Six glared at her apprentice, her solid red eyes blazing, as she watched the girl sitting on the floor of the cargo bay.
"You are weak," the Chiss raged at the girl, "How did I ever think I could make you Sith?" She sensed Jaesa pulling in on herself, and stalked around her. "You reek of fear. Is this what the Jedi teach? To cower in the face of your enemies?" Seeing the girl's quaking shoulders, Six growled in frustration and threw one of her practice sabers across the room, before taking a deep breath to center herself. She had no problem tapping into the primal rage that gave her strength, Six thought, teaching Jaesa to let herself go shouldn't have to be this difficult.
Six was trying to help the girl find the trigger that would bring her skills to a higher level. She had transformed one of the cargo bays into a suitable staging area for practice with wooden sabers. Practicing the parries and thrusts of basic saber handling had been the easy part. Six had noticed Jaesa's fundamental skills were considerable, even wielding a single double-sided saber versus two single sabers like Six. But Six noticed Jaesa still held herself back. Stupid Jedi, she thought, how do you expect your people to survive battle, much less war?
"I'm sorry, Master," Jaesa was on the verge of sobbing, "I must be as weak as you say." Six groaned in exasperation, and raked her hand through her glossy black hair. She walked to the former padawan and reached down to help her up.
"No, you are not," she said, calmly, lifting Jaesa up and noticing her blue skin looked even more so against the girl's pale arm, "I wouldn't have made you my apprentice if I believed that. But you're capable of so much more, we just need to tap into that." Six heaved a deep sigh as she retrieved the saber she threw. Jaesa was standing now, brushing herself off, but Six could still feel the uncertainty emanating from her.
"It's from being on Alderaan, Master," Six's ears perked at the fact that Jaesa was volunteering information, "We were yelled at so many times, you build up a shield to it, telling yourself not to get angry." Six mulled that over, before walking in front of Jaesa and giving her a fierce backhand. She regretted sending the girl reeling, but hoped it would spur a reaction. Jaesa came back over to her like a beaten pet, and Six sighed again.
"Let me guess," she said, dryly, "Handmaidens were slapped frequently as well?" At the girl's submissive nod, Six groaned. "Don't you remember Master Karr? How easy it was for him to give in to the destructive nature of the Dark Side?" Jaesa nodded, meekly. "Why do you think that was?" Jaesa looked surprised at the question.
"I presumed because the Dark Side is stronger, Master," Jaesa looked lost in memory for a moment, most likely remembering the day she came to serve the Sith who went by the nickname Sixfee'Tunder. "Hatred and jealousy still came naturally to him, even though he claimed to serve the Light Side." At the girl's words, Six started grinning.
"Destructive forces are natural, Apprentice. Think about it, Nature is not peaceful. Predators devour prey to survive. Storms, lightning, and ground quakes, we don't create these things, they are elemental." Just thinking about the raw forces made Six's heart pound. "This is what Nature surrounds us with. We can either choose to align ourselves with these forces, or be pummeled by them." A new light of understanding started to enter Jaesa's eyes, as she appeared to think about Six's words.
"Aligning ourselves with elemental forces," Jaesa looked like was she tasting the words before they rolled from her tongue, "I'll admit, Master, the idea excites me." At the glow in her eyes, Six wondered if she'd approached Jaesa's training all wrong, and was inspired. She strode over to her apprentice and looked her in the eye.
"There are other elemental forces besides the destructive ones," she purred, as she reached her arm around Jaesa's waist and pulled her into a firm kiss. Six heard Jaesa's 'mmrph' of surprise, and felt her stiffen, before relaxing to her Master's touch. Not normally my type, Six thought, but she'd be willing to try this tactic if it could spark the breakthrough they had sought. She softened her mouth over Jaesa's; rubbing her lips along the girl's. Jaesa parted her lips and Six licked the girl's tongue playfully. Six let her hands glide down the skin of Jaesa's midsection, exposed by her short top, and was thrilled that the girl followed her lead. Grazing her hands to the girl's hips, Six marveled at how different Jaesa's lush curves felt than her slimmer athletic ones.
Soon, Jaesa was taking charge of the kiss, nipping at Six's lips and grasping her fervently. The girl's hands began to roam her Master's body, inching under Six's top to quest over her firm breasts and Six did the same, caressing Jaesa's fuller assets. Jaesa's hips began to grind on hers, as her passion overtook her and Six reached behind her apprentice to pull her more firmly to her. When Six heard Jaesa moan against her mouth, she figured she'd achieved the effect she'd wanted and eased back. Jaesa's eyes were vibrant as she looked wonderingly at Six. The Sith grinned at her and walked over to her sabers, tossing Jaesa's to her.
"All right, Apprentice," she challenged, "Come and get me." Jaesa's eyes flared red, and she lunged at Six. Six parried the girl's wicked strike, following it up with volley of her own. Jaesa withstood the strikes with an ease that impressed Six. The Chiss spun around, lifting both practice sabers over her head before bringing them down in tandem, crashing onto Jaesa's saber. They continued with the dance of parry and thrust for several moments, until Six leaped into air, coming down with force to administer another volley of hits. The girl blocked the attack and instinctively struck at Six with a short bolt of lightning. The electricity surprised both of them and Six held up her hand to pause the practice battle.
