Ready, set...AU! What if Jesha was....OH MY! Jisu/Ko

Starter post.

A small figure was perched on a window sill, leaning heavily against her knees. Ruby eyes peered fretfully at the young woman sleeping in the bed, wrapped in thick winter blankets despite the relatively warm temperature of the room. She was tired, anyone could tell, with the slump of her shoulders, the deep bags under her eyes, and how her eyes were half glazed in exhaustion. Her head dropped a little before snapping back up, braids, now coming to her chin and therefore long enough to be beaded again, clacking and clinking with the movement. She wouldn't sleep. She couldn't sleep. This was all her fault. All of it.

Blearily, she rose from her perch and padded not as silently as she would have if she were rested, a tanned hand slowly reaching out to rest on the forehead of the sleeping woman. Her lips pulled down into a frown when the other shivered and winced and she turned resolutely to the fireplace, stoking the low flames and encouraging them to burn higher, hotter, and brighter. When she had done that, she returned to her seat, determined to watch her partner, her sister in all but blood, through the night.

"I'm sorry Jesha-alenien, this is all my fault."

As the fire began to grow and it's warmth increase, Jesha slowly came out of her sleep. Her eyes blinked ever so slightly several times before finally opening. For a moment she was completely disoriented. Looking up at the ceiling and at the surrounding walls, she had no idea where she was. But turning her head, two feelings flooded her. Relief at seeing Vitani next to her, and a sharp, searing pain surrounding her neck like a choker. She snapped her eyes shut and drew in a pained hiss of air.

Vitani spun on her heel, a breathy "Jesha!" escaping as she did so. For a moment, there was silence as ruby eyes searched for the source of the hiss before realizing it was the very person she was worrying over. She quickly popped her head out the door, yelling loudly in her native tongue before rushing back to the bedside, hands desperately clutched together at her chest, tears quickly building before a choked sob managed to wrench it's way out. "Jesha-alenien!"

She bowed her head, attempting in vain to hide her tears of relief and sadness.

"I'm sorry! So sorry," the Knight somehow managed to say through her loud sobs.

Jesha simply looked through eyes still squinted with dull pain at her best friend, sister, and partner.

"Vitani," she managed in a barely audible whisper. "Vitani," she repeated with a bit more volume. "What - what happened? I don't...really remember anything," she asked as people began to rush into the room. Uncertain, unnerved, and -truth be told - a little frightened, Jesha reached out and grabbed Vitani's hand, ensuring that her sister would remain at her side, despite the room quickly filling with others.

Looking up, Vitani tried to speak but all that she could get across were fragmented sentences. "The ritual... It's usually very safe...but then the Dark Moon... and when I... and you... and I was too slow! I'm so sorry!"

Delphine, who had at that point stayed to the side to allow the two girls their moment, stepped forward, placing a calming hand on her niece and heir's shoulder. "Vitani, dita raie," she commanded softly, before meeting Jesha's eyes. "Perhaps it is best that I explain. What has happened, niece of my heart, is not something so easily said. The ritual you underwent to make you a part of our family is usually very safe. Vitani and myself went through the very same thing alone as toddlers. And all of our people undergo the same ritual under escort, just as you did, when they are deemed old enough. But something went wrong. Perhaps it was the Force that attracted the Dark Moon's influence, perhaps it was just bad luck, whatever the case, you and Vitani were attacked in the Ritual Chambers, and one of you did not escape 'untouched.' We have done all that we can, but what now rests in you is not something that we normally seal away....I am going to be honest little one, we usually destroy Darkness such as what is wrapped inextricably around your Spirit, and it is only at the behest of Vitani that you still yet breathe. You will be under constant watch, and it is my deepest hope that you will rise above this challenge presented to you. I apologize on behalf of all the Althalarian people. My niece was to guard you from all outside influences in that Chamber, and she failed in that respect. And since she is Heir, you can rest assured that she will undergo remedial training for her lapse in abilities... Perhaps your time at the temple has made you soft, alme, we will be fixing that while your alenien rests and recovers..." Delphine's last words were soft, but cutting, making it clear to all that just because Vitani was a Jedi meant that she should be taking her duties as the heir to the Delma Reane so lightly.

Jesha listened as Delphine explained what had happened, her grip on Vitani's hand tightening when she heard that Vitani had saved her from being killed after the accident.

"This isn't your fault, Vitani," Jesha said softly. "It's not her fault," she said again, looking to Delphine as if begging the woman to forsake Vitani's re-training, while simultaneously seeking confirmation of her statement. Confirmation she knew wasn't coming. She turned her head back to Vitani, feeling something pull at her neck again. "It's not your fault," she said, even as she rubbed her free hand over her neck.

Vitani shook her head sadly, refusing to meet Jesha's eyes. "I wasn't fast enough or strong enough to fight off the Dark, Delphine-alne is right, Jesha. I should have taken the hit. We pride ourselves on being a people who protect those around them or die trying, and I did not do that, though not for lack of trying."

