Bitter Impressions [Taja]

[Emily Rochette]

"-and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after," Emily mumbled the nursery rhyme with a sing-song voice as she tip-toed along the top of a short wall. Her arms were stretched out to either side, "keeping her balance". She placed one foot in front of the other, before spinning a bit, a soft hum leaving her mouth. The wall she was waltzing across surrounded a row of appartment buildings. Every so often, her eye with glance over toward the gate, as if expecting something to be there.

You're hungry, aren't you?

"So..?" Emily muttered and hopped down to sit on the wall.

You never used to be so hungry.

A hand dropped to her stomach. Nothing could be seen, since it had been such a short period since her time with Jeseth, but even so, she could sense the feeling of something inside. With these new feelings, her appetite had also grown.

I see... You want blood for your little monsters.

"Not blood." She snapped at nothing in particular. Her brow furrowed a bit. She could feel her mind burning as it usually did when she began to lose control. "Stop it! I don't want to.. I can't.."

Can't what? Be yourself?

"I can't.. Jeseth will get mad.." In all truth, she didn't know how he would react to one of her rages. She only knew how other people reacted, and she never liked it.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

When she next looked towards the gate, Emily saw the form of a young woman standing there, leaning against the side of the wall. Her hands dug into the pockets of her corduroys and a lewd smile twitched across her face. "Talking to yourself, huh? People might think you're insane." She giggled at the thought, then tilted her head back to hit the stone lightly with a blunted thud.

She stared fixatedly up at the girl. There was an odd gleam in Taja's eyes, and the way she flicked her tongue over her lips every so often... Her scarlet gaze did not waver once. Such a strange creature this was; but then again, the Dark Jedi herself must have appeared rather peculiar, with the various scars marking her face from when Dalethria had inflicted her blood-wounds.

"But I don't think you're insane," she continued, a sickly zeal echoing along with her words. "I think you're pretty. So very pretty... What's your name?"

[Emily Rochette]

"Emily... And I'm not talking to myself," the girl announced protectively, leaping down from the short wall. Between the night's darkness and the black skin of her eyelids, her eyes seemed to illuminate. She eyed over the person that had spoken to her.

She's all alone, Emily.. Just right for a meal.

It was the first she'd ever heard the voice speak to her around another. Her stomach clenched as she balled her fingers into a tight fist. She liked this woman.. She didn't want to hurt her.

"...M'not pretty, either. Not inside."

[imported_Taja Loraan]

"Really, now?" She blinked and cocked her head to the side. "Is that because inside, you're a monster?"

As soon as the words were voiced, Taja's attention shifted elsewhere, and with furrowed brows she glanced around to try and locate something in the encompassing darkness. This area of tenement buildings was a particularly neglected one: the only light visible was from the four strangely glowing red orbs, originating from both Emily and the Dark Jedi.

Finally, she rolled her head back to again look up at Emily, her appearance all at once pained and exhausted. "Well, where is he?" she snapped.

[Emily Rochette]

"Where is who?!" Emily snapped to full attention, sitting up straight, very ridgedly on the wall. Her bright eyes stared at the woman as her fingers tapped against the wall.

See what she said..? Everybody knows what you are... Everybody will one day hate you for it.. For being such a bad, horrid little girl.

The girl shuddered, curling up slowly on the wall. Her gaze darted from Taja to the ground, back and forth. "You're wrong.. He won't.." She muttered under her breath.

[Jeseth Cloak]

Jeseth was a considerable distance from the two women on the opposite side of the wall. He leaned back against the cold stone and waited patiently. Emily had gone off to find something to eat, leaving him alone with only his thoughts to keep him company... his thoughts, and that familiar presence which seemed to haunt him.

Taja...

He looked down at the ground, his dark black hair obscuring his vision. She had broken his heart... and for that, he would never forgive her. Still, the presence he felt was now more than a mere memory. Was she there, on that world? He leapt upon the wall in one swift motion, his wings adjusting themselves for balance. He looked further down from where he stood and saw her there... and Emily.

Jeseth narrowed his eyes for a moment, thinking. He wouldn't let Emily be hurt... his hand hovered over the lightsaber attached to his belt, then moved away from the dormant weapon. No... he would feel more closure to their relationship if he murdered her with his bare hands - How he longed to watch the last breaths of life choked from her body...

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Taja was oblivious to the girl's quiet musings as she closed her eyes, thin tendrils of cold extending outwards from her mind to seek out the one she had traveled so far to find. She mumbled quietly to herself. "I know you're here Jeseth... I can hear you." And as one of those wisps of shadow touched upon his mind, she could indeed listen in on his every thought, just as she could feel the sentiments of all living beings. Of course, they were distorted and blurred beyond coherence, but one particular feeling was being projected much more than the rest.

Her voice gently nudged into his psyche. Is this your new whore? The tone was bitter and resentful; Taja had denied his companionship, but it was apparent that he didn't spend very long reminiscing about the past. Just as she could sense his feelings through the telepathic link, a torrent of emotions flooded through the channel and into Jeseth's mind, cruelly reminding him of her touch, her feel... her kiss...

...And in the meanwhile, something was tugging Emily down from where she was crouched on the wall. Invisible chains had wound tautly around her ankles and with a violent jerk they pulled the girl onto the ground. Within the next second Taja had her arms pinned to the side, and a telekinetic grip prevented Emily from using her legs.

The Dark Jedi curled back her lips, revealing a pair of hollow, venomous fangs that unfolded from the roof of her mouth. A snake-like hiss sounded from between her clenched teeth. "I wonder how much you'll bleed..."

[Emily Rochette]

Emily screamed with a viscious growl, revealing a mouth of sharp, canine-like teeth. Her feet tried to kick from their unseeable restraints as her shoulders thrashed violently, tugging at her arms.

"Let me go!" Her eyes flared with raw anger as she stared up at the woman. Dark blood seemed to tear through her veins, chemicals mixing in with the liquid that would create a temporarily paralysing effect on Taja, if she dared taste it. Her rage brought her senses to an almost painful concentration as she focused her mind on the wall she'd been pulled from. She toyed with a crack in the top layer of bricks until one was loosened enough for her to call it toward's Taja's head.

[Jeseth Cloak]

The reminder which Taja had sent Jeseth delayed his reactions. He was left lost in thought, pain, and anger. He winced slightly and shook his head firmly, realizing that one moment's thought had cost him to lose sight of the present. Emily had been pulled from the wall. She's not a whore... The winged alien leapt down from the wall and onto Taja, knocking her back against the ground. He kept his left hand clenched around her throat, cold leather gripping at soft flesh. No venom would find its way to Taja's fangs now... and no air would find its way to her lungs.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Her back slammed against the ground heavily as Jeseth's form descended upon her, his hand latching around her neck. Taja did nothing to resist; she had tried once before to take her own life. He had been the one to drag her back into the realm of life and consciousness... if he now wished to reverse his actions, then the Dark Jedi owed it to him to do so. She was alive because of him.

The hold on Emily's legs was broken. The brick she had dislodged stopped in mid-air and altered its course away from Taja, being directed instead to the back of the girl's head.

She gasped loudly, but no air entered her lungs. Her throat burned. Do you love her?