"You look shocked," Six said, laughing at her pun and trying to ease the horrified look on Jaesa's face. The joke worked, Jaesa looked less uncomfortable and she released a light chuckle.
"I'm sorry, Master," the girl was still looking overcome by her reaction, "I don't know what came over me." But Six was still grinning at the success of her tactics.
"Don't apologize, Apprentice. You were in sync with your emotions, and they freed you to react naturally." Jaesa nodded at Six's words.
"I felt in touch with a purer element," she said, with amazement, "Like I could grasp the stars in my hands and not be burned. The power was liberating."
"Passion can be as strong a catalyst as rage," Six explained, "Once I realized you'd been taught to stifle your anger, I thought another emotion might prove a better trigger." Looking at the light burns on her legs, Six shook her head. "I forget lightning attacks are what are more natural for you. If you'd feel more comfortable, we can switch to real sabers to let you focus your electricity." She saw Jaesa touch her own lips and look over at Six.
"Master, you kissed me," Six laughed again at the surprise in her apprentice's voice.
"Passion is also elemental, the source doesn't always matter," Six felt herself sigh, as she thought about a certain pair of blue eyes that ignited her passionate side. "The deeper the desire, the better the energy you can draw from it. Even the passion from other people can be revitalizing. But don't get any ideas about me, Apprentice. When I think of passion, I usually lean towards the male gender." Jaesa chuckled at that.
"The same for me, Master," she looked at Six appraisingly, "No offense, you're a very striking woman. But I don't think I could have a romance with you." Six gave Jaesa an evil grin, knowing her white teeth flashing against her blue toned skin made her look even more diabolical. She walked over to her apprentice, sweeping Jaesa into her arms.
"Aww, not even for the sake of curiosity, Apprentice?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at Jaesa. The poor girl looked flabbergasted, until she realized Six was teasing her. She let her arms drape around Six, and both women started laughing together.
"What is this?" a deep voice rumbled. Six and Jaesa turned to the door of the cargo bay, and saw Lieutenant Pierce leaning in the doorway. How does that man manage to swagger standing still? Six thought, with a smile. He was in his usual armor and smirking at them, but Six noticed an evident hunger in his eyes. Looking down at herself and Jaesa, Six realized why. The Lieutenant was gazing at two attractive women in revealing clothing, with their arms around each other; the opportunity was too good to pass up.
"Follow my lead," Six whispered to Jaesa. She raised her hand to run it over Jaesa's cheek and let it stroke down her body, tracing the girl's exposed midriff, before caressing her hip, then dropping it to turn to face Pierce. "We're just practicing," she said, addressing the burly man. His eyes were wide as he looked at the arm she still had wrapped around Jaesa's waist.
"Practicing for what, my lord?" he asked with an obvious swallow, and Six gave Jaesa a wink as they finally got to see the brash Lieutenant flustered. Jaesa let her hand stroke up and down Six's side and both women could see Pierce's eyes follow the movements of the slim pale hand against the taut blue skin of the Chiss's waist.
"Oh, the Master was teaching me some new saber techniques." Six had to fight to keep a straight face at Jaesa's voice dripping with innuendo and the way she hissed the word 'Master'. The girl learns fast, she thought with pride. Still having fun, Six let her body slide along Jaesa's and turned her head to give the girl's ear a light lick.
"Very true, Apprentice," Six purred, "Knowing your weapon is important and I'm proud to say you have learned well. But I'm wondering if Pierce could help us with something." She pinned Pierce with a sultry look. "What do you say, Lieutenant?" Six got the feeling that Pierce was committing the view of the two women clinging to each other to memory.
"I'd be glad to help, my lord," his usually deep voice was exceptionally husky and his eyes alight, as he moved towards Six and Jaesa. "Anything you need?" Six waited until he was close to the pair of them, before breaking free from Jaesa and pressing her hands on Pierce's chest plate.
"Hmm, I can think of something we need," she murmured throatily, as she walked her fingers up his armor. Six felt Jaesa close behind her, and saw Pierce's eyes dart back and forth between the two of them. She craned up on her tiptoes to trace a finger along his jaw, letting it thread down through his beard, and whispered with her mouth a breath away from his, "Drinks."
"Drinks?" he asked, looking puzzled and Six chuckled at his confused reaction.
"Drinks, Pierce, beverages," she was laughing gleefully now, before backing away, "My apprentice and I are parched. Be a dear and get us something refreshing from the galley." Pierce gave her a dark look, then turned around, grumbling.
"Oh, Lieutenant," Six sung out before he left the bay, "If you hurry back, we'll let you watch us practice some more." She caught his raised eyebrow, before he strode out of the bay, his pace considerably quicker. Six turned back to Jaesa, "You felt that, didn't you, Apprentice?"
"Yes, I did, Master," she said, nodding, "The desire he felt, then the anger. It was delicious." Six nodded in agreement.
"Like I said, the deeper the desire, the better the energy," Six picked up their training sabers, then looked at the open bay door, speculatively, thinking of the fire in Pierce's eyes, "It occurs to me, Apprentice, that having the Lieutenant here could be beneficial to your training. What do you think?" Six smiled at the dark glow in Jaesa's eyes.
"Yum," was all the girl said, as she shared Six's evil smile.