Crossover

the ship looked much as it had nine years ago. curving bulkheads draped with tapestries gave way to meandering corridors and snug quarters. golden caamasi strolled by, nodding to the two men as they passed. occasionally, one would raise a hand in greeting, recognizing the warrior from his stay on their ship. he smiled; there were fond memories here, with this gentle folk. to his side, his employer forced a smile - the ship full of pacifists made him uneasy. as the leader of one side of an intergalactic conflict, he was aware of the fact that they disapproved of his presence. none would mention it and violate the manners with which they held themselves, but those who mastered the force didn’t need words or actions to know. despite the nonthreatening demeanor, lord vader was still on edge. the bodyguard-turned-special-agent smirked. the grim had nothing against the man, of course. vader still had much of anakin about him. even after his failure to protect padme, he had remained a friend - possibly, he thought with a wry twist, because yoda himself couldn’t defeat sidious, so what could he expect from me? given vader’s rather emotion-charged existence, he was grateful for the logic - but nothing would remove the grim’s amusement when the sith’s reactions were wildly off-target, or when he was not in control of the situation and showed it, like now. vader shot a look at him, quite obviously having sensed his amusement, and, just as obviously, failing to share in it. the look clearly communicated that sirius was to cease his enjoyment of his lord’s discomfort on pain of - well, pain, so of course the grim’s smirk turned into a low chuckle. in response, the look turned into the scowl. “are you quite certain that you are not lost?” vader’s tone was mild. the grim was not deceived. “wellll... it has been a long time since i was here...” “sirius...” “i might not remember the exact way...” “you,” the sith pronounced in a flat tone, “are a liar.” “me? never.” “do not try to fool me,” he warned. “oh, i wouldn’t dream of it.” vader chose not to respond to that one - wisely, in the grim’s opinion. instead, he glared before facing forward once more. opportunity for teasing gone, he returned his attention to locating the correct set of quarters. small as it was, there had been a grain of truth in his prevaricating. he wasn’t entirely certain that he’d ever visited that particular area, and this, while not as large as an ssd or even an sd, was by no means a small ship. still, he had no doubt he’d find it. eventually. and if he cheated along the way... placing his wand on his palm, he murmured, “point me.” it spun. the next intersection he came to, he turned left, then left again. vader watched with mild interest; he’d seen this before. stopping in front of a nondescript door, he shot a glance at the sith. lord vader currently appeared to be either daydreaming or focusing on something in the distance. the grim didn’t need words to know that this visit promised to be interesting - but then, he grinned, the more interesting, the better. with that thought in mind, he rapped gently. a few moments later, the door opened, and a slender caamasi female smiled at him. “sirius. it’s good to see you again.” she nodded to the man standing next to him.

“lord vader.” “you as well, releqy. i understand that you have another pupil?” “perhaps, if you have no claim to her.” “mm. we’ll see.” “indeed,” she nodded. “come in.” stepping in, the grim wondered who it would be. a woman - perhaps tonks had tripped herself through, or hermione out of curiosity. he couldn’t think of any others that might; though, he reminded himself, it has been nine years. and then, peeking around the low couch, he saw the girl. she couldn’t have been more than three years old, and she wasn’t like any human he’d ever seen. white-blond wisps trailed past her shoulder blades, and green eyes peered out in curiosity. her tanned skin contrasted oddly against her fairer hair. and she was tiny - if she weighed any more than two stone he’d be surprised. part veela, perhaps? he exhaled. well. he supposed she could still be the child of a friend - many things could happen in almost a decade - but he didn’t recognise any distinctive features that belonged to someone he’d known. still crouching to be on an equal level with her, he smiled. the child smiled back good. “hi,” he greeted in english. for a minute, she seemed to be debating whether or not to talk to him. then, “hello.” score! “my name is sirius,” he told her, still smiling and trying to appear nonthreatening. “what’s yours? “poldë.” she edged a foot around the couch. “poldë, huh? that’s a very pretty name for a very pretty little girl. does your mama ever tell you that?” “yes.” she drifted a bit further out so she could see him better. the sleeveless dress and cloak she was wearing looked almost wizard-made, but the materials had to be of high-quality, and the tailoring was flawless. the cloak faded in and out, shimmering silver, sepia, and green. if she belonged to a wizarding family, it was obviously one on the high end of the spectrum; but most of those wouldn’t touch dirty blood, let alone different species, and he still had the feeling that she wasn’t quite human. “good, she should. hey, can i introduce you to my friend right here?” he gave her a second to think that over, and was rewarded with a hesitant, “yess..” “great! poldë, this is lord vader.” checking with exaggerated caution to both sides, he motioned her forwards. when she slowly came, he leaned forward and whispered, “but you can call him v for short.” that coaxed a smile out of her. “father says i should always call people i don’t know by right names.” “really? well, what’s your mama say?” she toed the carpet. “she says father’s strict and needs to relax.” he laughed. “sounds like some people i might know. do you know your mama and papa’s names, poldë?” when she nodded, he grinned. “really? that’s good! can you tell me?” he gave her the puppy-dog face. “pretty please?” this time, she nodded without hesitating, though from the way vader shifted he guessed it was because there were no strictures around the act instead of the grim’s skills

with children. “mother’s name is carnildë and father’s name is cirisson.” well. that tore it, well enough. he’d never heard names even remotely similar in the wizarding world. at a loss, he remarked, “well, i don’t think i’ve heard those names before. can you tell me what they do?” “mother sews and cooks and teases father and father hunts and feeds me and tells me stories.” an opening! “what kind of stories does he tell you?” she blinked, apparently unsure as to whether this was on the do-not-tell list or not. “aaa...” something about her vocalisations was needling him. they were off, just the slightest bit, as if her reflexive vocal hesitation was picked up elsewhere than two english-speaking parents. he eyed her critically - she was young, but if she’d been raised around two languages, that could explain it, as well as the uncharacteristic ‘mother’ and ‘father.’ and it might give a clue as to her origin, as well. a few strands of hair fell into her face, and she pushed them back, revealing a decidedly pointed ear - not veela, then. she was still pondering his earlier question, so he asked a different one. “do you speak any languages beside english, poldë?” a nod. “that’s cool! which ones?” “quenya and sindarin, and a little bit of latin.” she looked at him through her eyelashes. “the latin’s ugly, though.” pausing for just a moment, she asked innocently, “why’s it cold?” the grim grinned. “not cold, cool. it means neat, or good, or interesting.” “a.” the child folded herself into a cross-legged position and looked up. “when can i go back? i’m hungry. i want father.” sindarin? quenya? he’d never heard of those before. where his first guess might’ve been veela, it had changed. veela weren’t that delicate or tiny - and what on earth was she talking about? caamasi would never starve a child. they certainly hadn’t starved him. and their food was strange, yes, but not bad. “don’t the caamasi give you food?” “yes...” “then why are you hungry?” “because they don’t feed me.” he blinked. what kind of logic...? “does the food taste bad?” “no, it’s good.” “do you eat it?” “yes.” “then why are you hungry?” he repeated himself. the grim had a feeling that he was missing something important. “because father’s not here,” she said, and he dropped the topic. he was getting nowhere with that - and vader was getting amused, he could tell. the little girl stared at him, seeming to consider something. after a few moments, she asked, “what’s your name? raising an eyebrow, he glanced at the sith. “i told you, remember? sirius, my

name is sirius.” “but what’s your father-name?” she persisted. “father said that people who speak english have father-names.” father-name...? oh! surname, of course. “black,” he answered. “i am sirius black.” her face twisted into a scowl almost faster than he could blink, and the sith next to him shifted, obviously picking up on something. <she knows you, or to be more accurate your name,> the grim heard in his mind. <what the kreth have you done that she hates you so much?> the problem was, sirius had not a clue. he’d never seen her before, and never heard of her parents. tentatively, he queried, “is something wrong?” “i don’t like you!” poldë stood and backed away. “i don’t like you!” “why not?” he was out of his league here. “you were mean to my father. you’re a git and a prat and yrchion.” was it just him, or was the low table in the corner rattling? “...i don’t know your father, but i’m very sorry if i was ever mean to him,” he tried. stealing a glance at vader was not reassuring; the man had a decidedly evil smirk on his face. the grim glared at him. the child stomped a very tiny foot. “no you’re not! otherwise you would have been nicer!” he opened his mouth to say something... and the girl ran up, kicked him as hard as she could in the shins, and then darted back behind the couch. her voice was muffled behind it. “go away, sirius black! i want tata!” abruptly, the table toppled. releqy appeared rather suddenly. “she sounds agitated, sirius, what did you say to her?” bewildered, he switched back to basic. “i don’t know. she blew up as soon as she heard my full name. the caamasi girl merely looked at him. “she is not old enough to know you personally. do you know her parents?” “no - i don’t even think she’s human.” he sighed - he hated enigmas. vader broke in. “i believe it would be wise for you to leave, now. i doubt she will speak with you again in the near future.” “and will you remain with her, lord vader?” releqy did not appear terribly pleased with the proposal. “you have my word that i will not harm the child, lady,” he replied courteously. “i am merely curious as to her origins.” “you do not speak her tongue,” she challenged, and vader raised an eyebrow. “i wield the force, caamasi.” the implication was impossible to miss, and she conceded. “very well.” she left the room slowly, almost unwillingly, while the grim glared at his employer. “i don’t like this,” he stated simply. “i know.” turning, sirius left the room. a smirk blossomed on his face - vader would now have to find his own way to his quarters, unless he could coax releqy away from her duties. and, judging by how dear caamasi held children, that was not likely to happen.

