Weak

[Kalanda Tishire]

Location: Mannan, Ahto City

Being sent on a mission to obtain medical supplies for possible Sith Alchemy test subjects wasn't something Kalanda would normally agree to, but here she was, doing just that. Her experience on Atlas had taught her that maybe going around in Sith robes wouldn't end well; after all she hardly made it off that world alive. She looked far less noticeable attire, looking more akin to a well endowed noble woman than anything, not even keeping her lightsaber with her; she had started to dislike the weapon after all, given she had lost it on Dathomir with Eithni not that long ago. In fact, she was unarmed, though with the force was one ever really unarmed? Mid had been sending her on small missions to help with his side projects, after all, he was a busy Sith; being one of the few lords meant he was always stacked on his time.

The past few months, she found herself wondering about where her future in the Empire was to be. Without Mid, she didn't have any real connections, other than Amur and Eithni...she was rather lacking of friends. Then there was Reuben. Poor weak Reuben, so caught up in the lies of the order, he couldn't break himself free from it. The poor boy had a future, he had the will, but he didn't use it. If only she could get him to turn as she had with Avan, that would actually make her....kinda happy. The thought brought a small smile to her face, though it quickly vanished at realizing the improbability of such a thing. It was never going to happen. When they were to meet on the field of battle, they would have to kill each other. There was no way around it, and yet...she couldn't bring herself to do it. She knew she couldn't. Thoughts like this accompanied her through out the day, as she purchased her supplies, and settled on taking a break at a cafe. With a dark coffee in hand, Kalanda sat there, looking out at the endless ocean, wondering what her life was to become. The Sith...it just didn't feel right, the guilt, the lies, the murder, it stabbed at her and festered like a wound. She liked the order it brought, the idea of it, it was like a nice warm blanket to wrap yourself in at the dead of night. And yet, that warmth was fading, the cold was starting to take her over. As much as she tried to ignore it, at this rate she was going to last. That was the truth, as much as she disliked it.

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

Reuben had come to Manaan with his master in search of medical supplies or whatever other reason Ashlyna could come up with to allow her to hit up a bar or two. He was dressed in more customary attire than that of the standard Jedi apparel which would stand out a mile and place a target on his head should there be any enemies on the planet, despite it being in neutral territory, which wasn't a problem for his master who frequently chose not to wear customary Jedi clothes- she was very much in her element here. It had been four hours since Ashlyna said she'd be back in two hours, her methods were... questionable to say the least but he loved her anyway.

On the contrary, Reuben felt completely out of his element, he had barely had a moment to himself in his whole life and now he was alone in a strange place for an extended period of time he began to grow nervous, especially since he was unarmed, though it would be foolish to start a fight on Manaan anyway. As he passed a cafe he saw the side of a face looking out of the window rather pensively and immediately recognised it as Kalanda, the Sith he had met months ago by chance in a rather unfortunate situation. He considered whether or not to approach her for a moment, what business would he have with her? Then again, the first time they spoke she didn't seem too set in her ways to not be able to change, she seemed... different to most others, possibly even open to the idea of leaving the Sith and here of all places she couldn't cause a commotion if she were to disagree.

It was a weird situation to be in since they weren't exactly friends and never would be unless she left the Sith but maybe if he played his cards right then that could be a possibility, he knew he had to be careful in what he said, tactful. Reuben approached Kalanda at her table and pulled the chair out opposite her before taking a seat, he hadn't expected to see her again unless it was in battle which would be a difficult situation for the both of them, he imagined. "Hi." He greeted her, expected to be met with surprise, no doubt.

@Algarus

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

Kalanda was in the middle of mulling over her current life choices, when the sound of a chair being dragged caught her attention. She initally planned on it being some damn suitor trying to woo her, but the reality was far more surprising. Looking up from her coffee, she found a familiar face moving to sit beside her. "Reuben?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, to the man, not really believing he was there. She stared at him for a long moment, before melting into a scowl. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, taking a sip from her cup, as she waited to hear his explanation.

He had gotten rid of the stupid jedi attire, in fact he looked almost presentable she dare say. Almost. "If you're coming here to arrest me, you're sadly mistake." She commented, setting the cup down and looking to him, wondering what it was that prompted him to come here. He had to be up to something, jedi were always up to something. A small part of her felt a little happy to see him however, they never did have time to finish their conversation. "I'm going to guess the order hasn't thrown you out yet." She lamented, a small thought came to mind about trying to convince him to join with the Sith...but what was the point, when even she questioned what she was doing for the order at current.

