“Fine. I’ll show you.” Vorinthia sighed, annoyed. She drew close to him and, with little regard to how the gesture could be interpreted by the Pureblood, climbed on his lap. “I sat on top of his near-lifeless body. Like this. I slapped and clawed at him at first. I was so angry. Do you remember his face? He had all those cybernetic implants.” Gently, Vorinthia trailed her fingers on Severous’ facial tendrils and the gold jewelries adorning them. “I pulled and tore what I could, crying and screaming while your apprentice watched and smiled the whole time.” She then curled her hands around Severous’ neck –small hands compared to his nape– and began massaging it lightly, taking care not to cause him too much discomfort. “Then I choked at him over and over, as hard and as many times as I could. Do you know how tiring for the wrist it is to choke someone with their bare hands? You can’t maintain your hold forever and you have to let go every now and then before you take another go at it. I felt his pain and his life slowly extinguished through The Force and I didn’t care. I only stopped because your apprentice had to pull me away from him.”
Me: I hate you. You RP Severous so good and he's so handsome and does all these things I like. Husband: *evil grin* That's not my problem. inb4: Husband is disgusting human being who likes to destroy and toy with my emotions. It's okay, I screw with his mind too.
The whole ancient Pureblood thing in Tales of the Jedi gives me all sort of headcanons & makes me want to draw/dress Darth Severous wearing fancy ancient Pureblood attire, which he’d internally complain about because it’s his “duty” as the heir to a noble Sith house to wear these ridiculous ancestral clothes. No one dares to say anything about it in front of him, of course, because of his position & power. The puny people & lower-tiered Sith thinks he’s ugly attire is a part of a fascinating ancient culture, yadda yadda. The other, non-Pureblood Darth, make fun of it behind his back. Vorin easily picks up that he looks uncomfortable in them & outright tells him it looks just as silly as Alderaan’s upper class fashion.
And that Pureblood man in the picture I posted is now my headcanon for Darth Severous’ father. I called my husband (who plays Severous & created his family as part of the character’s background), showed him the picture, and told him about my headcanon. He seemed to like the idea.
So…Daddy Krynn would chew Severous out about how to be a proper noble Pureblood & impose his views on his people’s culture to his son since Severous was a wee youngling. Then…one day a family spy sent him a holopic of Severous wearing a Republic commando outfit while visiting this supposedly Jedi woman (Vorin) his “married” son has been seen often with, in a republic world nonetheless! Old Man Krynn almost got a heart attack from this latest straw & decided he has had enough of his son’s unruly behavior and this Jedi woman should disappear immediately. FAMILY DRAMA!
So I finally started watching season 2 of Hannibal last night because Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal is my faceclaim for husband’s character Darth Severous.
And while watching, he took a moment pause from his videogame, looked at the TV and said “I can see him being Severous.” Heh.
Of course, now I can’t help but giggle everytime there’s a scene where Hannibal prepares, cooks, and eats something.
Boldly, Vorinthia’s cold right hand found its way to caress his cheek. “You should be careful with your feelings for me. I have been known to break hearts, both literally and figuratively...Thantarous Krynn.”
Severous’ eyes glance over the scarring upon her face for a moment, the side of his lips curling upward. “Then there is another? You have given hints but never truly admitted to it.”
Vorinthia brought her other hand to another side of his face and gently lifted his face, slightly. Her eyes moved about, clearly taking in every features of his face. The woman’s voice had been soft and her fingers on his face have been moving with tenderness, as though they have been savoring the texture of the Pureblood’s skin. She took a moment to touch he scar running down his left eye. “My heart...dear Thantarous, is not here.”
He gazed at her, mouth slightly agape as though the moment had put him in a sort of trance. “Not...here?” His mind attempted to grasp her meaning. “Then it does indeed belong to another.” His own hand reached to touch the rippled scar along her cheek as he continued to look at her. “And what of your body?”
Vorinthia made no move to stop his hand from becoming familiar with her cheek. In fact, if The Force is telling the truth, she seems to be enjoying the moment. “My heart is beating and alive inside my beloved’s chest, as his does in mine. As for my body...I have no desire to let you take it. I allow you to watch me, be in my company, and keep...whatever feelings you have for me. I won’t ask you to discard them. You are Sith and your passion sustains you but you won’t have my heart nor my body.” She curled her hand atop his, the one that has been caressing her scars, and squeezed it gently. For the first time, he would be able to feel her feelings for him: pure and bright, without malicious intent or fear.