the sith waited as sirius’ mind traveled further away, checking absently on the caamasi girl as well. she was not listening, though shouting or more screaming would probably bring her running. just as well; only three people, including himself, were aware that he spoke english, and he preferred to keep it that way for the time being. the child was adorable, though the grim was right when he said she was not quite human. truth be known, there was no human blood in her veins at all. he didn’t know her species - but she was intelligent and, he suspected, very other than what the grim thought. and quite capable of holding a grudge in stead of her missing parents, it seemed. still, the child hadn’t immediately linked him in her mind with her hatred for sirius, so he was hopeful. this youngling needed training, according to what he had heard, and he wouldn’t mind a child following the grim about his fleet. true, she was young; but then, had padme lived, his children would not have been far from this age as well. “poldë,” he called now in english, wrapping a hint of force about her mind to soothe her. “poldë, you have won: sirius is gone.” slowly he moved nearer her refuge. “come out now, little one; i would like to speak to you.” he sensed her response to the term - little one, telellë, tata! - and spoke again. “come, telellë? he is truly gone.” “promise?” “i promise,” and he wove a tendril of trustworthiness in his words. he could feel her wavering; he could afford to be patient. sure enough, her face poked out a few seconds later, scanning the room as only a small child could, passing over his standing figure. “are you sure?” “very sure. you scared him away with your fierceness.” a smile crossed her face. “father taught me how to fight. mother helped a little.” “they did a very fine job,” he assured with a straight face. “do you mind if i sit down, little one?” predictably, she swelled with pride at being addressed as an adult and waved a falsely nonchalant hand at the sofa. “of course not... a...” her face puckered with concentration. “what’s your name again?” “vader.” “a! of course not, vader.” she pronounced the name carefully, as if afraid of tripping over it. conspicuously not looking at her, he seated himself on the couch and studied the hangings on the opposite wall. a minute later, a very small weight dipped the other end of the couch, and he looked down, feigning surprise at finding her there. she blinked up at him. “you have funny hair.” “do i?” “yes. it’s all curled-up. i’ve never seen someone with curled-up hair before.” “well, i’ve never seen such an intelligent little girl before, or one with pointed ears.” “really? are you a human? i’ve never met a human before.” the sith nodded. “yes, i am. never? are you sure? what about your parents?” this time she giggled at him. “they’re not humans, silly!” “no?” he asked, with exaggerated surprise. “no!” “well, then, what are they, little one?”

“mother’s noldo, and father’s yarsukhoth.” “...yarsukhoth?” that... was not a word he’d ever heard sirius use. “yes. you know, a...” her struggle to remember the word was quite clear on her face. “a vampire,” she pronounced at last. he’d not heard that word, either. after he finished here, he would need to find the grim and ask for an explanation. “that's nice.” “i think so. mother does, too, because then when i fall down it heals faster, that’s what she says. i think it heals as fast as the other children, but she says it’s faster. i can see in the dark better than she can, too.” fascinating. “that’s always good. do you fall down much?” “no, except for that time i fell out of the talan -“ upon seeing his raised eyebrows she amended, “- our house - it’s in a tree. anyways, i fell out and something in my arm cracked funny and i had to wear a strap around it for four days. that was when i was little. i’m a big girl now, so i don’t fall any more.” his eyebrows climbed higher. “you don’t look very big to me.” “well, older then.” she pouted. “besides, mother says i’m just waiting for the right time to grow.” “if you’re sure...” he mused with a straight face. “i am!” she rebuked his doubt indignantly. “mm.” making a show of looking her over, the sith wove a bit more force into his voice. he didn’t want her to be reminded of the erstwhile sirius. “you look rather hungry. has releqy been feeding you?” surprisingly, the little girl shook her head, wispy hair whipping in an energetic halo. “no.” that answer did not match up with his knowledge of caamasi or the conversation with sirius he’d listened to. “have they been bringing you food?” she nodded her head this time. “it’s odd. it tastes good, but it’s odd.” what kind of riddle is this? as he asked his next question, he probed at the edge of her mind. “why hasn’t she been feeding you?” puzzlement flitted across her thoughts and face. “because she’s not mother or father or grandfather or grandmother or aunt mélë.” “is that all?” “father says never to feed from anyone who’s not him or mother unless it’s an emer...” “emergency?” he supplied, and she nodded. “if it’s an emergency, then i’m allowed to feed from grandmother and grandfather and aunt mélë. otherwise i’m not supposed to.” worrying at her bottom lip, she added, “but i’m really hungry. is it an emergency yet?” feed from? the child is not anzati. aloud, he answered, “i do not know, but i believe so. what do your parents say?” tiny shoulders shrugged. “i don’t know, they’re not here.” she might not sound it for her words, but the simplicity of the answer reminded him how very young she was, and, rather than ask circular questions, he delved into the memories at the front of her mind. a dark man with greasy hair and a forbidding face smiled at a woman who could only be poldë’s mother and looked down. hinya, he crooned, my daughter, my little one. releqy appeared briefly with a flashing smile as a

horde of some hideous alien flew past. the dark man cradled a child to his chest, and warmth seeped down a parched throat; a bead of crimson lingered on pale skin. somewhat unsettled, he drew back. her mind was more fragmented than any he’d delved, and he could not guess why. children were not known for ordered thoughts, but to this extent... still, vader had found what he’d been searching for. “how often does your father usually feed you?” brow wrinkled in thought, she responded. “a... every next day? i think?” he nodded. “how long has it been since you came here? she frowned at him. “i don’t know. there’s no sun here. only stars and pretty clouds.” a sigh came from him; he would need to check with releqy. “did you feed before you came here?” “i don’t think so...” wonderful. what else can... ah - that could work. “poldë,” the sith told her, “i am going to find out how long you’ve been here. if it’s been longer than three days, then i believe it counts as an emergency.” “but -“ the girl was becoming rather upset. ”i know. your grandparents and uncle are not here.” pausing, he continued, “your father would want you to feed, little one, if he knew that you were this hungry. believe me.” “but who?” she wailed. “father told me -“ triumph glittering inside, vader interrupted. “you may feed from me, hinya, it will be all right.” his tone was gentle, contrasting her wide eyes and almost panicked breathing. stretching a hand out, he stroked her hair. the child froze for one brief moment before relaxing, and he gathered the limp form against his side. excellent. “everything will be all right.” “sirius,” the sith enquired, “what exactly is an elf?” “a house elf?” “i do not know.” “house elves are tiny, ugly, and live to serve wizards.” “i see. are there any other species?” “...not to my knowledge.” “what is a vampire?” the grim looked at him with some surprise, and lord vader paused in his pacing. “what is it, grim?” “where did you hear about elves and vampires?” a smirk grew on his face as he continued. “why, from dear little poldë, of course. where else?” “oh.” sirius tilted his head. “did she have contact with house elves and vampires?” “not house elves, but to my understanding her mother is a rather different sort of elf and her father a vampire. if i knew what the terms meant, i would be most appreciative.” “...oh. that explains the hunger.” he pondered for a minute or so on the implications of such a parentage and coming through the veil, ignoring his increasingly

