It'll Be So Fluffy I'll Want to Die

[Aadya Drast]

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Lately Aadya had been spending much more time on Korriban, specifically in its various libraries. The literal metric shit ton of information available was almost intimidating, and she'd spent many nights burning the midnight oil reading and absorbing as much of it as she possibly could.

Most recently her fascination had been with the various kinds of beasts found throughout the wastes of Korriban. Especially the dog-like creature known as a tuk'ata. Long time guardians of Sith tombs, Aadya was intently interested in them and their intelligence. She'd always wanted her own pet but her family had been too poor to justify having another mouth to feed. Figuring this could be her first real chance, the young Drast had decided to go venturing out in the Korribanni wastes in the hope of finding and taming her own tuk'ata.

Deciding her best shot might be in one of the many tombs located on the planet's surface, Aadya decided to try one of the more derelict and ancient ones. It was less likely she'd run into any competing Sith looking to pilfer its contents, and she figured the easier it was to get inside the tomb, the more likely some tuk'ata had found their way in and made their lair there having been drawn by the darkside energies and the access to free food by way of curious acolytes.

As she approached the entrance, Aadya stopped for a moment to do a mental inspection of the gear she'd decided to bring. Her lightsaber of course, as well as some snacks in her pocket and a canteen hanging from her belt. No telling how long she might be in there, and there was always the chance she could use her own provisions to pacify one of the tuk'ata.

A frirend of heres named Ilyra was supposed to be meeting her here soon, the young Mirialan also being interested in getting her own tuk'ata. Aadya had met her in one of the libraries, and despite their mild age discrepancy she found the girl's potential friendship comforting. Hopefully she was of the more punctual persuasion, as Aadya was eager to get the expedition started.

@Nefieslab

 

[Ilyra Visz]

Ilyra had been taught by her big brother that some of the creatures of Korriban could be useful and some of them were probably too much hassle to actually bother with. When it came to the Tuk'ata, it had been something of a mixed bag in his experiences but Ilyra had kind of ignored her brother, her Master, when he started talking about them because the first time she saw a holo of one of them she knew that she wanted one.

They were so karking adorable!

They were like puppies but all spiky and they were loyal till death to the Sith who could domesticate them (read; dominate their mind until all thoughts of resistance were gone) so there was no real downside as far as she was concerned. The only issue that came up to her mind was that they tended to live in old Sith tombs.

Specifically the old Sith tombs that had been abandoned for being too wild with the Dark Side to be worth maintaining. They were kind of death traps... which was probably why she was actually still very interesting in coming. Death traps just meant what was there was worth protecting right?

She was 90% sure that was what that meant.

When Aadya had broached the subject of going looking for a pair for the two of them, Ilyra was reasonably sure that she had managed to curb her enthusiasm so as not to look weirdly very into this whole thing. Of course she wasn't doing so well now that she was actually here. When she spotted Aadya coming, Ilyra stepped out from the entrance way, having already stepped inside. She waved to her friend.

It was, perhaps, a little too energetic.

"Aadya - glad you could make it!" she smiled brightly, "Isn't this so cool?"

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

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The sudden appearance of Ilyra surprised Aadya a little bit and she couldn't help but return the girl's greeting with a wave and a somewhat incredulous smile. Here she'd been checking her own watching wondering if her friend was less than punctual, and it turns out that Aadya herself had been the one who was late. "Cool doesn't even begin to describe it," she said, agreeing with Ilyra. "I haven't been this excited about something since I left Vahl to join the Empire for real."

Approaching the entrance, Aadya ignited her saber almost immediately. It was pitch black even just inside the tomb where the sun did not reach. Aadya figured that she could have used a flare or something, but she didn't much see the point of using something like that and then having to draw her weapon if there was something inside. Might as well just cut out the middleman.

"So have you done much exploring yet?" She asked as they ventured further into the tomb, the natural light fading away completely and the only illumination the eerie red glow of lightsabers. Aadya kept her eyes on the ground for now, looking for any signs of tuk'ata activity. Stuff like droppings or bones littered about. "Ideally, we'll be able to find some younger tuk'ata who's minds will be easier to dominate. They respond naturally to the ancient tongue of the Sith - do you know it?"