Severous was intrigued by her. “You have a strong sense of devotion to the one who keeps your heart and you show that you have no fear of me.” He grins, “I must admit, I am rather jealous of your lover, to have one such as yourself is more than most could ever dream of obtaining.” He looked towards her hand, grasping his own. “Even if I cannot be the receiver of your heart, it is quite beautiful and a wonder to behold.”
“Jealousy...” Vorinthia smiled. Her fingers crept up among Severous’ strands of black hair. “I’d be lying if I say I don’t enjoy savoring jealousy but I don’t want you or anyone to get hurt from it so be careful of your own feelings, alright? I am only responsible for my own heart and my beloved’s. Don’t offer yours for me, it’s too vital of an organ.”
Building a platonic romance/friendship with my SO’s Sith character...like a boss. This RP was so heartbreaking in a beautiful way... I want to draw something inspired by this scene but until I get the motivation I feel like sharing the excerpts.
Sandrine’s pupils grew larger and larger, dilating until her irises were nothing but thin purple rings surrounding blackness. Light from the sky above Korusk and the tree branches bled through, blinding her. The Chagrian was struck with terror when he noticed her freezing in place, afraid he might have hurt her too far and oblivious to what was transpiring inside her mind. The Mirialan felt as though her being was enveloped by arms then put inside a small drawer --dark, safe, and comfortable. When she emerged from it, she was a different being --a different Sandrine who was still herself but remembered and knew more. The different Sandrine remembered everything. This Sandrine felt Korusk’s anger, his resentment, her own fear, and was capable of transforming all of those into something else.
First, she felt the soft material of Korusk’s robe against the tips of her fingers. The next thing she knew, her hands were warm and the man’s scream echoed throughout the ravine. He didn’t scream for too long and the lightning flickered out in Sandrine’s hands, affected by the Force Inhibitor collar. Sandrine was still crying, her eyes stared in horror at the dead man on her lap. She felt sick to her stomach and kicked the body away, only to catch a glimpse of the burnt clothes on Korusk’s chest. The headache didn’t go away, and the collar around Sandrine’s neck felt as though it was about to choke her. In panic and fear, she grasped and clawed at it.
“Father! Father! Help me!” She cried and screamed helplessly, calling out in delirium and begging to be taken home until she reached into the Darkness again. Whatever lightning she managed to re-create short-circuited the collar and fried it. Her neck was searing hot and the last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the dark purple bruise on Korusk’s blue skin. They looked like tree branches.
Darth Severous stood in a trance on board the Rising Epsis, hands behind his back, his mind restless. He had felt the disturbance in The Force a mere hour ago. Something or someone has awakened one of his children and it wasn’t him. His children are numerous, spread across the Galaxy, but The Force told him which one of them was the one prematurely raised from her conditioning. It was Commelina, the one he has arranged to live in Republic space until she was to be planted within the heart of the Jedi Order on Tython. He thought of her, a Mirialan girl. She would be about eighteen or nineteen standard years by now. The Sith gave that sweet-sounding codename for her because she was one of sweetest and most obedient of his “daughters”. When the girl was in pain, their mental link allowed Severous to know she was hurt, briefly, until the link faltered. He waited with worry and anticipation on the bridge for an explanation, his only consolation was the knowledge that Sandrine hasn’t died. Surrounding him, crews were working around the clock to establish a maintained communication link.
“My Lord, we are receiving an emergency transmission. It’s from around Sector-02,” one of the crews finally spoke. The uniformed man linked the transmission into the holoterminal and soon a bluish holo of a Twi’lek woman in Jedi garb was displayed.
Severous moved close to the holoterminal and gestured for the woman to speak. His forehead flinched slightly, Sector-02 was Tython. His agents there were the most-prized possessions...
“This is Watcher Asyr, My Lord. I’m in the middle of an extraction process. There has been an accident with Agent Commelina and she needs to be aborted from Sector-02,” The Twi’lek woman spoke with haste while her hands worked on controlling the ship she was in. “Commelina is...hurt.”
“Divert her to Sector-11, I shall intersect with the Epsis.” Severous commanded.
Watcher Asyr was terrified. She expected repercussion from the Dark Lord, her voice trembled.“Understood, leaving Sector-02’s orbit at the moment and will be jumping to hyperspace soon. Approximate time of arrival forty seven standard hours.”