Delphine nodded. "There will be a guard posted outside your door at all times, and you will have one following you when you leave the room. Please try not to think of it as distrust, but we have seen what the Ziraire, the Touched, can do and we can take no chances. Not here where our children are being taught and trained....if you were Vitani, our treatment of you would be no different, if only less noticeable as we would ask family to do it, even if the idea is painful. A healer and priestess will be in shortly to see to you. As for you, alne, you are to report to your grandfather the moment the sun rises two days hence." With her piece said, the ruler of Altheaire gracefully exited the room, leaving her niece shaking from shame and terror at what could have been, and guilt that it should have been her on that bed, instead of Jesha who didn't understand the absolute danger it was to be considered Ziraire.

With Delphine out of the room, Jesha again turned to Vitani. "Vitani. Look at me." She waited until Vitani turned to face her. "This is /not/ your fault," she said once again, hoping that, by saying it enough, she could convince not only Vitani, but herself as well.

Her neck still stung. It was a sharp, incessant pain. One that she was sure she would not soon grow accustomed to. "It hurts," she stated lamely, needing something to fill the heavy vacuum in the room.

Vitani flinched at the last statement, having stayed quiet as she refused to tell Jesha the specifics of being Ziraire. "....It's supposed to hurt when the darkness gets too strong..... The seal that is. It is designed to issue a burning pain to alert you when you should commune with the Great Mother, to ask her for help....."

Turning away, she focused ruby eyes anywhere. Anywhere but on Jesha. "I...I was supposed to teach you how to commune with her. She is much like the Force. She breathes with us, She grieves with us, She sings with us. She is in the wind, in the waters, in the earth and the fires. With Her, there is no 'right' or 'wrong', and to talk with Her... I can only liken it to deep Force trances, where you can feel the Force without even trying....Now, though.... I don't know if the seal will allow you the focus to learn...if you can recall the difficulties we had when we were first learning how to commune with the Force, learning how to Commune with the Great Mother is just the same, only different."

Jesha was silent for a long moment, taking it in, slowly beginning to understand what had happened. She ran her hand over her throat, expecting to feel something there, but for all the pain she felt, there was nothing. She looked up to Vitani who had again averted her gaze. She studied her friend, the slouched posture, the weary breathing, the shame in her eyes, it all seemed so very unlike the Vitani Jesha had come to know.

"Tell me what I need to know. What I need to do. How do I fight it?" Jesha asked, unable to keep the uncertainty and fear from her voice.

Vitani looked up, her ruby meeting Jesha's chestnut and beheld the fear that lurked there. It was in that moment that Vitani knew that she had to protect her friend, her sister in now everything but blood, and it was in that moment that Vitani swore vehemently to do everything in her power to protect her, to stay by her side, to support her.

Nodding to herself, Vitani rose wearily from her perch by the window, and sat at the side of the low bed, gracefully folding her knees beneath her and coming back to rest on her heels. "Right, well, to start, you'll need to calm yourself. Not the casting off of feelings like with the Force, but just calm. If you have stormy seas, a wyvern cannot land in the harbor for shelter. Let your emotions still be there, but like the great currents beneath the calm surface. It is difficult at first, and you will want to cast your feelings off to the Force, but then you won't be able to fully Feel Her presence."

She spoke softly, guiding Jesha through meditation exercises very alike yet so very not like meditation exercises of the Jedi. "You will know when you reach that state, She will be there, waiting for you, welcoming you Home."

Jesha wasn't sure she understood. Well, she understood, more she wasn't sure if she'd be able to do what Vitani had described. Not that she had ever bought that Jedi were supposed to be emotionless - even Vitani knew how Jesha favored the oldest mantra, the one that did not forbid a Jedi from feeling - but it was still an odd notion. Though it didn't appear she had many other options.

"Alright," she said uncertainly. Jesha closed her eyes, fighting off the sudden urge to keep them closed and simply fall back asleep. She hadn't realized how tired she still was, or how much the new, incessant sting around her neck was draining her.

With a deep breath she pushed the weariness and the pain to the back of her mind. She ran through each of her emotions, one by one, and shoved them back, not away, just out of sight, trying her best to do as Vitani had said. Yet for all her efforts, she felt nothing, saw nothing, nothing seemed to happen.

She opened her eyes, a twinge of annoyance shooting through her bringing a slight sting with it. She winced.

This was going to take getting used to. But for now, she just felt tired, and it showed on her face.

Seeing that they were getting no where very fast, especially since her own mind was in far too much turmoil to be of much help, she decided to take the higher road and put up a strong front. That in mind, Vitani smiled warmly, placing a comforting hand upon Jesha's shoulder, trying her hardest not to reveal the fatigue she felt, nor the protective fear that now enshrouded her mind. "Perhaps you should rest first, Jesha-alenien. Sleep now, my sister, and I shall watch over you while you recover." ((not that that isn't at all creepy yo))

By the time Jesha had nodded off, a priestess came into the room. She bowed her head respectfully to her future Delma Reane, before checking over the other Jedi. "She seems to be recovering well enough....Shiareh, she really has been touched," the priestess muttered, scrubbing her hands after having checked vitals and temperature, in antibacterial solution.