Aadya continued walking deeper into the tomb, currently unaware of the harsh yellow and red eyes that had already begun to watch them.

@Nefieslab

 

[Ilyra Visz]

Ilyra was glad that Aadya was excited as well - it went a long way to making sure she didn't feel too self-conscious about her own enthusiasm levels which she appreciated. She got the feeling that the slightly older girl might even be doing it on purpose to make her feel better and she enjoyed that idea a little bit.

"Is it wrong I'm so excited that I've already thought about names for it?" she asked with a little laugh, "I've got, like, three names for if it's a boy or a girl."

She even had unisex names in case she wasn't going to be able to tell if it was male or female without losing some fingers. Following suit, Ilyra ignited her lightsaber in her right hand and held it aloft as she moved forwards into the darkness. Before she had begun her training with her brother, she had been afraid of the dark.

Then he'd taken her on a training weekend... and she was afraid of him instead of the dark. Something of a semi-decent trade off now considering this place was dark enough that if it were chocolate it would come with a warning label saying that a glass of water was absolutely required when eating.

"Not much past the entrance hall." she admitted, "There's a weird door further down - it's a puzzle door. Got three rings and a central button that looks like it needs something stupid like four keys."

She paused before shrugging slightly, her cheeks slightly deeper green.

"... I know how to curse in ancient Sith, that's about it."

That's all she really knew in any other foreign languages to be fair - how to effectively curse like a sailor.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

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"Oh no I hadn't even begun to think of names!" Aadya exclaimed sheepishly. She was kind of disappointed in herself too, the name of something was one of the most important things about it. You could tell a lot from the kind of name someone or something had, and in the case of pets you could tell even more about the owner based on their pet's name. At least Aadya thought so, though she did consider sometimes taking pet names a little too seriously.

"A weird door, eh?" She asked, genuinely curious. Aadya hadn't considered it but maybe this ancient tomb might still have secrets left to tell. It was entirely plausible that acolytes had encountered the door before but were too stupid to figure out its machinations, and then just failed to tell anyone so they didn't appear weak. "We are definitely going to have to take a look at that, assuming you think you can handle whatever dangers might lie beyond it. If someone went to such lengths to see it locked, whatever they're hiding must be worth the effort." Aadya wasn't attempting to be condescending. The fact of the matter was, being a Sith or not, Ilyra was only a kid. Aadya would not force her into potentially deadly situations if the girl didn't want to be in them.

As the girls rounded a bend, Aadya noticed that the dust and debris littered around on the floor didn't have that undisturbed nature that she would have assumed. Something had been in this part of the tomb, probably recently, maybe the last couple days. Crouching down, she shuffled some debris around and found something a little more telling: bones.

Most had been picked clean, but a few of the smaller ones still had meat left on. It had only just begun to rot, telling Aadya that whatever this was had been eaten fairly recently. Her mind wandered to the poster on the board inside the academy, some acolyte who'd gone missing a few days ago. Aadya guessed she could take down the poster now, pretty sure she'd found them.

Standing up, Aadya turned to relay all of this information to Ilyra, and that's when she saw the eyes sparkling at her, reflecting the glow of their lightsabers. "Looks like we got company," she managed to say as the growling and hissing started. "Try not to kill them, if we wound them gravely enough we can probably follow back to wherever their den is. That's where the pups will be."

For now, Aadya would let the beast make the first move. She didn't think it was to go in swinging in the dark.

@Nefieslab

 

[Ilyra Visz]

Were you even being serious with yourself about pet ownership if you hadn't thought of at least a dozen names before deciding to name them on instinct upon seeing them? No.

Were you even being serious with yourself about pet ownership if you hadn't bought a dog bed already despite not knowing if your pet would even fit on it? In her opinion; No... but she was aware that she was probably taking this whole thing a little bit too far. Her brother had mentioned that but, well, kark him.

It was her puppy.

"Oh yeah, it's definitely got some cool stuff behind it." she agreed, "You don't go through all the trouble of making some kind of stone puzzle into your door just to hide your library or something."