irate employer. however, patience was not one of the sith’s chief virtues. “grim. explain. now.” for a moment, the grim was strongly tempted to refuse - but only for a moment. vader was a powerful man even without the force. “i don’t know about any other sort of elf, but i do know some things about vampires. they typically look human, but they don’t particularly love sunlight. they don’t have fangs like most myths say, just sharp incisors, and their need for blood depends on their age. a child needs blood far more often than an adult, and can hit bloodlust if more than four days pass, depending on how young it is. for an adult, it can take up to two weeks. i’ve heard of some particularly strong-willed ones making it fifteen or sixteen days. “if that little girl’s a vampire, she probably gets blood every day, just because she’s so young. she got here three days ago, right?” he checked. vader inclined his head, and he continued. “right. so, she’s going to be fairly emotionally-unbalanced and offkilter until she either hits bloodlust or gets some blood.” he paused, considering. “i’m not even sure that alien blood would work for her, because vampire blood is fairly close to human and i’m not sure whether caamasi blood is even iron-based...” “it is not. what is bloodlust, exactly?” his eyes were intent as he stopped pacing. “eh... essentially she’ll go insane until she gets blood, and she’ll try to attack the first living being she sees. she’s too little to actually kill someone, but she could kill herself if she gets poisonous blood. of course, she’ll die if she starves, too, which would be about a day, maybe two, after she hit.” the sith resumed his pacing again, black cloak fluttering behind him. sirius’ eyes followed him back and forth. “so, did you see her parents?” he asked a few minutes later. if the sith hadn’t been in her mind at some point, he would be surprised. “yes,” came the slightly distracted answer. “one was an elf, as she knows it, a taller and older version of poldë, very tall for a human female. her father i would have called human if i did not know he was not; he had pale skin, rather greasy black hair, black eyes, and a hooked nose.” a spike of recognition and shock broke through his steps, and he turned, one eyebrow raised, to look at the grim. “so,” he observed, “you do know her father.” the man looked absolutely flabbergasted. “yeah, you could say that.” seating himself in an armchair, he pierced his employee with blue eyes. “do enlighten me, grim.” “ah - basically we attended school together, the greasy git. he’s an evil bastard who hovers over his potions nonstop and can’t leave well enough alone. i knew he had to be a vampire.” “mm. i presume you bullied him?” “he gave as good as he got!” he protested. “then how is it that his young daughter knows of you and hates you, though she must believe you are nine years dead?” “...maybe just a little,” was the grudging admission. vader smirked. “of course.” “what does it matter to you, anyway, if she hates me or not?” calmly, the sith said, “she is magical -“ ”no kidding, sherlock, if she’s got a vampire father-“

”-not to mention that she is quite intelligent for her years, and i am going to take her with us when we leave.” *****chapter**break***** tilting his head back and forth, the man gazed abstractly at the wall. “excuse me,” he remarked, “but i believe i just heard you say you were going to take the kid along. i think i’m dreaming. what were you meaning to say?” “you heard correctly.” still staring at the wall, the grim asked, “are you quite sure?” “yes.” now his head swiveled to face vader. there was no question about it; the sith was quite obviously amused. “and why,” the grim continued doggedly, “would you do something like that?” the dark lord gave the simplest answer first. “she is magical, enough for sidious to kill or use her. she must be trained and kept away from him.” “great. forgive me for my faulty memory, v, but aren’t yoda and kenobi still alive on that dungheap planet?” “they are,” came the assent.” “aren’t they still training padawans?” “yes.” vader was still smirking, darn him. “aren’t they the ones with actual experience in that sort of thing? raising a child, that is?” “yoda, at least, yes.” “great.” sirius passed a hand over his face. “don’t you live on the run?” an eyebrow raised. “sometimes.” “isn’t there a price on your head?” “quite a large one, if i recall correctly.” “have you ever had any experience raising children?” “no. get to the point, grim.” the man glared. “the point? fine! the bloody point is that the girl can go to yoda with the rest of the kids. that’s not a bloody reason for keeping her!” the sith regarded him impassively. “and then,” he said deliberately, “there is the fact that she is the child of your boyhood nemesis. you are not capable of objectivity in this area.” sirius’ eyes widened for a split second before narrowing. “not capable of objectivity, huh? well, objectivity or no, i still haven’t heard a good - not even a passable - reason. yoda and kenobi live with this sort of thing nowadays. you’ve sent other kids to ‘em. why not this brat?” “among other things, she can be passionate. jedi disdain such a thing, as you should know. i would rather she use it as a strength than call the emotion a weakness. jedi do not usually take children older than toddlers, and she is clearly past that stage, so yoda and kenobi would have difficulties training her properly.” unspoken, but heard, were the words, as they did me. the grim folded his arms over his chest and continued glaring. “all well and good, but you were older, and you still are in no position to be caring for a child - unless you

want to launch straight into training?” he sneered at the thought. “that is what the jedi would do.” “they’re not liable to be attacked - though,” he muttered under his breath, “i’m not sure i’d care too much if his get died.” for his efforts, he received a mocking glance. “you are a liar, sirius black, who speaks far before thinking. how often have i told you not to lie to me? it is not safe.” blue eyes darkened, drilling through sirius’ own. “do not forget again.” tempted to swallow, the once-intrepid grim was forcibly reminded of the man’s identity. this was not anakin skywalker. this was a sith lord who would be trifled with only to a point. still, he’d not been a lion for nothing. “who said i was lying?” he challenged. vader laughed, disdainful. “you may be force-resistant to a point, but your mind is not. enough pressure and your magic does not protect you. is this not so?” he looked pointedly at his employee’s right arm, and the man rubbed the scar there without thinking. normally, lightsabers didn’t - couldn’t - affect him, as they were constructed and wielded with the force; and, as he’d learned on corellia, the force and magic didn’t mix. but experimenting with halcyon, he’d also found that once his magical reserves were exhausted or overloaded, all bets were off. then, any force-wielder with a saber could get to the wizard. it worked both ways, of course. he couldn’t touch any jedi or sith or even untrained sensitive with a spell, because he was inherently magical while they were reservoirs of force. there were the rare exceptions, when his wizardry was strong enough to overpower the other, yet while strong, he had never been strongest, just trickiest, and those times were rare - rarer, now that sidious has killed most of them anywaystunned, he made the connection. “that’s the reason you want her.” “it is one of them, certainly. if she is magical, she would be wasted with the jedi. and there is the possibility that, as a vampire...” he paused deliberately, allowing the other to draw his own conclusions. “...i see. but, ‘one?’” “i find myself fond of the girl. she is... much like my own daughter could have been, if she had lived.” and that, the grim knew, was far more of a reason than vader would ever let on. his child was dead. with this one, he could regain that and wreak havoc on the man who had stolen it in the first place. though the girl might be the git’s, he doubted that he could ever refuse vader a chance for a family. all of his was gone; and so he sighed. “it’s convenient, i suppose. the only other two people who speak english would be around to teach and interpret, and i’m the only one who could teach her wizardry.” even if he’d never considered teaching in his life, let alone to one of his, of all people... “indeed. though i do not believe she will accept training from you until you convince her of your error.” “oh, kreth. one of his - she’s going to be as stubborn as he is!” “i would suggest that you be very convincing. in fact, you may even need to convince yourself.” “yeah.” sirius sighed, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. “why me?” without even looking, he could hear the smirk in that voice. “do you really want an answer to that question?” he didn’t move, attempting to ignore the sith lord - right, like that’ll ever happen -

and heaved another sigh... and sat up as the thought wrapped insidious tendrils around his brain. “wait a minute. who’s going to feed her? she’s too young - she has to develop a parent-bond or her mind will go haywire.” the grim was surprised to see the sith nod his head in a smug way. “i imagined that might be the reason - her mind is already fragmenting, grim.” “already?” sitting up, he caught his employer’s eyes. “she hasn’t even hit bloodlust - her mind should be fine still...” “tell me: how would a severe psychological trauma impact that?” “she’s a child! anything hugely disturbing is going to mess with a kid’s mind if they don’t get help for it. but i still don’t think the mere separation -“ ”it is not only the separation. a different sort of violence is present, perhaps the one that made her cross. but there are blood and pain and fear near the surface of her thoughts. her parents may already be dead, sirius.” “oh - oh, no... poor kid, parents dead, starving, lost in a different dimension -“ ”the child of your enemy -“ he glared at his vastly too smug employer. “yeah, yeah, laugh it up. like that really matters!” “it did a few moments ago. have you changed your mind on the matter of the child since then?” turning away, he muttered under his breath about mind-reading force-wielders. “so you expect me to bond her, then?” already he was certain of the answer - but his head whipped around at the response. “no.” “no?” he repeated, stunned. “absolutely not.” “but i thought - i don’t understand, milord.” “obviously.” vader paused, waiting for sirius to regain a bit of his composure. “she is magical - but she is also what you call a vampire that feeds off of blood. there have been experiments done in the past, of which you are not aware, wherein blood transfusion was attempted as a means of inducing force-sensitivity.” the grim had indeed never heard of these. “what happened?” he breathed, spellbound. “nothing,” vader replied, simply. “the midichlorians were rejected as being foreign to the body.” “then what...?” “if blood is truly what she feeds on, then it stands to reason that the midichlorians would be accepted and metabolized.” “but isn’t that impossible? the force and magic can’t mix -“ ”or such has been the conclusion to this point. you are not a vampire.” sirius had to admit that his employer had a point. if it was the vampirism that would make the coexistence of magic and the force possible, then he would not be an acceptable test subject; and there was no equivalent in this dimension save the anzati, and he was not about to test that hypothesis. the anzati might not be dementors, but their kiss was just as fatal. “so you’re going to bond her yourself.” nodding, the sith answered, “yoda and kenobi would not be suitable for such, assuming they considered it ethical at all. i would not entrust a magical child with such

