Fate - Part 1

"It's been a long time…" stated a soft voice above her somewhere. Slowly, Zaiya opened her eyes carefully, her vision not so focused. He sat beside her, resting on the headboard, that red and black face looking down at her. Her lips curved in a sleepy smile.

"Yes it has, too long." she murmured with a warm tone.

"I didn't think you would be here." His voice was gentle, no harsh tones, just a quiet reverie.

"I am just sorry it took so long." She confessed in a sorrowful tone.

"You are apologising for coming for me?" He asked, looking down at her in surprise. "No one else remembers I exist."

"That's not true, your family does. Savage and Feral would be with me if they could." She told him she wanted to reach out and touch him just to feel the comfort of his warmth beneath her fingers. "They missed you… I missed you…" She hummed softly.

"You care…" it sounded like a revelation.

"Of course." Her own voice, so sincere. "No matter where you are, or where you go, I will be there. If you need me, then I will be ready to help you."

"Do I look like I need help?" he asked, but the tone was more amused than anything.

"You look to be in pain, my Prince." She breathed, her eyes half-closed. There was a silence, for a moment she thought he had gone, but he was still gazing at her. She felt warm fingers brush her cheek, tucking a long snowy lock behind her ear.

"I suppose that means I can count on you…?" He asked, "The path may be difficult, and cause you pain."

"Then that is what I must do." She spoke softly, half sleeping still, yet the conviction in her voice was strong. There was a strength in her, though she rested, and his eyes, glowing in the dark, seemed to linger on her. She could not fathom his thoughts, but at present found comfort in his mere presence. There was strength in him, and she realised she had always felt it, that he was her source of strength and it was the reason she was able to go on. To keep moving forward. He had survived what she could only imagine to be utter torture, so this was nothing. "I will follow you anywhere." She thought she saw a smile on his lips, though it was too dark to see clearly.

"Your destiny and mine are intertwined it seems." He spoke slowly. "Perhaps I should be grateful that the Galaxy chose such a loyal companion for me."

"I could say something similar, there is no one I would be more happy to follow." She chuckled with a gentle smile.

"Then I will wait for you." She could feel the smile from his tone and felt his hand rest on her head gently, a soft hum of pleasure at the feeling and finally closed her eyes, reaching out, laying a hand upon his leg, curling into him as she fell herself falling back to sleep.


Zaiya awoke with a start. Where…? She looked around. It was the same room she had paid for… now hours later. She was completely alone. Had she dreamed that encounter? The bed beside her was unruffled and completely cold. It didn't look like it had been touched at all. She must have been dreaming then… though, it felt so real! She had felt the touch of his hand, it was real… surely? Though… how could it be? After he had retreated, he gave no sign of knowing her, no sign of recognition and definitely no soft and gentle tones in his voice. She must have freaked the whole thing. Strange…

She had decided that until she had another option, she had to stay here so that he could find her again. The young Sister rose from her bed, beginning to dress in simple garments, to help her blend in. Relatively fitted pants and top, with a poncho over it. She had to find work here, make a trace for him to follow. The Great Mother was rarely wrong, so she didn't wish to make it too complicated for him. She used her magick to hide her tattoos, and made herself appear human. Her hair became redder, and soft curls framed her now tanned and freckle-covered face, her body became more waif-like, slender and willowy, completely unassuming. Her eyes changed to appear as a light mossy green. Her disguise complete, she set off.

From here she had to find some sort of work. She had some funds, but she didn't know how long it would be until she could leave, so had best find some steady employment wherein she was able to have a regular paycheck while she waited. It was infuriating! More waiting? She had already been waiting for so long! But… she had her goal. Despite her desire to rush things, she could not risk it. If she were to do something that caused him to fall completely… then she would never forgive herself. He was her first friend. One who saw her for herself. One who cherished her idea to see the stars. The one that had inspired it. He deserved better than being a pawn for that monster.

She left the apartment, renting a speeder and moving through the vast network of streets, leisurely taking in her environment. What would be the best position for her to take? She could do a simple thing, like bartending or service work, though from what she saw of Mandalore it was full and repetitive. A mechanic? She was decent at tinkering, though no expert… hm, it was an option.

Her thinking was distracted by the sight of a formidable building in the distance, sunlight casting odd shadows on the massive structure. It was blurred by the blindfold, but she could see well enough otherwise. The Jedi temple. She would have to be careful. There was a lot she was risking by being here. Mother Talzin had informed her of the Sith being a supposed myth, so at least she would not be recognised if she used her magick here. Still, she didn't want to risk someone discovering her. She had to lay low. The Jedi might wave away a strange sensation… but Sidious. If he found her, she would be dead.

She was curious though, what was it like in the temple? Were regular citizens allowed in? Probably not. It didn't seem that they would be so lenient. Still… she wanted to see it.

No, no… it's not the time for sightseeing. She told herself. She had to be patient. Patience… always patience. The bane of her existence. Waiting for that which should have never left her side. With a sigh, she turned the speeder, her mind turning back to her current predicament.

After some time, she found herself back at one of the lower levels, moving at a casual pace. Ahead, something caught her eye, and she slowed. There was some commotion going on out the front of a medical facility of some kind. Someone was making a fuss and shouting. As she drew closer, she spotted and irate Ithorian, with the classic hunched back and T shaped head, the being waved his hands wildly, pointing between what appeared to be a medical officer or nurse and the facility. She parked the bike, walking slowly toward the building, her curiosity piqued as she approached. It seemed the Ithorian was displeased about some of the manners of the staff. She didn't have any desire to interrupt, and continued into the building proper. There were plenty of people waiting in the cramped space and a frazzled looking woman, her brown curls unkempt and her pink blouse was a little ruffled. She looked run off her feet, even as she was entering details into the computer before her. She looked worried but it seemed she didn't pay much attention to Zaiya. The Nightsister moved forward, stepping into the lobby and looking around, curious. She could hear chatter down the hall and approached.

