~|Day 2, 13:34- 13 49 GST|~
~|Shiri and Jewel, Jewel’s quarters|~
Jewel transfixed Shiri with a harsh stare once Lea had left. Shiri was altogether far too Jedi for her liking. Her morals were firm, and would not be so easily broken down. She had thought that the Jedi might be vulnerable to love, an emotion not directly negative, but it was clear now that when faced directly with it, she simply brought her stoic Jedi anti emotion ideals up in defence. She was also clearly blind to logic and causality, but then, the young often ignored history. It was possible that what Jewel had said about Xid would bear fruit later, especially since Lea seemed to have taken it to heart to some extent, but for now, Jewel switched to a different approach.
“You’re going to die here.” Jewel stated bluntly, venom evident in her voice. “You might think that being stoic and holding to the Jedi ways is a show of strength, but it is not. Your stubborn refusal to adapt is nothing more than petty request for death at the hands of the truly strong. For now at least, the Darth wishes you to live, but make no mistake. Her protection is the only reason you still live at all. Maintain your will as you do, and you shall suffer until the Darth’s patience runs out.”
“You’re such a cliche, ya know?” Shiri smiled as she spoke, not really caring what her words would yield. “I know sticking to my morals isn’t a show of strength. How can you show strength in a situation where you have none? What I said before still stands. I may not be as physically strong as you or as adept with the Force, but I’m more determined than you to reach my goals, and my conscience and mind are clear. Is it a refusal to ‘adapt’ when I won’t just give up and bow before you? And what does it say of the ’truly strong’ that they find it fitting to pick fights with those they consider weaker and beneath them?”
Shiri’s smile broke out into a wide grin as she continued. “You’re a classic bully. Someone who believes the only way to rise up is by stepping on others, asserting your own ‘authority’ and patting yourself on the back in your mind, because if someone else tried to pat you on the back you’d throw a hissy fit in fear of losing the ‘power’ you had gained, in fear of returning to the ‘weakling’ you once were.” Shiri adjusted herself for a second and then jumped up so she stood facing Jewell.
“You said it yourself, the
Darth wants my fellow Jedi and I kept alive. Believe what you will, I know my situation well. As long as I’m on this ship, my life is forfeit anyway, so as long as I have left I will
never give up. Try whatever you like, kill me if you want. Make me a martyr. It only proves. me. right.”
Shiri’s words cut to core of Jewel’s being, and she set her jaw, clenching her teeth to stop from snapping out a hasty response. It was infuriating, but there was nothing to gained by breaking now. She was not a raging lunatic like Sish. She was
controlled. It took a moment to ensure she was in control, but when she spoke again there was no trace of the rage boiling just below the surface. Instead her tone was calm and piteous
“Is that really what you want? To die for a cause that will soon be gone, remembered by no one for your pathetic sacrifice? Even the Jedi look down on such waste.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t lash out at me immediately. Are you holding back your emotions?” Shiri made a fake gasping noise and put on a neutral look. “The Jedi may look down on that, but I believe that if it spurs my allies on then it is worth doing. The point is, nothing you or any Sith on this ship could possibly do to me will deter me. I’m going to make a change, a splash that will ripple through this whole ship, maybe even beyond it a bit, and no matter how you try I won’t break. Which is what’ll drive you crazy.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” Jewel said coldly. “But since you are so insistent on casting me as the violent monster, when I have made every effort to be civil… I shall oblige you. Just remember that you chose this for yourself.” With that, Jewel used the Force to pull a jagged knife from its sheath on a nearby display into her hand. “I will give you reason to hate me. I understand that on your species the ‘lekku’ are particularly sensitive.”
Jewel rose slowly from her seat, towering over Shiri. Her face remained a passionless mask, but her anger was radiating from her, and her eyes were taking on a sickly yellow hue. She grabbed Shiri’s body with the Force and flipped the girl over. She expertly pinned the girl down with her knee, ensuring she wouldn’t be able to squirm free. She was ready to use the Force to make sure of it if necessary.
Then she took Shiri’s left Lek in her hand, gently initially. She knew that it would hurt just doing that, and also that she would have to avoid the section nearest Shiri’s skull - cutting there would cause permanent brain damage. Instead it was the lower section being gripped. She brought the tip of the blade tantalisingly close to the flesh, enough that she would feel it, but not enough to cut. “Still don’t care what I do to you?”