needs to them.” “yet you think you’re any better? i think i have to ask this, vader - are you just using her as a weapon?” that, he wouldn’t allow. she might be his child, but she was still a child. no person should ever be used as a chess-piece instead of a sentient being, especially one that young. in return for his insolence, he felt a swift hold clench around his thoughts. a frigid voice demanded inside his mind. sirius’ magic began rising about him in a half-visible cloud, but was overpowered by the sith’s more powerful grasp of the force. “i don’t forget,” he gritted out. “but she’s a child, not a tool!” faster than he could blink, the hold on him was loosed. “i happen to share your opinion,” his employer told him in conversational tones. “i would not bond her if i did not, as tying myself to an unknown equation would not be strategically sound. i do not know yet what it will require from me, but i will not leave that child to die or bond an unsuitable being. as i said, i appreciate her intelligence and behavior.” “fine. i can understand that. but if you really are going to, you might want to be fast.” the grim gave a sardonic smile. “i think she might go mad, otherwise - and then what?” “i am aware of that fact; but will it work before gaining her trust? though she does not distrust me as she does you, she certainly doesn’t see me as a parental figure.” “good point.” he mulled the problem over. “and i think you might have to do it when she hits bloodlust, anyway, since you’re not her natural-born father. you have a day - maybe. if she was fed right before she arrived. otherwise, you’re in trouble.” “what about synthesized blood as a delaying mechanism?” “it never worked at home,” the grim responded, and vader gave a curt nod of his head. “besides, the sooner the better. if she’s unbalanced-“ his ethics screamed at him for this discussion of blatant manipulation -“it’ll be easier to get her to trust you, and the next time she’ll be a bit too settled.” he paused, remembering releqy. caamasi could be very protective. “you might want to tell them that i’ll be taking her, though. i don’t think they like you very much.” the response was droll. “no, i had not been aware of that.” “sure, v, sure you weren’t. seriously, i’ll get releqy to let the kid stay here for the next day or two,” gesturing at the quarters, “so ‘i can watch her.’” “i would prefer to leave as soon as possible.” ice-blue eyes met grey, and sirius ran a hand through his hair. “well...” “i do not want the caamasi influencing her. nor do i desire to attempt to bond a mad vampire youngling on their ship, where disturbance is not only possible but probable.” “what’s wrong with caamasi?” he retorted, but conceded the point. “i’ll tell them we have to leave, then, immediately, and take her with us. a dose of sirius charm never hurt anything.” “except for your tentative talk with poldë.” “well... yeah, but that was her father’s fault.”

“of course it was. stars forbid it should be yours,” the sith commented in dry tones. “go, grim. i want to be back with my fleet.” “yes, your highness, getting right on it, your highness. anything else you want while i’m at it?” he demanded insouciantly. catching a glimpse of the building irritation on vader’s face, he wheeled and apparated to the other side of the door. no need for any more force-tricks today - there were caamasi to be sweet-talked, and no better wizard for the job. poldë huddled in the corner of her couch. it was soft and comforting, but the tree of her talan sang to her, and the fountains in nargothrond were softer. the laurelië, the caamasi were nice, and releqy was gentle, but amil’s voice was sweeter. tata’s arms were stronger than this metal beast that carried her, and safer. she wanted to go home. she hurt. first her tummy had hurt, like it did when she played and played and didn’t stop when amil said to come and eat, then when it didn’t stop her head had hurt, too. now she hurt everywhere, and she was shaking, and she didn’t know why. tiny bumps on her skin stood up, and she stared at them. poldë had never seen those on herself before. but she didn’t really care, because she was too hungry to care. all that she wanted was tata and amil. the little girl shivered again without understanding why. the urqui had come, the twisted ones, and eldar had screamed at her and swung swords at the urqui. and sometimes the urqui fell down, and that was scary, too, but good. sometimes, though, the eldar had fallen down with blood on them, and they didn’t get back up, and she didn’t know why because they didn’t look any different from when they were sleeping, but they felt different, and she was scared. then there were more urqui than eldar, and the urqui fell down but they just kept coming, and coming, and amil told her to leave and go hide somewhere. so she ran to where tata’s curtain was, because that was where he was right now, and she ran through to find him, even though she knew she wasn’t supposed to. but tata wasn’t here, only the bad man sirius black and the laurelië and the tall one called vader who was nice to her. they all felt funny, too, like they had eaten some bad berries or leaves and were sick. almost they felt like the eldar who didn’t get up, but none of them felt like tata, or like amil, even if they spoke tata’s language. tata. wrapping her arms around her legs, she whimpered. she missed him, and she was so hungry, but he wasn’t here. no-one was here. except vader, her thoughts reminded her. he said if it’s emergency i can feed. but when is it emergency? after he talks to the laurelië? the tall man all in black almost reminded her of tata, but he felt sad. lonely. she didn’t know why, though, with all of these other people. maybe he got lost, too? anyway, he was her friend now, so he shouldn’t be lonely. only she was... “tata,” she whimpered aloud, softly. “tata.” “so, how long’s she been here again?” “three days. sirius, you know what she will say if she walks in to say hello...” ylenic it’kla’s voice held a distinctly amused tone. “yeah, yeah,” the grim responded - but did not remove his feet from the low table. “it’s priceless, it’s rude, what happened to me on corellia - i get the picture.” “and yet you don’t worry.” the caamasi shook his head. “perhaps she has a point

about corellia.” “what, you think nejaa was gonna teach me bad habits?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “not... necessarily, but those corellian jedi are known for a certain - disregard - of regulations. besides, knowing you, i somehow doubt you stayed with him long. who took you off his hands, horn?” “got it in one. great guy.” “that’s exactly what i was afraid of. i suppose i can blame him for your current occupation?” “well... mostly. kind of. almost.” a small smile was creeping onto ylenic’s face. “now, tell me, how did i know you would say that?” “dunno. it sure wasn’t the force.” “true enough. are you going to tell me what happened?” “officially, or unofficially?” it was the caamasi’s turn to convey a certain sardonic amusement. “let’s try the unofficial one. we may have heard the official, already.” “probably.” the grim sat up. “well, horn got me thinking about what it is i do best, and we figured that i like new places and i’m fairly good in a fight, and that i have an advantage over most folks because of my magic. so on corellia, that means corsec or smuggling. i tried corsec for a few months, but -“ ”-got tired of it and went into smuggling?” the wizard laughed. “nope. you think either of ‘em would’ve let me go free? but anyway, he got me thinking about, well, being a bodyguard. i could pick my assignments, and travel, and it was something i was good at.” ylenic nodded slowly. “yes, that would be a fairly accurate description of you, my friend. so how did this lead to your current position?” “eh... let’s just say i took the wrong contract.” he put his feet down and sat up, then, catching his friend’s eyes. “look, i don’t know how much you know about the whole situation with vader and the council and the emperor back there, but this absolutely cannot go further than this room. got me?” he waited for the nod to come, then continued. “remember anakin skywalker?” “the naboo incident with the sith - and the beginning of the war. i remember him.” “right. well, he kinda took a file out of corellia’s book and got himself married to naboo’s senator, padme amidala.” while the caamasi jedi was quite obviously surprised, he said nothing. “she got pregnant with twins, and he started having nightmares of the prophetic kind. what with the war, he didn’t want to take any chances, and he’d heard about me from some assignment with nejaa, so that’s where he came.” now the grim shook his head. “maybe if i’d turned him down, things would be different - i don’t know.” ylenic leaned forward across the table with focused eyes - he looked almost like some kind of hawk, sirius reflected. “what happened?” “bantha fodder happened. senator palpatine, anakin’s friend and mentor, the guy with so much power over the senate? turns out he’s the sith lord that’s been sending his apprentices at us for so long, and he figured out how to turn anakin by playing off of his