“In the mean time, I expect a full report to be compiled and sent to me. I wish to avoid further incident.”
“Y-Yes...My Lord. Would you like to know her current medical condition?”
After a momentary pause, Severous answered. “Yes, I should like to know what to expect.” Even with the mental link, the physical distance between him and his child made him oblivious to details. He only knew that Sandrine’s presence by then was quiet, sans pain.
“She was...ah...one Jedi Knight has been suspicious. He put a Force restraining collar on her. It was damaged during a confrontation. The Jedi is no longer a problem but her neck was...hurt. She is stable now, however…” The Watcher explained. She was lucky Sandrine didn’t die, she thought, or her master would certainly punish her with death himself. “Comm ability will falter soon, My Lord. My shuttle is ready to enter the jump.”
The call was soon cut and Severous ordered his men to begin the Epsis’ jump as well. Forty seven hours until one of his daughters would be returned to him, prematurely.
theme song
Quiet beepings and statics filled the Rising Epsis’ medical deck. Several medical personnels scurried away from the bed Sandrine was moved into as Severous approached, the nervous Watcher Asyr on tow behind him. Sandrine was still quietly sleeping when Severous kneeled beside her, eyes watching the kolto bandages on the girl’s neck. He felt a warm sensation around his own.
Her master has ordered the Watcher to oversee Sandrine’s relocation. Without waiting to be commanded, she updated her report. “She sustained heavy burns, My Lord Severous. Assessment showed no other physical damage but...I am not sure on psychological…” Asyr spoke, keeping herself behind her master. “She somehow broke out of her protocol override and until she’s awa-”
“And had you acted sooner to a known threat, this wouldn’t have happened!” Severous stood up and glared at his agent.
“I’m-I’m...I wasn’t expecting the Jedi would’ve wished to…” The woman took a step back, anticipating punishment.
“Not all Jedi are true followers of the light and there are others with agents would love nothing more than to point out another agent to cover their own tracks.”
Asyr knew all of these already. She couldn’t do anything other than admitting her own mistake and apologizing, she still wished to live after all. “I didn’t know...the Jedi seemed to have personal...feelings for Agent Commelina… I’m sorry My Lord, I shouldn’t have mentioned the subject. It’s all in the report afterall, you already knew.”
Severous looked back to Sandrine, scowling under his mask. He sent the woman away to prepare for a cover story and attend to her other duties. He waited until the sedatives Asyr gave to keep Sandrine unconscious wore off. When it did, the young girl’s eyes slowly cracked open. She felt her limbs being restrained to the bed. In panic, the Mirialan kicked and struggled with all her might.
“My dear Commelina, welcome home,” Severous spoke to calm her down.
Sandrine was startled, yet quickly gaining her full consciousness. She gasped, jerking around to break free. The identity of the heavy-framed man beside her didn’t completely register right away. Her eyes scanned the room wildly --uniformed medics holding syringes in their hands, droids on standby, the ship’s grey-colored bulkhead...
“No! Where am I!? Father? Father, is that you?” Her eyes savored the sight of the figure. It slowly came back to her. She was scared yet felt safe at the same time, like a young child reaching home after getting lost, grateful for the comfort about that is to come but fearing punishment.
“Yes, it is me, my child.” Severous removed his mask and placed it down on top of the mattress. He gently stroke Sandrine’s dark blonde hair, “What do you remember from what had happened?”
She had begun to cry, yearning to hold the man she called father. It felt forever since she saw the Pureblood’s face. “Father! Please...please let me go...the restraints…” She continued to struggle, completely unable to calm down.
Severous shuushed softly. “You remember why you have them, do you not? We need you to calm down first. Can you calm yourself for me?” His voice left him in a deep gentle tone, attempting to comfort her.
With his voice affecting her, Sandrine eventually stopped moving around. She laid in bed quietly, breathing in and out, trying to remember. The past few years of her life flashed before her. There was the other Sandrine, the “protocol overdrive” one who was made to not aware of her true identity and to not remember father, the faces of her colleagues from the University of Coruscant, the animals she studied and researched there, coming to Tython, the attack on the planet a while back, its reconstruction...why was I back here? I wasn’t supposed to wake up on my own.
“I’m sorry, I failed…”
The pureblood kissed her forehead, continuing to lull her. “Do not take full blame on this, unforeseen circumstances had intervened. You are safe now, no one will harm you.”
