, Liri forced her feet to start walking, to leave, to keep her back turned on the Knight and not look back.
Another laugh bubbled up, following Liri as she distanced herself from the crime scene. Issan remained in the dirt, watching Liri leave; rather than resenting her departure, or even the attack itself, she found herself considering the woman in a different light. There was potential there, a darkness that she hadn't suspected the blond capable of.
But she had other worries to attend to. Getting slowly to her feet, she pulled at her arm and rolled her shoulder, allowing the socket to pop back into place with a sickening sound that sent a fresh wave of pain coursing through her form. Issan shivered, and then began a slow walk back to her own ship; she was done with Naboo, and had other matters to attend to on Nar Chunna.