There were times when Seia felt like altogether too much, when Lorash was most aware of the sith stalking outside her defenses like a hunting beast. The warrior had become progressively more angry the more Merga stuffed his nose into her business, and even training at midnight was not enough to burn off the tension.
Lorash's back slammed down on the floor hard, enough to knock the breath from her lungs. Fingers clenched around her wrists like iron cuffs, pinning her so effectively that she had no way to generate power. Seia was taller and much more muscular than her. It made the sith very difficult to dislodge, particularly when she was in a mood.
"Your defenses are inadequate." The rasp in Seia's voice was both harsh and amused, the expression of the almost feline darkness inside of her that liked to toy with Lorash. Even so, the focus here was mostly on improving Lorash's combat skills.
"That was not fair," Lorash gasped as life returned to her lungs. She struggled to free herself from Seia's grip, but she had little hope of escape. All the same, she pulled her will together and looked directly up into Seia's face, ready to try her next desperate gambit to escape.
Here in the shadows of the cargo bay, barely lit by the orange emergency lights, the sith's eyes glowed like hungry coals.
Lorash felt her pulse spike as Seia leaned down slightly and adjusted her grip. Unfortunately, the padawan wasn't the only one who noticed.
Your heart is pounding, jedi. The rasping words appearing in her thoughts without need of her ears sent a shudder through Lorash, mostly because she hadn't expected the darkness to brush directly against her mind. Are you frightened?
It was hard to know what the feeling was, if Lorash was being honest with herself. Seia had taken no opportunity to harm her, but there was so much raw power inside the sith that surely being afraid was the only reasonable response. She took a deep breath to calm herself, but her heart kept racing. "I'm not afraid." Lorash made sure her voice was as steady as it could be before she spoke.
A lock of Seia's hair brushed across Lorash's cheek when the sith leaned down more. Then why do you tremble? There were no audible words, but Seia's presence dominated Lorash's perception, drowning out all other things, demanding an answer.
Lorash didn't have a good one, but she knew she'd at least partially distracted Seia. Maybe now was time to try the trick she'd spent all day testing with Eso, admittedly after asking him for both permission and assistance.
"Seia."
The sith loosened her grip at the sound of Eso's voice. The moment she did, Lorash broke free with a grin of triumph. It only took Seia a split second to realize that she hadn't actually heard Eso, but instead Lorash's misdirection. Before the jedi padawan could make good on her escape, however, Seia pinned her to the floor again, this time on her stomach.
Not a bad try. The sith's amusement was like a hunting cat's purr, breath cascading across Lorash's neck in a way that raised goosebumps on the padawan's skin.
"I surrender," Lorash said with a defeated sigh. There was no way she'd be shaking Seia off now.
Seia rose and helped the jedi padawan off the floor. Your sense of timing was solid, even if your execution left something to be desired.
"At least it was something."
The sith caught her wrist and pulled her around so they were facing each other, then stepped in to put Lorash's back against a cargo container. They were close enough to the walkway above that there was some lighting. There is something further I would like to explore.
Lorash hesitated for a moment, trying to gauge Seia's expression. Even half-lost in shadow, the sith's typical intensity remained. "What?"
Seia touched two fingers to the padawan's jugular, catching the rapid beat. There is a connection between us. It has grown since you healed me, like a clinging vine. You feel it too, don't you? At least in moments like this.
Suddenly, a very real danger was rearing its head in front of Lorash. "I don't know what you're talking about."
The sith trailed fingertips up the side of Lorash's neck to her jaw. Why lie? Why not chase this passion?
"There is no emotion, there is peace. Whatever this is, it is attachment. Attachment is selfish." Lorash tried to push herself back into her jedi training, but Seia's presence made that difficult. Master Vori always said the Dark Side was seductive.
She'd never entertained the thought that it could be literally true, not just an expression of the temptation to evil in all people. Whether Lorash liked it or not, there was a grace to the way Seia moved, a fiery beauty to her features. Ignoring it was not going to last forever.
I think you are wrong.
"Seia, speak out loud." The closeness was overwhelming and dangerous.
"Fine." The sith's scowl deepened slightly. "I think your 'peace' is built on fear of what you feel."
"I don't feel whatever it is you're feeling," Lorash said sharply.
Seia looked like she was going to say something else, maybe something angry, but she bit it back in an impressive display of self-control. "I will take you at your word, then." The words came instead of whatever barb had almost jumped through. "A reminder of why I despise jedi."
Lorash felt the sting of that comment deep in her chest. "Seia…"
"If a danger arises, I will be in my quarters." The sith turned her back and strode off. It was not the usual if you require me and Lorash felt it acutely, like a door had just slammed between them. She sat down hard on a crate. If that had been the right thing to do, why did it feel so terrible?
It took several minutes of deep breathing before she could even approach centering herself. By the time she made it back to her quarters, her mood was officially in the trash. She settled into bed, but even with her eyes closed, she could only examine that last encounter over again.
There is a connection between us.
Those words echoed through Lorash's mind like the titanic boom of a thunder clap. Perhaps if she'd been wiser, she would have seen it sooner, but now that it had been pointed out, it glowed like the pulsing beam of a neutron star. From that moment she had pressed her hand against the panel of the sarcophagus, something in Seia had touched something inside her. Even asleep, the sith had found some foothold: intoxicating danger, ruthless pride, bottomless passion, fragile trust. For better or worse, she had seen parts of the sith that Seia was unquestionably loath to show, particularly the memories of her apprentice. She had no idea what of herself Seia had been able to glean, but it was probably a lot more than anticipated given the warrior's gift for sense.