fears for his wife. then he sent his new apprentice off to kill the heads of the separatists while he took care of the jedi. anywhere there were troops, they killed them - the jedi, i mean. he’d sent vader - that would be anakin - to the jedi temple, but he wasn’t about to kill kids that weren’t even padawans yet, so he’d hid all of them somewhere before going to mustafa.” “where were you in all of this?” “watching padme. she didn’t know i was there, but i wasn’t about to let her get killed or hurt in the confusion. anakin would’ve had my head, and i didn’t know he was vader yet, so i still thought palpatine was a good guy - good enough, anyway. he came in and did some trick with the force i’ve never seen before, something with lightning, and i couldn’t do anything.” the grim shook his head and sighed. “he was too powerful - even stronger than yoda, as strong as vader and maybe more, and he had all of these years of experience. i couldn’t do anything to even try to stop him. the sithspawn killed padme, marked her up with a ‘saber to make it look like it had been a jedi, and took off, and i couldn’t do anything but watch.” his head dropped into his hands as he remembered that day, the charred flesh permeating the air with its stench and the horror of that broken body, and the distinct feeling of powerlessness. a bodyguard who could do nothing to protect his charge, helpless... he supposed he was broadcasting the image despite his magic, because ylenic reached across the table to touch him with a golden hand. “it wasn’t your fault - but you know that, don’t you, sirius black?” “yeah,” he answered, “but that doesn’t mean i don’t feel it from time to time.” heaving a sigh, he picked his head back up with an air of determination to go on. “when vader came back, i told him. he nearly went nuts. the younglings at the temple had almost been enough to get him to leave sidious, if not the dark he was using right then. padme - well, let’s just say he leveled the senate and quite a few nearby buildings before he took off.” he received a dubious look. “and he didn’t direct any of that at you?” the bodyguard shrugged. “no. there was no logical reason - and besides, people like me. most of the time.” “of course.” the jedi paused. “i almost dread to ask what happened next.” “palpatine declared himself emperor, and he controlled all the armies, and all of the jedi - or most, anyway - were dead. so vader gave the kids to yoda and kenobi to go hide somewhere, then declared himself the leader of the rebellion, which, of course, he had to more or less build from the ground up. he kept me around for a while as his second - but that got boring. so now i’m an ‘independent agent’ reporting only to him.” he gave out a smug grin. “i’m also the only one that gets to tease him about anakin, or sidious, or any of the other fun stuff.” sitting back in his chair, he watched the other man process the information. it only took a few moments before ylenic sat back himself and commented, “you got your wish, i suppose. i would not imagine you get bored often, now.” the grim gave out an edged smile. “back home we have a saying, a curse really,” he told the caamasi. “‘may you live in interesting times.’” “i suppose it fell on you after you angered someone?” “how could you think such a thing? ylenic, my friend, i’m hurt!” he protested, but the grin ruined the effect.

“i’m sure.” “really! ...well, a little. not much.” a few moments of comfortable silence passed between them, both relaxing in the presence of friends even as ylenic considered events from the new light of information and sirius pondered the poldë situation. eventually, it was the former that broke it. “do you realise that you are broadcasting again?” the grim scowled at himself. “bloody mind-reading jedi,” he grumbled. “i need to figure out how to stop doing that. magic only goes so far.” “so it would seem,” replied ylenic with a tolerant smile before sobering. “i hear that the youngling recognises you?” “unfortunately. apparently her father’s one of my boyhood rivals.” “there is no light, then, that you can shed on the situation?” “actually...” he hesitated, but only for a moment. “i’d like to take her with us. i dare say it might even be necessary.” “how so? keep in mind that you are proposing to take a child into the center of a war.” “yeah, i know.” running a hand through his hair, he sighed. “look, the thing is, she’s not really human, even my type of human. she’s what my world calls a vampire, and she has to have blood to survive, so right now she’s actually starving because you caamasi don’t know and don’t have iron-based blood. as the only one who knows anything about vampires - and the only one who can speak her language - i feel something of an obligation.” carefully, he told only the truth that the jedi needed to know. “we are more than capable of acquiring an animal with iron-based blood - i assume stored will not work?” “not at all. but the problem with an animal is that she’s so young she actually has to have a parent bond and drink from only one person, two at the most. otherwise she’ll go crazy. she already is, a little bit, according to vader.” inside, he winced. mentioning vader might not have been the most politic thing to do, but how else was he supposed to convince them that poldë couldn’t stay? but the caamasi gave an unwilling nod. “i’d seen that her mind was unusually fragmented. i assumed that it was the trauma of transport, as was the case with you,” he stated, making a tacit reference to sirius’ certainty of fever and hallucinations when he’d come through the veil. “she’s magical, too. if she doesn’t get trained bad things happen - and there is no way you can find another person to train her.” “true enough. so why do you not leave the war and stay here? you aren’t in a position of command, or so you say.” the caamasi had a point, the grim had to admit. a very strong point. but there was something he’d not considered yet. “ylenic, listen. if sidious finds out about magic, what do you think he’ll do to that girl? you aren’t strong enough to protect her, and you can’t give her what she needs even though i know you would, and you’d probably be better at it than me - but if she goes with us, there is no way that palpatine is going to get to her.” ylenic it’kla looked back at him. “nothing is certain, sirius, neither life nor death. yet if she goes, then she will be exposed to a sith regardless, and war, and death, and cruel decisions, at a far younger age than she has the right to be. can you tell me, in all honesty, baring your thoughts for me to see, that this would not happen?”

“...no. all i can tell you is that she can’t stay here.” “will she die if she doesn’t receive training? you could just as easily send her to yoda and kenobi.” “and let kenobi bond her?” the grim released a cynical bark of laughter. “no thanks. he did poor enough with anakin.” “better than giving her to a sith and a war, perhaps.” sighing, sirius closed his eyes, then opened them again. “i can’t promise you she won’t get hurt, ylenic. all i can promise is that i’ll try to protect her. and frankly - you don’t have much time to make a decision. if something doesn’t happen soon, she’s going to completely around the bend. you’re going to have to choose between the lesser of your two evils, and fast.” *****chapter**break***** “poldë...” bright, so very bright that amil said ‘twas like laurelin had never died. leaves were emeralds - or were emeralds leaves? she couldn’t tell, but the leaves were prettier than the old rocks anyway, even if king felagund liked them as amil said he did. king felagund, after all, was a grown-up, and who could tell why they did things? maybe he really liked the leaves better after all, and that was why he was always going away to the forest instead of staying in nargothrond with the rest of the important people. she liked the forest better too, like tata did, even though amil had taken her twice to nargothrond to see the things there, and she’d seen the emeralds like snake-eyes with flowers, and the king, and she’d clapped because his hair was bright gold leaf gold sun gold just like hers. and there were fountains there, and they were pretty, but not so pretty or loudsinging as the waterfall that she saw when tata took her to hunt, and the people were so very many that almost she wanted to go away to where the birds sang and the waterfall sang and everything was gold and green, but she didn’t because amil was happy to see friends because it’s been a yen since last seen and pass her to this nís and that nér and talk about tata and her even if poldë didn’t really like this place. home was better, with tata and amil and waterfalls singing and leaves whispering stories at her and ammeseler and atarotorno smiling. (but ammeseler wasn’t smiling, now, she was still still still like the butterfly that fell by her house that fall and red that was supposed to be inside and unseen spilled all over the gold leaves while atarotorno fought-) “poldë-” -and the urqui came and there was red everywhere and swordblades were red over dirty ugly iron and she stared because she didn’t know what to do and atarotorno shouted at her to run poldë run telellë run far away, and so she ran because she was scared and everything was bad “wake up, child, you’re here but she wasn’t here, she was there, with the urqui and the red covering the gold until nothing was beautiful, nothing sang, only screamed and cried and bellowed, and the nothing stole the urqui and the eldar when the red spilled and there was the curtain, there, and she knew she wasn’t supposed to go through it but she had to find tata so he could make the screaming and the red stop and there was an urco behind her reaching for her smiling a smile that made her scream because she was so so scared, and she ran -

