The Dark Academy on Korriban

Zeno watched, not having the expertise or knowledge t assist with this part of the ritual. But he allowed himself to be mesmerized by the witche's power. He makes his way to his feet slowly and moved behind, not interfering.

For a few minutes she continued to work her magic and slowly the carcass crumbled further and further until the ash and bone heaped in a small pile with a few final embers burning at the sides. She stepped up to the pile and digging through the mass she pulled the crystals free. They retained their color but had a charred quality to their burnish. With her ash-covered hands she polished off the facets and walked to where her robes lay.

Finding the hilt she opened it and set it in. With a few adjustments she was content and closed the chamber.

Zeno approached her from behind and put his hands on her shoulders, beginning a firm but pleasant massager. His fingers were basically magical with his manual dexterity. She would turn the crystal over with time.

She let her head loll from side to side with the pleasure of his fingers. "I'm half tempted not to giwe zhis back to you, lest it distract your handz. But I zuppose, zhis iz your prize, und you have earned it zo fully."

She reached back behind her with a smirk. "V'one to match zhe other."

"If you don't want it to distract me for the moment then hold it for a little while," he says. "And sit here with me." As he massages he presses dhow to guide Herr to sit, following himself and hugging her hips with his legs.

"I zuppose I could," she grinned devilishly as she took a seat looking at the ash heap that had once been the blood stalker. "Zhough I delight in the sight of my handivork. I vould see your tvins joined. But it vill happen in time."

For now, "She held out her own blade before the both of them, and with a flock it seared to life. Twice now it had been exposed to the alkemical refinements of House Farro. And where it still held the deep red of the Sith crystals, now veins of emerald ran along the blade. They mimicked the ministrations of her magic, and practically burned off of the blade. But such movement was little more than a trick of the eye.

He pauses in the massage to rest his chin on her shoulder and watch it light up. "My twins won't be ready until the afternoon," he admits. "I have the parts but I won't be putting the hilt together until we get back to the academy."

He kisses her on the shoulder before going back to massaging, then very bluntly brings up a completely different subject. "You've told me that House Farro's numbers have dwindled over the years. Am I to help you with that?" He sounded serious, but pleasant.

"Ah," she said with a smile. "I vondered vhen ve might zpeak of zuch things. Ve have lain together often enough, und it is obvious zhat you have tried eagerly."

She leaned back slightly, letting her head fall so that he might better minster to her back. "I have thought of it as vell."

There was a pensive nature to her, "Und, vhere you vere little more zhan a pleasant distraction to vhile avay zhe boredom of zhe Academy, I confess....you've proven ztrong, dewoted, und strong in zhe Force. Zhe only zhing you lack iz purity. I am ztill zo young in mein life. Mein mother did not beget children until her eighties vith zhe rituals of mein family. But I do zhink of it. It'z just....ve are very particular about zhe manner in vhich ve conceiwe. Rituals to call upon zhe Umbră-Ușoară to bless zhe conception, und before zhat, veeks of cleansing rituals to bless us before zhe Dark-light."

"I have been stopping your eager essence vith my alkemy to honor zhe traditions of mein family."

"Then purify me," he states. "I will undergo the rituals. I will earn a place among the Farro. I will learn your ways. And it will be done properly." His hands continue their pleasant work, though his voice does not waver. "We will produce strong heirs to the Farro bloodline at the very least. In the best case scenario we can create ties between the Farro and Deathwrights. Then in a few hundred years you and I can be the scions of such a union."

In her meditations with the Void Engine she had seen tens of thousands of futures and in many of them children were there. Sometimes one, sometimes dozens. She hid the uncertainty on her face, as she thought about it. There was so much to think about when it came to children, especially among the Farro. She took a deep, relaxing breath. "Ve von't be able to do it now. Vith our trip to Yawin IV und graduation und zhe like it's going to be too distracting. But after zhat we can, if your new master vill give you leawe, go to Korriz und begin zhe rites."

"I am certain that there are plenty of unexplored and lost pieces of lore on Korriz that she would be interested in cataloguing. How that would work out... perhaps she could speak with your great-grandmother to get permission to catalogue some of the ruins without being allowed to learn of your active secrets in return for sharing any lost secrets with house Farro," Zeno says. "And I could be her agent. Just one possible scenario."

"It iz possible," again a hint of uncertainty, but she steadily relaxed as she considered it as a reality. That brought a smile to her face. "Great-grandmuter vill be difficult to appease, und Lord Zash, if zhat iz who ve are zpeaking of, vishes to learn of Korriz, she vill have a great deal to prove to House Farro."

"Perhaps, but I think the draw of the things she might learn from house Farro might be enough to get her attention. I will speak to her of it sometime. We have a good relationship. It's not official that she is my master but it's all but a given. I can say without a doubt that I am her favored aspirant at the academy," he replies.