Though an ancient library would probably be quite the find she supposed. Of course the bones were something of a giveaway that they weren't actually alone. Something was eating and eating well around here which was good for them. Of course it was also kind of bad for them seeing as there were two of the adults glaring hatefully at them from the shadows.

Still.

"... is it weird I'm still noticing how adorable they look even fully grown and about to try and eat us?" she asked before her eyes widened as the two of them attacked, one of them coming from the side at Ilyra while the other made a feint attack before pouncing for Aadya. Ilyra cursed herself and rolled to the left, avoiding the pounce but taking a scratch to her right arm, breaking the clothes but not the skin, "Oh they are kind of bite-y though... their kids better be better behaved."

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

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"Yeah, it's pretty weird." was all Aadya was able to see before the two tuk'ata attacked them. Their intelligence was on full display as one tuk'ata even managed to perform a feint towards Ilyra before pouncing at Aadya.

The young Drast was ready for it though, sliding to her side and letting the beast land near her, its claws outstretched and menacing. Aadya didn't even want to know what would have happened if it managed to sink those nasty finger blades into her flesh, though she figured the pain probably wouldn't last long before the tuk'ata ripped her throat out.

"Keep mind of the tails, they've got stingers with venom!"

As if on cue the tuk'ata attacking Aadya reared up its tail and attempted to get her with the stinger. The venom was extremely toxic though the antidote was well known and usually well stocked in the Korribani infirmary, but Ilyra and Aadya were a long way from there and neither of them would probably be able to make it back in time.

With instinctual grace Aadya brought up her lightsaber as the tuk'ata's tail came down, severing the end where the stinger was located like a knife cutting through butter. Blood spurted from the now stump end of the tail and the tuk'ata hissed and recoiled, the pain it was enduring excruciating and obvious. It turned slightly-less-tail-than-before and ran, likely back to its den to recuperate. The trail of blood it was leaving behind would lead them straight there, so there was no extreme intent to follow right at this moment.

Turning her attention back towards Ilyra, Aadya would watch the girl tangle with her own tuk'ata, and would step in to help if she needed it. But only if she needed it.

@Nefieslab

 

[Ilyra Visz]

The tuk'ata were adorable.

Adorable in a could-kill-you-from-either-end kind of way but when you were raised as a Sith that was the kind of thing you found cute anyway she figured. Well, it was one of the things that she found cute about them, she wasn't about to make assumptions about why Aadya liked them. Probably something along the same lines combined with the fact that they were actually really good fighting pets as well?

That could be thought about later though - when one of them wasn't trying it's best to kill her.

"They're energetic aren't they?!"

Energetic was code for the fact that the one coming after her was doing it's best to try and claw her open. Rolling backwards, she evaded the claw swipe and brandished his lightsaber, causing it to lose it's footing as it scrambled not to hit the blade. Of course this meant that Ilyra had the advantage, hitting it with a hard Force Push that slammed it into the side of the wall, cracking some of it's ribs.

Poor thing.

It growled and made for another attack but Ilyra saw that Aadya had already let her own attacker go and it was running back off to it's den. Which meant...

She drew her lullaby blaster and fired once, blasting the adult tuk'ata's head clean off.

She sighed.

"Sorry doggy..."

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

Aadya was impressed with the resolute decisiveness that Ilyra seemed to possess. As soon as it was clear they got the what they needed as far as a trail to follow back to the den, it was like someone flipped a switch in the young girl. Aadya definitely wasn't expected Ilyra to all of a sudden whip out a heavy blaster and blow the tuk'ata's face off, though it was kind of neat to watch it happen in all the blood and guts and glory.

"Nice shot," she said honestly. "I wouldn't be sorry though. That tuk'ata would have eaten off your face without a second thought."

Looking down to the ground, spotting the trail of blood was a pretty simple task. Following it would be likewise Aadya figured. "Lets finish this up then so we can go have a look at that door."

The trail of blood wandered haphazardly through the halls of the tomb, taking a few sharp lefts and a couple rights before finally ending in an area that was probably filled with stuff at one point but was now just a rats nest of old rags, bone chunks and other stuff the tuk'ata had brought in to make the stone floor more comfortable. The injured tuk'ata was aware of their presence, though it was huddled in one of the corners. Behind its body looked to be to small babies, probably not more than a few weeks old.