“i don’t understand, v, she won’t wake - it’s like she’s in a coma, almost, but the way she’s screaming -“ -and then there was someone else bigger than tata and atarotorno all black like night and caves and the space between the stars, and he was in between her and the urco and he had a sword, too, only it was star-blue and narrow and it shone and he swung it and it hissed and crackled and the urco fell down but there was no red, and he looked at her and she knew him but she didn’t remember his name. he looked at the curtain, and then she did too, and there were things on the other side of it now, bright silver things like isil hanging in the sky but not isil because the archer was smooth and these were lumpy and looked like the rocks at nargothrond where they were still building things and she stared, because she was still afraid but it was a different kind of afraid. then he reached down and picked her up and he wasn’t tata but he was strong, and she curled up and hid her face underneath his chin and she felt his arms hug her tighter, and he walked outside where the red was, and he looked and looked, but she closed her eyes and tried to be even smaller. and he was walking again back inside, and she opened her eyes to warn him about the curtain, but he walked right through like tata did and then the bright things disappeared and the stars disappeared and everything disappeared and she couldn’t see at all, but he was still there holding her, and then she heard him say poldë telellë wake up now, this is a dream (but she knew it was memory) but he told her to wake up, so she closed her eyes -and she felt him holding her, and a gentle hand caressed her cheek, and she turned her head to press her face against it and cried, because she was still scared and lost and hungry and because ammeseler wouldn’t get up. “poor kid,” she heard a voice say, and she knew she should be mad at the bad man still but she couldn’t when he stroked her hair, over and over, and anyway he wasn’t as bad as the urqui with their iron swords and red. but he wasn’t the one holding her, because both of vader’s arms were wrapped tight and she didn’t think that he was going to let go soon at all. that made her feel safer, even if she was still crying, because he was good and her friend and he had made her stop remembering and he was so strong. “what did you see?” she heard sirius ask him, but she couldn’t care about it. “monsters and blood. grim - if her parents were not taken it is a miracle. she is truly an orphan by death and not mere separation.” did he mean that tata and amil were dead? she clung to him tighter, clutching her hands at his robes, and sobbed the harder. so much red on the ground, and nothing was right any more. sirius cursed, briefly, in his thoughts. as if this sithspawned dimension-switching mess weren’t bad enough, a child that young had to watch her family getting killed? it was beyond all reason - no wonder vader’d told him her mind was a mess. his would be, too - and he’d seen war and death and violence before, as an auror, a bodyguard, and even as a teen on full moons. and we'll be taking her to a place where she's only going to see more of that - maybe ylenic's right. maybe i should just leave it and stay here. the sith looked up at him, face unreadable, and he realized that the thought had, once again, been heard. it's true, though, he told his employer silently, confident that he'd hear. she's just a child - just a toddler. i didn't even see what happened, and i pity her. turning his head back down to poldë, he sent the response. as you say. but what else is there? do you think kenobi would suffice for a broken child? regardless of your

affectations, you know your place in the war - and there are and will be many more younglings, do not doubt it, if you leave. i know. i just wish i didn't. gently, as if it were something far more fragile and precious than mere glass, he stroked the pale strands away from the girl's face. i did not wish for this, either - but it is what we have. sirius thought that, if vader had not been holding poldë, he would have sighed heavily. and yes, grim, i saw. i saw. i saw tusken raiders and i saw her monsters overlaid and interchanged, and i saw the victims. she sees differently than we, did you know? she watched and knew when the life went out of each alike, even if she did not recognize it. and now she is so fragile, so delicate that i almost do not know what to do. he paused, there, and the bodyguard wondered if vader himself was tempted to leave the war - but that was a thought that he suppressed as swiftly as it came. if the sith took note of it, he did not comment, only murmured reassurances to the tiny being in his arms. when are you going to tell her? instead of words in answer, he received a sense of resignation. “poldë, telellë - there is something that you need to know, about your parents and about this place.” the little girl sniffed and kept her head down, but listened. “you cannot go back - and your tata and amil cannot come here.” sirius cocked an ear at the unfamiliar words, but kept his mouth shut. “why?” “because they do not know where you are.” “why can’t i go back?” “telellë - it only is one way. you came through, but it will not let you go back. besides, if you went back the urqui would still be there, and i do not want them to get you.” she was quiet, for a few moments, at that, and then - “you told the bad man that tata and amil are dead.” “i believe that they are.” there was silence for a few minutes after that, stretching out in muffled tears. sirius continued stroking her hair, though he didn’t know what comfort it gave when the child was clinging to the other man as if she were drowning. he watched, anyway, and cast a perimeter warding beneath his breath. this was enough without any added distractions. it was not every day he and a sith lord kidnapped children from caamasi ships - hopefully, with the child’s consent. the nightmare was difficult to take into account as the plan stood, but he was confident of their ability to play this off. sure enough, vader spoke before another minute had passed. “telellë.” she looked up at him through filmed eyes. “if this is not an emergency, then i do not know what is, but the caamasi cannot feed you, and i cannot stay here.” “but you promised...” poldë protested, eyes wide in renewed fear. “child, i must fight a war against an evil man, one who would kill even more than the urqui did.” “but -“ she began, but was interrupted. ”that is why i must ask you if you want to come with me.” he paused. “it would be a new home, for you, if you could want one. and i would promise to stay with you.” “tata and amil say -“ the reflexive start trailed off. “i want tata!”

“he is not here,” reminded vader softly. “but i am. do you want to come with me, telellë?” she stared at him. “you’re lonely,” announced the child suddenly. “you’re all alone, too. do you really promise?” as she demanded the promise from the dark lord, the grim watched. to the best of his remembrance, she looked nearly like a legilimens and nothing like a human. fey was the best word he could find, and he shivered a bit. yet vader did not hesitate. “i promise.” “but what if you are killed?” the child worried at her lip. “i will try very hard not to be, poldë,” came the answer in all seriousness, though the other man fought valiantly to suppress a snicker. “i will go with you, then.” she ducked her head against his shoulder without, it seemed, any intentions of every coming up. sirius did chuckle, then, and the sith actually smiled before speaking. “we must go fast, if we go. the caamasi do not want you to leave them, child. they would try to take you away from me.” this was enough to snap her head up with eyes blazing defiance. “no!” the grim winced as a surge of uncontrolled magic rocked the room, lifting the couch and slamming it back down. the place setting at the low table rattled and rolled off the edge, clattering along the floor as it went. with another grimace he recalled that this was a vampire close to bloodlust, and a child at that - the magic would only get worse until it hit. “vader!” he called to draw his attention from the near-frantic girl in his arms. “if you want to be off this ship beforehand, you’ve got all of about ten, fifteen minutes!” that was enough to move the sith to action. shifting his burden so as to use one arm only, he strode to the doorway. the grim moved in front of him, wand drawn, disillusioning himself before advancing to point. proximity alarms preceded general disinterest charms as he stalked down the corridors to the bay, his employer following, attempting to calm poldë but failing. for a moment, the incongruity struck him: this was a caamasi ship. what danger was there in a ship of pacifists? but habits die hard, and he continued - it would be all to their advantage to get away unnoticed. his attempts to convince ylenic of his cause had proved, as he’d half-expected, futile. had it been merely him, merely the grim that the jedi knew and respected, things might have been different - but there was no denying the interest vader had taken in the child. the caamasi had remained steadfast. there were ships he knew, and people, he said, where she would be safe. lack of control over her magic was an acceptable price for peace, for a youngling already traumatized so. given the time, he might have been able to sway his mind even then; his employer was not willing to spare that time, regarding the girl’s care. stealing her away was, for now, the best option. or at least it would be, he reflected, if she’d stop sending magic everywhere! no use asking v to calm her down, either. he doubted that anything could at this point, short of shutting down her entire system, and that was something... that actually doesn’t sound like such a bad idea - how much energy does it take to do that, anyway? stealing a glance behind, he rejected the idea. he’s already got his hands full. we need to make this fast. a door was open in the hallway ahead. darting forward, he paused before he reached it to take full advantage of the disillusionment. around the edge he saw an older caamasi male reading a datapad. “stupefy,” he murmured, with a small amount of force,

and the caamasi went limp in his chair, to awake twenty minutes later with no recollection of the passersby. there was really only one aboard this ship that he needed to worry about. ylenic it’kla, as a jedi, no longer followed the strict laws of pacifism, and was quite capable of drawing saber to ensure another’s safety. true, ylenic was his friend - but he’d also left him unconvinced, and in order to protect poldë from the sith he’d be fierce as an enraged hippogriff. and as a jedi, it was quite possible that he would detect any major disturbance aboard the ship and come to investigate; the grim wasn’t entirely sure how much of the energy vader was expending was to calm the girl and how much was to fuzz the caamasi’s perceptions, but he willing to bet that it was a lot. still and all, if something alerted him... their best bet was for stealth and speed. now if only she’d stop rocking the ship with her fear - his wards were nowhere near sufficient for dealing with that much magic. it would take him several days to erect ones that were up to the challenge of the overloaded emotions of a vampiric and magical child, especially one terrified out of her wits. technically angry, too, and starving, but all of it’s being driven by that fear - what was it ylenic quoted at me, that once? anakin, too - and he reflexively looked back, again, to make sure that vader was following. the black cloak snarled about the sith like a menacing thestral, and against it the tiny child seemed to glow like the legends of the fey folk muggle-born students held in awe. it was an almost imperceptible thing, not quite there at all, sensed more than seen - but it was there, and at that moment convinced him that, whatever her other half was, it was not human. more open doors, four this time, and so near it was hard for him to check them. one was empty, but the others held occupants. six or so younglings laughed in one, not noticing when their door was slipped shut; one sketched, back to the door, in the next, before slipping down with a sigh. but the last held adults, awake and aware, more than a few, and the grim was forced to resort to more unusual methods. he heard a muffled exclamation of shock as the door pulled shut and promptly turned into a very large boulder blocking the entrance - if only the old tabby could see me now - and gave it a dirty look. undoubtedly they’d call for help, but they were near enough the hangar now that it shouldn’t matter. unless, of course, ylenic was, by some spectacularly unlucky coincidence, even closer than themselves... but a quick scan ahead showed no caamasi and no open doors, and he slipped along the corridor as fast as he dared, looming darker shadow always behind. this stealth was familiar, or had become so over the past years as first bodyguard and then spy, his late acknowledgment of his familial legacy. the presence of his employer was not as common, but hardly unwelcome as such an efficient comrade - or was it lord to his liege? he never was entirely certain now; he hadn’t been for nearly seven years. the hangar bay was open. the grim growled under his breath. it was not entirely unforeseeable, but it would have been much more pleasant had the bay been empty. now he’d have to deal with at least one person and very likely several under more difficult conditions. i bet it’s ylenic, that would be just too rich. unfortunately, there was no way to tell save by checking and magic wouldn’t help him against a jedi, only protect. warily he edged through, motioning vader to wait, ghosting slowly along the wall. if it was it’kla, the disillusionment charm would be of no use - if not, there was no point in moving too quickly and spoiling it anyway. could he afford to ask the sith to check