He didn't quite know just how favored at this point but he was going to in a few hours. There would be lightning.

"I will see us grow stronger together Jun-Tsu."

"Zhere are paths zhat lead to v'one another," she nodded. "It ztill surprises me zhat Lord Zash vould be zo drawn to you. Not zhat I don't understand your allure."

She let her saber fade and dropped her other hand to his thigh, "But she iz zo scholarly to zeek zo physical an apprentice. She muzt zee great potential in you for growth. It'z not hard to zee....up close."

"The dark side had a hand in it as well, I believe. Korriban led me to an item she had been seeking for years in but an afternoon. I am not the scholarly type, but from the knowledge she has gathered and will gather there will be things that can be learned that will aid me in my pursuits. Plus, she can always use an apprentice that can tear through monsters and droids that protect old tombs guarding lost and hidden lore," he says with a shrug. "Fate seemed to draw me to her just as it draws me to you. That is why I feel that it will likely not be an issue for me to find a way to grow in power together."

He then thinks for a moment. "You referred to your tutor as tutor. Are they just a tutor? Or are you apprentice to them. I rather think your interests are more aligned to Lord Zash's than mine."

"I am not zure how much I zhould zay. Zhe Dark Side has revealed itself to me very particularly und I vould not deny it itz mystery. Zuffice to zay zhat mein masterz are not persons but presences, intelligences, forces. It iz most accurate to describe zhem az I have, az merely extenzions of zhe Dark-light. V'one a shade zhe other an intelligence, ancient beyond measure."

"I do not need to know the particulars if you don't wish to share," he says softly. "I was just curious if you sought apprenticeship under any of the prominent Darths or Lords that are looking among the academy students." His fingers were working magic on her, releasing tension built up from the ritual exertion.

She let out an appreciative sound as his fingers worked into her flesh. Her tone, however, was bashful from misconstruing what he'd meant. "Oh, zhen....no. Lord Savas iz a knowledgeable master, but he holds little regard for mein family, und its mysticism. Let him keep his rotes und his texts. As much as I vould have loved to learn more of hiz zorcery, he vas wery reticent to teach, zhough he became a bit more pliable after I arranged zhe library."

"No, mein family is unconventional, I am unconventional, und my teachers, it vould seem, must be zhe zame."

"My teacher is unconventional," he says. "She certainly understands the need for sacrifice and is willing to do so to gain power. I don't know how well she would take to your family's traditions but she seeks knowledge and power relentlessly. I appreciate her fervor and goals even if we do not meet eye to eye on all things. But then who does."

He kisses her on the back of the head and takes in the scent of her hair, undoubtedly moist with sweat from exertion and the heat of the day. That primal natural smell of a woman that does not need civilization. It was intoxicating.

"Und zhat iz vhat v'one needs in a master, v'one whom you have a rapport vith. V'one who vorks for zhe zame goals az you und vhere zhere iz a need vor cooperation. She gives you zomezhing, she getz zomezhing in return. Az it iz vith my instructorz. Ve all zeek abzolute understanding of zhe Dark-light. Und zo ve zeek understanding together, ewen vhen ve are at differing understandings."

She hardly needed to take in his scent. It permeated them, their lust abounded in the air, and she took it in without a care.

"You... are always right, you know that?" he asks in a mischievous tone. "You realize that you are equal parts teacher, lover and muse to me? The dark light has done me a great service in bringing me to you."

He kisses her back as he continues his ministrations.

"Let uz zay zhat ve are both fortunate. I've made attatchmentz here zhat I newer zhought I vould make. It makez me vonder at my great-grandmuter's motives. I am zertain she did not lie vhen she zent me to zee zhe vays of zhe Academy und report back on zhem, but I vonder if she saw other opportunities as vell."

"You think she used you for recruitment maybe," he asks. "If so, she chose a wonderful recruiter."

"Not exactly, zhough zhat iz a part of it. No, I more meant zhat she foresaw zhe discoweries I vould make und zhe powver I could bring home. I had zhought zhat might be zhe case. Mein great-grandmuter iz a judicious voman, but I zuppose I did not conzider zhe grandeur of zhe assets I vould find."

"You've found some sources of lore or power then?" He fake pouts. "And you didn't tell me? My heart is broken."

Despite the playful sadness he continues to massage. He really didn't like all the secrets and things and all these people finding relics and artifacts and ancient lore while he had scraped and clawed for every bit of power he could get. And even lost out on the few things he had found. He wondered how he he could be the most well accomplished of the students in the school, spent so much time in the wastes and valey and still hold nothing other than what he had built for himself. It was a bit infuriating. She could likely sense the anger in him even if all he conveyed through his hands was gentle care.