"H-hey! You can't go down there!" A voice came suddenly, Zaiya turned, seeing the frazzled nurse now facing her. Not so oblivious then, interesting. She looked at Zaiya's face, the Nightsister's eyes flashed a warning and the attendant looked nervous. "I need you to sign in here…" she gestured to a datapad before realising what she was doing.

"You look like you could use some help." The Zabrak smirked. The receptionist looked up, surprised.

"Oh! Are you the new starter?" The woman looked excited suddenly, then paused. "You are, aren't you?"

"That is why I'm here." She responded calmly. It seemed that the need for another worker outweighed any suspicion she may have held. An infirmary… this might be another place in which she could learn, secrets, gossip, news and medical skills.

"Thank goodness, we weren't expecting anyone for another month or so!" She opened the side door to the main lobby, ushering the witch inside. She bustled off to the back rooms, looking for someone in the staff quarters. Eventually she found a doctor, who it seemed had just finished with a patient and introduced her. "This is Doctor Emauld Parvis." Zaiya looked through the cloth at the Twi'lek before her, soft blue skin and a calm manner, he had lines in his face showing his age, but behind the little half-moon glasses, he had kind eyes. "Doctor this is our new starter from the intern program- oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't get your name?" Zaiya paused for a moment, her real name was not wise to use for now.

"Sirenna." She stated simply, not her best lie, but it would have to do.

"I see the pickings have become slim if they think an untrained intern could be of use." He sighed in a thick accent. Zaiya's auburn brow twitched.

"Are you refusing my assistance, then?" She asked simply. He seemed more frustrated at this.

"I cannot turn away help when it is offered." He groaned reluctantly. "Show her around, then get her settled with a badge and uniform, she can shadow Marta for now." He waved a hand and went back to his datapad. Charming fellow.

Zaiya didn't correct any of them, and being an intern, it was likely they didn't expect much. If she did not find it interesting, she could move on, but the opportunity was something that had been handed to her by the universe. It seemed too perfect. She would have to assess the position as time went on. She followed the reception girl to another room, being shown a change room and given four uniforms and told to change. She was also given a locker and a keycard which was also a badge. It had no name just 'Intern' written on it, which suited her just fine.

The woman -whose name was Jayne- waited outside for her. The uniform was simple, black leggings and a turtleneck, with a light grey long coat atop it. It had a closure to the side, close to her right shoulder, and hung to her knees, the sleeves folded to her elbows and black gloves on her hands. The badge clipped to her chest, she excited the room, turning her head toward the other woman. Jayne seemed kind, if a bit ditzy, showing her the equipment, introducing her to other staff, including a rather run down medical droid. It didn't look to be in great condition, and Zaiya habitually looked him over, spotting improvements she could make if she got bored. If the droid made her tasks more difficult, she would have to ensure that it was improved. This seemed to be a good place to hide in plain sight, and learn a few things while she had to wait for him to return.

The induction was relatively painless; she learned her 'mentor' for this position was an older woman with greying hair and a slightly tattered doctor's uniform. It was the woman the Ithonian had been arguing with out the front. Interesting.

She was shown the basic triage method and how they ran things. Zaiya was curious, some of the methods were far different than the healing she had learned from her sisters. Though these people had far less gifts than hers did. They had to rely on technology far heavier. There were many people in the waiting room, and the service seemed slow. Zaiya quickly discovered that they had far too many patients for them to handle with only a handful of staff and a severely uncalibrated droid. The Nightsister's brow furrowed slightly as she was forced to interact with several sickly patients, her mouth covered by a mask as she took details to begin with.

"Why does the droid not take the details of the patients and upload them to the system instantaneously?" she asked Marta quietly after adding the details to the computer system manually.

"The droid doesn't have that capabilities." Marta shook her head. "There is no funding for little clinics like this." she shrugged, "we're not a fancy hospital, and it's worse on the outer planets." she shook her head, the lines in her face showed a weariness, a tiredness that she was unable to hide. It seemed that life had been far too harsh for her conscience to bear.


Dreams again. He didn't dream much anymore, other than the occasional nightmare of the destruction of the Sith that he had seen on Malachor all those years ago. Even they were less frequent now. No this was different. He was in a room, a figure had laid on a bed beside him in the dark and they just talked.

It was as though he had known so much, and had been able to feel more than was available to him now. As though that door in his mind had been opened and he could see everything. Now the door was firmly closed, the dream already fading into a haze. What had been clear words in his mind were already slipping away like smoke through his fingers. He sat up slowly, one leg crooked so that he could rest one arm upon his risen knee. The warrior ran a hand over his face and sighed in frustration. He could recall her face. The girl that had appeared with the other half of his pendant. Or… was it that he had the other half of hers? His free hand reached to hold it up in the dim light as he looked it over, running his thumb over the surface as he always did. A familiar and comforting feeling.

How had she stirred so much in him? Was the dream her doing? Or just a dream? It felt so real… Why was it so hard to remember it suddenly? Had she done something to him? He wanted to find her and demand she reveal the truth but… if she had done nothing… he did not wish to admit to these thoughts. This strange woman… she was dangerous.