and run the risk of disturbing his concentration on keeping the child under some modicum of control? what the heck - if it’s ylenic, it won’t matter anyway once we know where he is, and if it’s not, we’re out of here all the faster. he clicked his fingers once, wishing that he had a more effective way of telling the other to listen up, then waited. yes? came the voice, more tense than not. how many in the hangar bay, and who. i don’t have much attention to spare i know. this is it. there were a few moments of silence that could not have been cut with a lightsaber. four. no jedi - far left, occupied. got it. letting his wand slide easily through his fingers, he stalked the caamasi mechanics as the grim he was named for, silent and invisible as death - until the first thin red beam toppled someone, and the others reacted. not fast enough, though - a second fell before any had moved, and a third didn’t dodge as fast as he needed. the last one managed to get on the other side of a small shuttle before being stunned; however, sirius had known the answer to that dilemma for a long time. a shield, airtight and soundproof, shimmered into existence over the shuttle and four caamasi. their own small craft was waiting. as always, he paused a moment to admire the phantom prototype. his femme fatale was at the top of her league, equally suited as a fighter and a spy. the cloaking device might still be finicky at times, but enough cajoling and some reparo’s usually did the trick - and the assorted paper-pushers over at r&d assured him that the lingering bugs were being eliminated as fast as they were found. rank hath its privileges, he smirked. ah, but she’s a beaut. and then, a touch more possessively, v better not have bollixed anything up with his tinkering. he was even more protective of his ship than he had been of his motorcycle - the bike never made it into space, and had never been equipped with multiple laser cannons. this, on the other hand, could - and did - save his rear upon occasion, and he was highly reluctant to let anyone else touch her. vader was the only person with regular access and the ability to modify certain aspects of his girl, and only then because the modifications worked as he said they would and didn’t backfire. usually. least he’s better at it than those krething piles of bantha fodder who call themselves mechanics. the crane wasn’t in position, nor was the elevator hatch, but a small button on the remote opened another entrance in the side. swish and flick - “wingardium leviosa!” and the fighter rose to hover six meters from the deck. with the split concentration born only of very long practice, he turned his wand again on himself, chanting a feather-light spell. crouching, he leapt upwards, catching the edge of the hatch and swinging himself in, then cancelled the charm, focus once more on maintaining the ship’s height. across the bay, a menacing shade strode in, child still subtly incongruous against the black robes. he did not glance about, confident in his employee’s skills, but continued, swift as a prowling direwolf, to the femme fatale. the sith did look up, then, blue eyes narrowed to judge the distance. in a coiled spring, force-assisted, he reached the hatch, and the grim caught at his arm to steady him until he regained his balance and the entryway closed. normally, now, vader would take the cockpit out of courtesy, but his attention was currently even more divided than that of his employee’s. the magical turbulence had

neither stopped nor decreased, but at least it had not grown, though poldë was visibly trembling when he glanced to the copilot’s seat. sirius really didn’t care to consider the alternative, if the sith lord took his attention off of calming her, but that left him with piloting the fighter while supporting it magically until they were out of the caamasi ship not to mention the task of opening the bay. still, he’d had years of experience now with situations such as this, and his fingers sped with practiced ease over the consoles, connecting to the shipboard computers and opening the hangar bay. atmosphere drained with a hiss, but the doors had closed and the shield would protect the four caamasi until they were long gone. a distinct pressure began to build behind his eyes at his split concentration and extended use of magic. resolutely he ignored it. exit clear, that fragment of his attention turned to the fatale herself, keying her tripled ion engines to life and turning her to face the deep well of space. the craft purred contentedly, and the grim smiled, guiding her out of the bay, letting her rest just inside the shields as he switched focus yet again to close the bay. it was only a short distance, then, to exit the shields, and he let the levitation charm drop with an explosive sigh. the pressure had increased to pain, but he wasn’t yet done, and as such couldn’t allow it to distract him as he programmed the coordinates and activated the cloaking - it worked, this time, probably because of the sith’s tinkering. not that i have to tell him that... he threw a switch and the colorful panorama of hyperspace opened around him. leaning back and daring to set his feet on the console, he massaged the knotted flesh at the base of his skull, and then turned to look at the man and child in the copilot’s chair. ********chapter***break********* the waves of magic stopped, all in an instant, and he blinked - and froze, staring at the equally motionless child. years as a wizard screamed at him to move, to get out of the way of the predator that was about to strike. he overrode the instincts. a fully-trained auror and bodyguard of ten years, he was not going to cower from a child he could lift with one hand. vader had a death-grip on her, it appeared, and even vampiric strength wouldn’t allow one so tiny to wrest away from someone so much larger. but it would allow her to surprise him... poldë began to keen, a shrill, high-pitched sound that made him wince. deliberately, he moved his hand in front of her face. bloodshot eyes snapped to track it, and he heard her breathing speed up as it came nearer her face and then stopped, hovering just out of reach. the little girl growled at him, contorting her face in a snarl too fierce for one so small, and moved her head as if to try to bite. the grim raised his eyes to his employer’s, and nodded. loosing his grip in order to secure a better hold, vader twisted the child away from sirius and pressed her head against his shoulder. her face turned into his neck in eager search of sustenance. the other man watched a minute wince fleet across the sith’s face, then he seemed to slump, muscles relaxing involuntarily. sighing, he closed his eyes there should be more than enough time to catch some rest, and the other two weren’t going to be moving any time soon. chaos - hunger and fear warred for precedence in a mind already splitting. vader

saw the cockpit of the small ship superimposed over a maelstrom of memories, darting too quickly to catch more than flashes - green leaves gold and warm arms quick quick silver in water - saw a moving hand, felt the quickened breath as hunger made a brief victory over fear. the grim nodded, but he sensed more than saw the affirmation amid the snarling. drawing from memories not his own, he turned her to the joining of shoulder and throat. the sting of teeth carried no more pain than a scraped knee raw against hot sand, and as her attention focused on the blood welling from the shallow slash, he turned his will inwards. this, now, was confusion and effort. chosen one indeed - strong in the force - but magic didn’t care for that, baring its teeth against the sith’s maneuvering. he could overwhelm it, as he had prior, and turn it to his will, but he could not control it completely. it resented him, though it was weaker than sirius’ and more disordered, and snapped when he moved amidst it. yet it was lonely, he saw, and incomplete, with a gaping wound where something had once been - the parent-bond broken? he withdrew, ever so slightly, and watched as poldë’s magic shifted from its aggressive pose to begin repairing her body. yet - strangely, it was healing itself, and faster than the magic could move, and the magic, where the odd healing was taking place, was useless, gesture expended and wasted. slipping tendrils of thought and force beneath its attention, he probed the wound to the mind. within a few moments, he realized, and the knowledge was cold: i cannot remake this bond by force, nor by force. poldë was magical and not force-sensitive, and too young to control the magic even so much as the grim’s poor attempts. the magic itself would not allow a force-bond, and a compelled one would merely damage the mind further yet. there was nothing to allow a beneficial binding; there was no foundation of similarity. so, then. not now - but she is starving, and will take as much as i allow, and assimilate it. her magic will not wage war with that perceived as nourishment. and then, it was a simple matter of waiting for the next crisis. it couldn’t be long - this had taken but four, perhaps five days - and then the bond would be easy to construct, especially as it was his midichlorians spreading through her body and changing it. a week was not a difficult price to pay - say years, instead; will it not take at least that time to bring her to full strength and to train her? the sith lord closed his eyes and set to monitoring the biological changes as the child lapped, greedy, at his blood. without need of setting his concentration to building a bond, he could learn more of this odd design that required blood to live. vampire genetics aside, he did not believe the girl was human - there was no decay and rapid replacing of the cells on the molecular level, and the stresses on certain cells appeared older than the three years the grim had assumed - closer to ten, or perhaps twelve. strange... why should this be? if this was a side effect of being a vampire, he presumed it would have been mentioned. no - it was from the elven genes; now he was curious, because neither he nor his subordinate knew of the slow aging this implied. sirius had been having a very nice dream in which palpatine had been turned into a rat (not dissimilar to that traitor’s form) and been snapped up by a hungry cat, while dear cousin bellatrix laughed like the loon she had been transfigured into. moony chased