Reaching out with the force, Aadya lifted the injured parent tuk'ata off the ground. It struggled to get back down, confused as to what was happening, but Aadya only needed it out of the way for a moment. She didn't want to risk harming the pups in any crossfire. Pulling the tuk'ata towards her, Aadya slashed vertically with her lightsaber and bisected the beast into equal halves.

"Since you got the first kill you can pick out which one you want," Aadya said to Ilyra with a smile. "When you decide, pick it up by the scuff of its neck. Look into its eyes and repeat this phrase: Nu tuti tu'iyia kirs," The old Sith language sounded odd coming off her human tongue, but Aadya had spent a few weeks memorizing some phrases that people used when attempting to dominate tuk'ata. "Tu'iyia arika tuti ki. Nu sûrsona j'us satyi."

Aadya would repeat the phrases for Ilyra as much as she needed, it didn't seem there was any need to press for time at this point. If there were other tuk'ata around, they would have come running from the smell of blood and the yipping of pups. They hadn't, so there was no reason to rush at this point. Whenever Ilyra was done picking, Aadya would follow suit and dominate the other.

@Nefieslab

 

[Ilyra Visz]

Ilyra really wasn't happy that she had to shoot the beast but it was dangerous and it wasn't one that she could take home and teach to obey her. It was old enough that it had too many bad habits - like wanting to kill her and strip the flesh from her bones. She really was looking for a dog that was better behaved than that and she knew that both she and Aadya would be able to get that if they worked hard enough on the puppies.

Aadya was right of course. The tuk'ata had been trying to eat her alive.

"Yeah I know... well I suppose we'll take better care of it's puppies than it could anyway. If they learn to obey first I guess."

They needed to obey otherwise they would just be like the tuk'ata she had just put down and this whole thing would have been a waste of time. She supposed it was up to her to prove that she had what it took to train them in the first place. Following her fellow sith, Ilyra kept her lightsaber up in her right hand and her blaster in her left hand.

The door was a bit of a mystery and what girl didn't like a bit of mystery in her life.

"Oh I am so down for that. You think there's treasure behind it?"

What was she saying? Of course there was treasure behind it! Duh.

Aadya dispatched the wounded parent without much ceremony and Ilyra didn't flinch - she did flinch a little bit at the harsh-sounding Sith language. It was a gutteral-sounding tongue as far as she was concerned but if it meant that she would be able to imprint on one of the pups?

She had her friend repeat the phrase once more to commit it to memory before grabbing one of the pups by the scruff of the neck and lifting it up, her blaster holstered at her side again. The little tyke tried to bite her fingers even as she lifted him and that was what cemented her choice.

She forced the pup to look her in the eyes and reached into it's developing mind with the Force, pushing her control, herself, onto it's impressionable mind.

"Nu tuti tu'iyia kirs.Tu'iyia arika tuti ki. Nu sûrsona j'us satyi."

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

As soon as Ilyra had chosen her pup Aadya reached down and scooped up the other by the scruff of its neck. She held it out in front of her face, close enough to tantalize it but far away enough that its jaws couldn't snap on her cheek despite how much the little thing was trying.

Staring into its eyes, Aadya pressed on the being's mind with the force as she spoke. "Nu tuti tu'iyia kirs. Tu'iyia arika tuti ki. Nu sûrsona j'us satyi." The words rolled off her tongue with ease, guttural and rehearsed. The little tuk'ata attempted to snap at her face again, doing its utmost to resist what Aadya was attempting to do. Digging deeper into the darkside, she pressed on its mind even harder and spoke the words again. "Nu tuti tu'iyia kirs. Tu'iyia arika tuti ki. Nu sûrsona j'us satyi."

This time the little tuk'ata did not snap, instead it simply stared back into her eyes with what almost seemed to be a level of understanding. Aadya put the pup onto the ground and it sat next to her without much incident. The first step in the bonding process seemed to be complete. Ilyra seemed to be having similar success. The age of the pups no doubt contributed to the ease domination, but it would still take time to completely form and unyielding bond.

Walking back the way they came, back towards the interesting door, Aadya clicked her tongue a few times - the tuk'ata listening and quickly following behind.

//end thread