Then Sandrine started to remember faces of people she knew at the Academy. First, she remembered the faces of her Jedi Masters, her fascination towards them and how she would pull pranks on them with the other Padawans. Dionne, the middle-aged Togruta who was her primary Master, was the sweetest. Next, she remembered her conditioning before it all began, how her mental link with Severous guided her to spot the young Padawans who would be easy to influence and set into a trap. The other Sandrine didn’t even know what she was doing, it was all such a clever mechanic. Then finally, she remembered Korusk’s face. When she was the other Sandrine, she marvelled curiously about the Chagrian’s lethorns when they first met and accidentally offended him. He became one of her best friends after that. She remembered the lightning-carved bruises on his body. They looked like tree branches…
“But...Kor-Korus...oh...no… He died...I killed him…” She wasn’t struggling anymore but the tears wouldn’t stop. The other Sandrine and the complete Sandrine had the same feelings, even if their memories were different. She envied the other Sandrine, the one who only knew good things. She wanted to stay like her; even if her life would be a facade, it would be a good one and she wouldn’t know the painful truth anyway. It dawned upon her how much more difficult it was to be the complete version of herself, to possess more knowledge, to not be ignorant of the truth. It was unbearable.
On top of all that she failed.
Failing to calm the girl and stopping her from crying, Severous frowned. He knew the risk and life his agents would face but until now, his Watchers had been able to manage them and keeping them working according to their conditioning.
“In defense, my child...from what I was told. He had attacked you and attempted to restraint you from your use of The Force,” The Pureblood trid to offer more consolation.
The explanation did little. The thought of her friend wanting to hurt her and the purpose of her life succumbing to failure continued to distress her. She looked at Severous, empty-eyed, desiring to be held by him like a child. “Why did I have to do this? I don’t want to do it anymore, I don’t want to pretend like a Jedi anymore. Can’t I just be Sith, like you Father? Please...don’t make me come back…”
Even the Dark Lord was saddened by his own realization of the situation. He knelt beside her again,“You don’t have to go back. I hadn’t known your connection was as personal as this.” The Pureblood removed the restraints on Sandrine’s wrist, seeing that she wasn’t struggling anymore or acting violently. He ordered his men to leave them alone and helped the girl to sit up, embracing her.“We’ll take a trip to Dromund Kaas. We can have a little vacation, take some time to figure out what to do next. Would you like that?”
Sandrine buried her wet face in his chest. His cold and stale breastplate gave her a strange comfort as she struggled to breathe. She couldn’t remember ever crying like this before and realized, for the first time in her life, how physically painful crying could be. Eventually, she nodded her head. Memory of Dromund Kaas from when she was a child surfaced itself in her head. Father took her and a few other children to walk in the woods once. “Yes, I want to go home…”
Vorinthia’s gentle fingers brushed Ami’lee’s radiant red hair. She pulled a blanket over her. The energy coming off from the sleeping girl felt like a serene hum through The Force. She preferred her apprentice this way, sleeping peacefully instead of constantly watching her back. The redhead had been ceaselessly fending herself against bounty hunters and paid assassins for weeks. Vorinthia has noticed the increasing paranoia and, factoring the safety of Penumbral and Ami’s volatile nature, she couldn’t justify forcing the girl to stay within The Ascendant over long periods of time. But this smaller ship provided some safety, at least for Ami if not for them both. It was smaller than The Ascendant, manned by less crew, but certainly more hospitable than the cold planet Tantra which Ami preferred over The Ascendant or Meris V.
There was only one downside, a rather huge one: the Gage-class transport belonged to a Dark Lord of the Sith. To make waters even murkier, this Darth Severous happened to be the same one who owned another ship which she boarded and damaged months ago when she demanded her daughter, at the time the Sith’s most-prized experiment subject, be released. Vorinthia could feel eyes watching her and her apprentice as they stayed inside the Rising Epsis’ guest room. The women wouldn’t have been there If it wasn’t for the truce that resulted after the Sith offered his resources to intercept those hunting Ami in exchange for assistance on a relic excavation.
If anything could excite the master-apprentice duo, it was the promise of a powerful Rakatan relic and the access to Rakata Prime’s coordinate which Darth Severous --and probably only a handful of people in the galaxy-- possessed. The coordinate would be useful in the future, not only for her personal use but also for Penumbral.