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

Reuben wasn't sure what kind of greeting he was expecting but it would likely be far from friendly, though he himself did not hate Kalanda, the differences between them seemed insurmountable and would prevent them from ever being friends if she continued in her Sith ways. "I'm here with my master." He replied vaguely, not sure how wise it would be to disclose the actual nature of their trip to her, she didn't need to know, not for the sake of making somewhat friendly conversation.

"No, believe it or not, I don't follow you across the galaxy to try and arrest you. Besides, I don't think we will have that kind of jurisdiction for long." He replied sadly. With the Mandalorians declaring war on the Jedi, soon the focus would be on preserving themselves and peace instead of seeking out every individual remaining Sith. For the first time in a long time, all force sensitives were in the same boat and yet they would always be at odds and often- war. "The Order wouldn't throw me out, I haven't done anything worthy of exiling, nor do I intend to." He replied with a frown. For a moment it seemed like Kalanda's connection to the dark side of the force was... weaker than when they had first met? Though it could easily just be wishful thinking. He hoped he could convince her to turn from the path of destruction and suffering she was on before it was too late.

@Algarus

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

"You have a master? That's cute." Kalanda muttered, looking to her drink, as she couldn't fathom why he was here. He was right about one thing, their differences would keep them from ever being real friends. Not that she wanted to be his friend or anything. She didn't care why he was here, well, she was more curious than really caring to be honest.

"Oh, well that's a relief. We aren't doing much better, so I'm sure you're just thrilled about that." She muttered, taking another drink of her coffee. It would be rather obvious to Reuben that Kalanda had changed, most of the corruption in her was softening, though there was a block of anger still inside her. She looked terrible though, absolutely miserable. Not that she would say anything. She hadn't been sleeping as much lately, and the bags under her eyes indicated that it was becoming something of a routine. She wore a frown, one that was more potent than the one she had worn with him. She wasn't the same acolyte he had meet on that slave world so long ago. "Give them time. Once they learn you're having coffee with me, that'll be fixed." She muttered, setting her head down on the table and sighing. "You had to show up to the one place I can't do anything to you. You can't tell me you aren't giddy about this." She moaned, not believing that his presence here was a coincidence. Though she doubted if she could actually manage to harm him; at least, nothing permanent.

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

Reuben didn't grace her with a response to her remark, there was no need to start bickering, he knew he had to be wise with what he said since it wouldn't be wise to let the situation escalate, neither would want to draw attention to themselves, they would both be in danger now. He hadn't mean to make the Jedi sound like they didn't have power or weren't a threat, that was the last thing they wanted to be conveying to the Sith. "I just mean it's more difficult now we're at war on all fronts." He attempted to correct himself.

Kalanda seemed as bitter as always, only this time it was as though she was bitter about something different, he couldn't be too sure but she did appear pretty melancholic before he even approached her. There was something on her mind and with any luck it would be related to her plight as a Sith, this could be the opportunity he was looking for. Aside from what he could sense, just by looking at her she seemed weary. This path she had chosen wasn't making her happy, that was to be expected, but she didn't seem like the fierce acolyte he had met by accident months before.

"I don't think that's a priority right now and I didn't come looking for you. To anyone else, we're just two people meeting for coffee." In some ways he wished it could be like that, this war had taken a toll on the lives of many and many once ordinary citizens had been robbed of their way of life. Had his mother not made the decision that she had then he and Avan would still be on Corellia living a humble but uneventful life, out of the way of the war. "But you wouldn't want to do that, would you?" He smiled and shook his head. Maybe she was saying it to try and convince him that she hated him or maybe to convince herself but he doubted that she would actually want to harm him, at least not physically, she seemed to have no problem with verbally assaulting him though.

@Algarus

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

Kalanda huffed at the stupid questions of the padawan. "We're always at war Reuben. You're jedi ideals just keep you in denial of it." She didn't understand this boy, seriously, what gives? Indeed both of them were at risk. She knew about the Mandalorians going after the jedi now, which did not bode well for the order as a whole. A small part of her worried for the boy. A very, very small part of her. It was totally unnoticeable though, so Reuben wouldn't know. Least she hoped not.