Shiri felt herself go pale as Jewel retrieved the knife and pinned her to the ground with the Force, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything right away. She bit hard enough that she could taste a hint of her own blood as Jewel took hold of her left Lek and placed the blade close enough that she could already feel the sharp edge. Still, her words before weren’t a complete farce, she wouldn’t give in very easily. She let out a breath, and in a voice much braver than she had thought the wriggling fear under her skin would allow her she smiled. “Nope. Won’t even try to get away.” She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, waiting, almost calmly, for the pain to come.
Jewel wasted no time at all. The very tip of her blade pierced the skin of the Lekku with a swift efficient stab - cutting down to the nerve heavy flesh within. She began to pull the blade along the lekku, cutting a clean slice as she went, ever closer to her skull. She was going to stop about halfway, before she started doing permanent damage, but the girl didn't need to know that. The thought that Jewel might not know or care enough to stop short of cutting into her brain would just add terror to the pain.
Shiri jumped slightly at the sharp pain the knife caused as it easily pierced her skin, clenching her jaw tightly to keep from screaming. It was hard to keep the little calm she had, especially as the knife kept getting closer to her skull. Th-this Sith knew that there was a limit, right? The pain was excruciating, and Shiri could feel herself losing blood as it poured slowly from the cut. It was all she could do not to fight, to just stay still as she felt herself tensing up and trying to relax. With her effort not to scream she was holding her breath, although that just made her heart beat faster.
Heartbeat. Focus on heartbeat. Shiri repeated this thought to herself as she forced herself to relax, breathing slowly. She didn’t trust herself not to scream still, so she kept her mouth shut, but the pain was beginning to become constant enough that she could drown it out with the sound of her heartbeat, to an extent. Her heart was still racing, even though she had calmed every other part of herself.
Could it just be fear? As soon as the thought crossed her mind she knew it was true. She was scared, terrified even, but of what? Not of the pain. That, so far, was not as bad as it definitely could be. She was still in control of herself, though she was struggling to stay so.
She wasn’t afraid of the Sith either, this woman was only trying to prove a point because Shiri had managed to piss her off. Shiri sighed internally as the knife stopped at about the halfway point of her Lekku, the Sith did know to stop. She thought about taunting her again, although that did seem kind pointless at this point. She opened her eyes and waited for Jewel’s next move.
A growing sense of irritation filled Jewel as the girl continued to resist screaming in pain. It was clear as day that she was feeling intense fear and pain, the emotions were washing through the Force and over Jewel. Yet still, she remained silent. Jewel reached across and grabbed the other Lekku, forcefully this time, squeezing hard as she brought it into position, Though Shiri would be unable to see, Jewel’s eyes had taken on a distinct yellow tinge.
She brought the now bloody edge of the blade to contact the flesh of the lekku, and pressed in with the tip once again. This time, she went deeper, cutting down the length faster and with less care or precision.
Shiri took a sharp breath as the new pain started, hissing it out slowly as she still resisted screaming. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes and she tried to reach up and stop the knife’s progress, her hand only loosely wrapping around whatever part of Jewel’s arm she could reach as she remembered that she said she wouldn’t try to escape this. But, fighting back wasn’t an escape, though it could lead to one. She felt dizzy as she collected her thoughts, her hand still trying to stop the knife as she used her other arm to try and push Jewel off of her.
Jewel pressed down harder into shiri’s back with her knee when the girl tried to fight back. Withdrawing the knife and letting go of the bleeding lekku, she grabbed the wrist of the hand Shiri was trying to push her off with, twisting it up behind her back quickly and sharply. Simultaneously, she raised the blade of her knife and stabbed down into the shoulder of the arm Shiri was trying to stop the knife with. She was not at all gentle, sinking the blade deep into the flesh. “Spirited. If only you would put that to good use.” She said bitterly.
The girl continued to remain silent, but as Jewel twisted the blade, she could feel Shiri's mind starting to slip. It wouldn’t be long now until the Twi'lek lost consciousness. Not really the result Jewel wanted, but a result all the same. One more twist of the knife and Shiri went limp, consciousness gone to escape the pain.
Jewel wasted no time retrieving some Kolto laced bandages and seeing to the injuries she had inflicted. It would do nobody any good for the Twi’lek to bleed overly much, and Jewel could already see she would have to replace the cushions on that particular couch. That was marginally less important than taking the prisoner back and having her placed in the medical ward. She needed to be healed so Jewel could do it all again after all.