Even after its destruction, the longing persisted as a phantom yearning for something that wasn't and could never be. Lorash curled up under her blankets.
Temptation is a beautiful thing, isn't it?
She heard her door open and sat up. "S—Merga?"
The bothan made a shushing motion until he stepped in and closed the door behind him. "You've got some explaining to do, kid," Merga said seriously.
Lorash didn't know exactly what he meant, but she was damn certain it had something to do with Seia. "About?" Playing stupid was the only gambit she felt like she had anymore.
Merga made the little 'tch' sound that she most associated with an annoyed bothan. "I mean, working with smugglers is one thing, but smugglers with a stolen jedi holocron?" He held up the sphere. "Without trying to recover it?"
Lorash's heart lodged in her throat, well aware that if Seia realized it was missing, the sith's anger would explode into a fire worthy of a thousand suns combined. "Merga, they're putting it back where it came from," she said urgently. "You need to do the same."
Merga's glare sharpened. "That's not what they said to each other when you were still passed out this morning."
"What did they say?"
The bothan crossed his arms, still holding the holocron. "That replacing it will open a door to an ancient tomb. Your pilot friend seemed quite eager to get in a little graverobbing."
Her brow furrowed. As far as the padawan knew, the goal had been simply to return it. "Seia never said anything about a tomb."
"Yeah, well, how well do you really know her?" Merga's piercing eyes focused intently on the young woman. "I'm telling you, kid, we need to jump ship on Naboo and take this thing with us. Your new friends have their own reasons for doing things. I don't trust anybody who leaves me in the dark about something big."
Lorash's breath hitched and the bothan's eyes narrowed. Before she could spill out the secret that was Seia's nature, a loud bang rang out from the direction of the sith's room. The padawan sprang out of bed and sprinted that way.
She collided in the doorway to Seia's room with the sith herself. Normally beskar eyes blazed orange, hints of shadows collecting around Seia's eyes. In her rage, the Force around her seemed to churn and roil with conflict like a growing thunderhead. "Where is it?" Seia hissed.
Lorash was certain she was about to witness a murder, potentially her own. "The holocron?"
Those eyes blazed with hellfire. "I won't ask again, jedi."
"Leave her alone," Merga said, leveling his blaster at Seia.
Seia raised one hand. There was a horrible crumpling sound from the weapon, crushed in an instant as if by an invisible compactor. "I want what is mine."
Merga's eyes went wide. He tried to move, but his limbs failed to respond. He was caught effortlessly in Seia's grip.
"Seia, please calm down." Lorash had no problem begging if it saved Merga. Even if this was his doing, he had saved her many times over. "Please."
Seia swiped Lorash out of the way with one hand and strode forward, wrenching the holocron out of Merga's frozen grip regardless of the discomfort it caused the bothan. The holocron hummed in response to her touch. Her will started to tighten around Merga, slowly constricting as he tried to struggle against it. "I do not tamper with your possessions, creature," Seia spat. "I have endured your many insults with a magnanimity you clearly do not deserve."
Lorash grabbed Seia's shoulder. "Please don't kill him, Seia. I took it."
Merga dropped to the ground like a puppet with the strings cut and Seia rounded on her, lip curling. "Do you really think I am so stupid that I cannot see your lie for what it is, Lorash?" Seia's tone cut the padawan to the depths of her soul. "It speaks of your true feelings. For all your jedi training, you are still a creature ruled by fear."
"Seia—" Tears built in Lorash's eyes. She hated this version of Seia, seeing nothing but anger and bitterness in those glowing orange eyes.
" Weak ." Seia spat the word coldly before striding back to her room, the holocron still in her hand. The door slid closed behind her.
Lorash tried to reach out through the Force to Seia, but all she felt was anger and bitter betrayal for a moment before Seia shut her out forcefully, the walls of her defenses crashing closed so hard it stung Lorash. It was the first time the sith seemed entirely beyond her fingertips.
The padawan covered her eyes with her hands, trying to stop the tears. She tried to remind herself of the Jedi Code, but there was no serenity to feel in that moment. Finding it would take time, if it ever came back. Besides, Seia was right: she'd let fear rule her actions. Now she was paying the price.
Merga picked himself up from the floor, groaning as he did so. "She's a Force user?"
"Yeah," Eso said from behind both of them. His tone was flat and distinctly unhappy.
Both Merga and Lorash turned to face him.
"I'm about to bring us into Naboo." The mirialian's brow was furrowed, his lips narrow with anger. "Then both of you are getting the hell off my ship."
"Eso—" Lorash started to say.
The pilot held up a hand to stop her. "Seia's calling the shots and paying, not you two, and I'm not having this mess stay on the ship. Besides, it's pretty clear where both your loyalties lie, and it ain't with us. Don't worry, there are some rebels on Naboo who can get you to your master. I'll get you a card and instructions for introduction." There was no sign of his normal verbal tic.
"Fine," Merga said, turning and heading to his room to grab his things.
Eso looked over at Lorash. "You know, I think she really liked you." He ran his hand over his hair and sighed. "I think you never should have left your master, Lorash."
Lorash sucked in a sob. "Me too," she whispered.