He looked better like this though. Not in an attractive way or anything, but he just looked...more fitting without the jedi attire. Her on the other hand, well, she knew she looked terrible. She didn't need him to point that out. She felt terrible. "So, you're trying to tell me that all of this is a coincidence? Very unlikely." Kalanda drank another sip from her cup. What really caught her attention was what Reuben said, about not actually wanting to hurt him. She paused, looking to him with an angry glare. She thought about proving him wrong right then and there, it wouldn't be hard either. She pointed a finger at him, showing she didn't approve at all. "Want to find out?" She ignored the question, she didn't want to admit it that maybe Reuben was right. Maybe she didn't want to kill him after all. She looked away, not wanting to look him in the eye. "You know you couldn't kill me if you had to. You passed up several chances before." She muttered, wondering what stupid excuse the boy would say.

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

When Reuben spoke, he spoke with a tired, monotone voice. He felt drained after everything that had happened recently and he did not care enough nor have the energy to bicker with Kalanda over their differing opinions. "Yes, ok." He sighed as he simply gave in to avoid having to justify his opinions and beliefs. She would never agree with him so he wouldn't waste time trying to convince her to, all he wanted was to convince her that the Sith were not the answer she was looking for but neither were the Jedi.

He could sense the negative emotions pouring from her and he could empathise, had they been friends he would've reached out to comfort her but that seemed far from likely, for now they just tolerated each other. "It's not like you left any contact details or address." He replied. The Jedi had better things to do than chase lone Siths across the galaxy, though it seemed he himself didn't have much better things to do.

It wasn't surprising that he struck a nerve when he brought into question her desire to harm him but he was unfazed, it wasn't like she was going to hurt him here, she would only cause a scene which would be to her own detriment. "I don't need to find out." He replied, he knew he was right. Reuben tried to catch Kalanda's gaze as she avoided his and he made no attempt to offer an excuse and simply agreed with her. "You're right, I couldn't."

@Algarus

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

Why did this boy have to get on her nerves so much. He was such a daft fool, suckling from the teet of the order. How could he stand there and smirk like this to her? He was being propped up by an order of idealists and disillusion senile women. Why couldn't he see they were just using him like a tool? It drove her mad, all this promise and he chose to be a puppet. He was going to waste his life being strung along like a pet, never being his own master.

She scowled at his little 'joke', or whatever the hell you wanted to call it. "Like you need such things to pester me." Kalanda fired back, as she went to drink from her cup again, only to find it was empty. She looked down at the cup and sighed, this day was just getting worse. "Why are you here Reuben? You could have just keep moving on and ignored my existence." She lamented, partly dreading his presense, and partly welcoming it. He made her feel better about herself, one away or another.

He probably picked up on the fact she couldn't look him in the eye right now. There was a reason for that, because she was lying to herself about the fact that she could. She knew she couldn't kill him, injury him definitely. "It's things like that will keep you beneath me Reuben. I have no such weakness, and never would I admit it." Again, another lie, as she kept her gaze fixated on the empty cup between them. Why was she willing to talk to him right now? It wasn't like she had much of an option to do anything else.

@Sunfrog

 

[Reuben Azari]

How could he kill her after learning as much about her as he had? She wasn't just another faceless enemy, she had hopes, fears, emotions and her background bore a striking resemblance to his own, only in her story the Galactic Alliance were the enemy, they had been the one to cause all her pain wheras the Sith had ironically been the ones to push him towards becoming a Jedi, if it hadn't been for a Sith recognising his mother's force sensitivity then it may never have been recognised in himself.

Kalanda was clearly far from in the mood to talk, she appeared to be particularly melancholic today which deviated from her usual anger and Reuben couldn't help but wonder why, he hoped with some careful prodding he may be able to find out but he knew he had to be careful, saying the wrong thing could shut her off completely to him. "You're unhappy." He said very matter-of-factly. "Has something happened?" He asked hesitantly but the very question could prove to be too much for Kalanda if she refused to entertain the padawan any longer.

He didn't particularly care what Kalanda thought of him for saying he would be unable to kill her, whether she thought him weak or foolish, he knew he would rather be compassionate than strong if being strong meant mercilessly killing people. "Well we make a habit of lying to ourselves about things we wish weren't true." He said, keeping his eyes on Kalanda's, hoping she would return his gaze.

@Algarus