Vitani gave the priestess a sharp glare, "Please refrain from commenting about that," and though she worded her command politely, her tone was harsh, almost barked.

"As you wish," the other woman demurred, bowing once again before leaving.

As Jesha slipped into unconsciousness, protected by Vitani, she felt safe and content. And the first few minutes of her rest were filled with a blissful nothing. However, several minutes later, she began to dream. She dreamt of shadows at first. Long and tall and menacing. They came for her, but always stopped just short, warded off by a pair of purple sabers. Her sleep continued in much the same way for a long period. Occasionally she would be scared out of her sleep, but always she fell immediately back to sleep after feeling the ever present connection to her sister.

Three Days Later (said in french nasally accent YOU KNOW THE ONE)

Vitani sat at the counter, morosely watching the steam rise off her cup of caff, she had hardly gotten any sleep the night before, having spent the brunt of it meditating at Jesha's bedside, trying to find her center and then dawn came and she was exhausted. They had transported Jesha to her family's house in Aquios, the house she had grown up in, despite Delfine's reluctance, yesterday evening since she was recovering well and did not need to be constantly checked in on now that she was stable.

At the thought of her Jedi sister, Vitani winced, she had failed to protect her, and was enduring brutal remedial training for her lapse. But the training wasn't the worst part, no, it was the guilt that ate away at her insides whenever she thought about Jesha. Even now, her thoughts betrayed her and turned to her failure, highlighting her inadequacies and short comings.

"You are up early my little bird," came the soft, warm voice of her mother. Vitani's eyes snapped up to meet with the sparkling topaz she had always turned to as a child. They were not intensely wise, like her aunt's garnet eyes, nor sharp and cunning of her own ruby, her mother's eyes were warm and loving. The eyes that every mother held for their child.

"Mama," she whispered softly, bowing her head in respect for the woman, for no matter how great a person got, their mother would always command their undying respect.

"Well, since you are up, you may well wake your siblings, yes, even Jesha, she needs to eat something, last night she hardly touched her food. We may even tempt her with some of your favorite tartlets today. Perhaps you could take her out to see the animals around the house, get her to move and take in some fresh air too."

Unbidden, a smile found it's way to Vitani's lips. Her mother knew exactly how to chase away the dark thoughts. "Of course Mama."

Turning, Vitani made her way to wake her younger siblings, first her twin brothers, Kozao and Hiyo, but there was no need, for before her hand even touched the door, two blurs of cream cloth and tan hair zipped past her. "Morning alende," the two chirped to her back. Shaking her head, Vitani turned to Kiane's room, her younger sister by five years and the baby of the family, and knocked lightly upon the door. "Alenne, time to rise," she called out as she palmed the door open, chuckling fondly at the sight her sister made, with her hair a complete mess and eyes blearily staring at the door, her sister had never been one to appreciate mornings. "Thaythay has started cooking breakfast, if you do not wish to eat only strider sausage you had better get out there and tell her what you want."

That last part had both gotten her attention and woke her up fully. "NO MORE SAUSAGE," Kiane cried, practically flying from the room, as Vitani gracefully sidestepped the blur her sister became. "I'm surprised that still works," she muttered to herself.

Coming to her last stop, Vitani palmed open the door without knocking. There in bed was Jesha, and at least her sleep seemed relatively peaceful. Placing a hand gently on Jesha's shoulder, she called out to her softly. "Jesha-alenien, it is time to wake."

Jesha gradually woke from Vitani's touch and voice. "Hmm?" She blinked away the sleep, banishing the lingering feelings of dread, telling herself that the nightmare was over, despite the fact that she knew otherwise.


"G'morning," she mumbled, kicking her sheets off but not yet rising out of the bed. Slowly the young knight was recovering from the events. She now felt much stronger and the seal didn't sting nearly as often as it did that first day. During the few hours when she hadn't been asleep, she had been practicing her new meditation. Once she was fairly certain she had felt an new presence, one that was not the Force, but was similarly comforting. All in all, she was ready to be done with this bed rest. Her fingers longed to feel the hum of her sabers, and her limbs were uncomfortably stiff.

"Morning's greetings to you, alenien," Vitani purred softly, helping the other Knight to sit up, even though she was certain Jesha could do it on her own. Soon, she would be able to do all the things she had been able to before, but for now, she still required an easy pace. And so Vitani was gracefully moving about the room, filling a sturdy basin with warm water from the small sink near the vanity table, and balancing that on a hip, she used her free hand to fetch a soft cloth from the drawers. She handed the cloth to Jesha, holding the bowl just at her chest.

"Wash up, Jesha-alenien, and we shall join the family in breaking fast. Mama has promised aquaberry tarts and, if we are lucky, there shall be fresh starberries to enjoy with cream and a cup of hot caf," as she spoke the shadow of something left her eyes, being replaced by a truly joyful shine. She was happy to be able to share her family and her favorite foods with Jesha, not many other knights could do so, but being almost literally heir to a planetary wide religious throne did give her certain dispensations, especially now with the Order making sure their Jedi stayed in touch with their roots. "And perhaps later we shall visit my raptor flock. I'm sure we can convince a few of the colorful ones to shed feathers for you."