The platinum-haired woman pulled at the heavy fabric of her Sith robe. She chose to don the old purplish robe instead of her armor as a gesture of good faith for the Dark Lord. The guest room had a tall mirror and memories washed over her when the robe’s appearance was reflected in it. The attire accompanied her when she lived among Darths and acolytes on Korriban. She wore it the first time her feet set upon Paradise Lost’s bridge and she didn’t abandon it until she trusted Penumbral. Now, the very same robe would be her armor and tool of deception against Darth Severous and his Imperial-uniformed crews.
The dress alone was not enough, however. Vorinthia has lived within a Sith powerbase before and has witnessed numerous treacheries and in-fighting. She knew the best way to conduct oneself around a powerful Darth and still get what you want is by carefully cultivating one’s presence: be powerful but not enough to be a threat that the Sith might want to rid later on. Now that the Rising Epsis has jumped into hyperspace towards Rakata Prime, there was no turning back. That visage had to be sculpted immediately, despite her drowsiness.
_____
In his office, Darth Severous was thoroughly enjoying reading the dossiers on Ms. Ami’lee Cava and Vorinthia Snowrend. His agents and servants all over the Galaxy have worked days and nights to compile the dossier, which was handed to him months before he even began concocting the bait to lure the former Jedi out from the safety of Penumbral and the nebula housing it. It was perhaps the dozenth time he went over the dossiers, remembering every known bit of information, every dot and line he could manipulate to move events and people the way he wanted.
The Pureblood’s hands moved sporadically, picking up datapads and papers strewn about his desk and looking over interesting paragraphs contained within them. One physical copy of an archaeological journal titled "Architectural Findings and History of the Voss, and Its Influence in The Natives' Force Sensitivity" written in ATC 10 by Snowrend was laid out in one corner of the desk. That one has informed Severous of Vorinthia’s interest and study in archaeology, an important ingredient for his bait. One particular datapad detailed the resources of Ami’lee’s excavation crew and their most recent dig sites, another datapad had sparse accounts regarding a group of Jedi Shadows hunting a relic in Vorinthia’s possession. He took a short glance over personal notes of observations his agents have written about the two women. One word stood out to describe them both: curious.
The Dark Lord has lured and converted numerous Jedi into allies and tools of the Empire. He formed the saying himsef, “Curiousity felled the Jedi”. It’s a fickle thing, curiosity. It has to be maintained carefully. Give them too much knowledge, and once the curiosity is fulfilled they’d lose interest. Give them too little, and they wouldn’t take risks. Manipulating just the right amount is an art and Severous was an artisan.
The most interesting piece of intel he possessed was the holo recording tied to a bounty on Corellia for one “Snowriver”. The Pureblood made a devious grin and rubbed his facial tendrils as he watched Vorinthia’s familiar figure in the holo, walking behind a man among dozens of bodies clad in CorSec uniform. Funny, he thought, how she told the Sith to include the title “Master” when addressing her. Clearly it was the woman’s form of power play or deception. The Dark Lord pondered just how much of a Jedi Vorinthia actually was.
When the holorecording ended, Severous picked up the datapad closest to him. This intel was written and sent to him in ATC 0. The man rubbed the metallic casing of that particular datapad fondly, a feeling of omnipotence sparked within him. If only she knew.
“My Lord, Lieutenant Yashko requesting permission to enter,” the silence in the office was suddenly broken
“Allowed.” The Pureblood put the datapad down and began organizing them to be stored.
The tall, lanky Lieutenant entered the office and bowed for Severous. “Reporting surveillance, My Lord. The woman and her apprentice has shown no suspicious activity and have made no communication to anyone outside our vessel with their personal transponder.”
Severous waved a hand, gesturing for one of his servants to take the datapads away. “And what are they doing now? Sleeping?” He could tell that Ami’lee was, from her quiet energy emanating from the guest bedroom, but Vorinthia’s energy was so subtle that he couldn’t tell for sure.
“The apprentice is, My Lord. The Jedi appears to be...meditating.”
How quaint, Severous thought. He rose from his chair and started making his way to the security room, feeling the need to look for himself.
“My Lord...there’s also a small matter…” The Lieutenant followed behind, walking a few paces away, allowing the Sith’s cape to billow without interruption.
“Hmm?”
“Drax has been wandering around Habitation Deck, shall we have him moved so he...wouldn’t disturb the guests?”
Severous chuckled in amusement. “No. Let him be. Drax shall go wherever he pleases on this ship, as always.”