the bird in circles and old horn took potshots at a scaly-faced monstrosity with red eyes. and then a sound rudely interrupted his dream, and he opened his eyes. the tableau wasn’t entirely unfamiliar, no. v was still more-or-less motionless with that completely abstracted look he got when his mind wasn’t present, and poldë hadn’t yet let go of his neck. but the little fey child was shivering – no, forget shivering, that was a full-blown seizure if ever he’d seen one… and over the course of his career, he’d seen more than a bit induced by various drugs, poisons, and strange illnesses. he cast a charm to prevent her swallowing her tongue without even thinking about it, another to cushion anything around her – save the sith – in case she started thrashing, and began racking his memory for possible suspects. cause? not bloodlust – wrong symptoms, plus currently feeding. magical exhaustion? no – too much still emanating, and if he stretched he could feel the latent energy quivering there, just out of sight. some problem with the attempted bond? maybe. and then he realised, and cursed himself, vividly, for not thinking of it sooner. magic and the force didn’t just peacefully coexist – if even the experiments vader had related ended in failure, what would that kind of infusion do to an essentially magical creature? kreth. and there was absolutely nothing he could do, not unless he wanted to try separating the two, and he had a feeling that particular result would not be a good one. wake up the sith? not likely, not like this… under normal circumstances, a complete bonding could take close to a day, and only a few hours had yet passed. the force was the problem. if it weren’t for the force, there might be a little bit of a conflict, and the kid probably wouldn’t feel too well, but the bloodlust and broken bonds should take care of anything major. he knew that if it had been him the convulsions wouldn’t be there – he’d have gotten a ride because poldë still didn’t like him, not at all, and her magic might not have bonded, regardless – but she’d have been fine. why? because he wasn’t force-sensitive, and it was negated in his presence. if only he was stronger, had as much magic and control over it as the headmaster! then he might have enough to counter vader’s force, if he realised what he was trying and didn’t resist, but as matters stood, even if the sith consciously relaxed, he still couldn’t touch him with magic. so. the grim had heard, years and years ago, of a planet called myrkr where the force did not exist. once, out of curiosity, he’d visited the place and had been surprised at what he’d sensed. the informant who had let slip the information had been right, or so he believed; when he’d come out of hyperspace, he’d felt… loose. as if he’d been strung up tight without ever noticing it and then relaxed, in the presence of so much force for so long that it just felt natural to him, until the absence came as a pleasant shock. it was before anakin had hired him, and the subject had not crossed his mind in ten years, at least. sirius dropped the ship out of hyperspace, entered the new coordinates. the stars blurred again, and he stretched back. by some chance of luck – or fate, when he chose to believe in it – their path had already passed near the planet. it would only be an hour’s detour, perhaps two. the kid would be fine, vader would be fine. and hopefully his employer wouldn’t be too furious about being stripped of the force without his prior consent, and sirius would be fine, too. hope did spring eternal, after all. letting out a small grunt, he wriggled in his chair to find a more comfortable position. he didn’t dare go back to sleep before planetfall.

hungry so hungry and blood strange not-right not tata/amil but so so hungry and good hot sweet down her throat – pain! burning fire-hot in fingers feet arms chest face, can’t fix make it stop make it stop make it stop – the midichlorians were being actively rejected by her blood as she tried to metabolise his. pain radiated outward; he could feel the child trembling against him, though she didn’t stop drinking. her own blood had two components, he knew, one magical, like the grim’s, and one strange that he had never seen before, and where one lay inert, the other attacked viciously. it was not only poldë that received the burning sensation, either – the sith was bombarded by waves of fire across his brain that he only ignored by dint of forcing them away. the girl was shaking, he could sense quite easily that, instead of growing stronger, she was weakening, and he had not the slightest clue of how to remedy the problem. when he attempted to open his eyes or direct his attention elsewhere – much less move – he found it impossible. rejection or no, the magic had a hold on him that he was reluctant to shatter. lord vader was strong in the force. but here, he was completely helpless, and it infuriated him. even the light link to the grim’s mind, forged over years of familiarity, failed him. all that he could turn his perception to was the vampire child. all that he could do was wait. five… four… three… two… one. the femme fatale slid out of hyperspace without so much as a jolt. sirius ran his hand along the curved bulkhead proudly. his lady was a fine one, no doubt. still, there was the planet to get to, and he plotted a direct course. this was a ghost planet, one that the jedi had avoided whole-heartedly and now relatively few knew. only one small city existed on the surface, and traffic was slight and sparse. he felt the moment the ship entered the force-deadened ring. his magic curled out in stretching tendrils along his limbs, and, even though he’d expected it, his body slumped without thought. this was real relaxation, not the imperceptibly tense vacations he took when there was nothing that needed doing or the sleep after a long day. the grim shook himself, luxuriating in the sheer freedom he felt. given the choice, he’d visit here any day of the week – it was only second to hogwarts, in his opinion, for ease. not that i can go there… it was very low on his suddenly-revised list of things to do, but he turned to look at the pair anyway. vader’s eyes were still closed – no surprise there, but poldë wasn’t shaking so much anymore, and the tremors still there only quieted further as time passed. one victory, at least. sirius cocked his head. he didn’t know what a jedi felt when the force disappeared, but he was willing to bet that it wasn’t pleasant – possibly as unpleasant as the magic-dampening drugs stuffed down the throats of azkaban-bound prisoners. a slightly wicked grin crossed his face. for the first time in quite a while, the sith was at his mercy, and the former marauder rubbed his hands in anticipated glee. still, that was for later. even he would do nothing to upset vader or, by extension, the kid, at this point in time. they had enough to deal with right at the moment. any serious pranking would have to be put off for now. but that didn’t mean he couldn’t plan

– hmmm… when was the last time the sith wore something other than black? really, it had been four years! and that stereotypical dark lord image did nothing for him – maybe if he wore some kind of mask, but not with the curly hair – i wonder what he’d look like dumbledore-style? pink and green with purple daisies – oh, now there’s a thought… the pain retreated, and her magic hesitated, furling along her hröa, not quite knowing what to do. but the blood, that was still there, that burned so bad before (but it wasn't burning now) and her fëa felt an emptiness that she knew was bad wrong sick, and there was another one right there that was bright even if it was suddenly scared and she thought it might have hurt her but it wasn't now and that hole - and her magic stretched tendrils to curl around it, feeling it, weaving alongside a tie to fill the empty place helplessness was not a feeling that darth vader was accustomed to. the girl’s magic had utterly rejected the midichlorians, and had been well on its way to either starving her or literally tearing her body apart in the effort to rid itself of the unnatural influence. it was a horrifying situation, but he, perhaps too careless in his fascination, had then discovered himself bound and limited in his actions. then the pain had washed over him, too, and he thought he knew what it was to be without a ruse, and was angry. and then – then, the force beating against him hesitated, settled, and he experienced a moment of triumph. poldë would live, and the bond would form without more difficulty. reach out to the grim’s mind to tell him… …and the force failed. he was blind and deaf and dumb, and then, then, he understood the terror that was helplessness. time passed. something nudged at his mind, nuzzling in a manner that reminded him of an animal or a very young child. there was no sense of threat, but he might have welcomed it even if it shown a clear and present danger - anything was better than nothingness. but it was harmless, so far as he could tell, sidling up next to him affectionately, shying away like a frightened avian, settling down again and butting back up against him. fortunate, that it was gentle; without the force his mind was bare of anything like protection. he could feel it tying something, tying itself, to his own thoughts, knotting them in a crazed pattern to something else. slowly, very slowly, perception came back. this was poldë, but not her that was doing this. her magic, settled now, was binding him to her in stead of the parents she had lost. the little girl was sleeping now, not drinking, and not dreaming. good - the one nightmare had been bad enough. but the force was still gone, and it unsettled him. how could the child's magic act and interact without her awareness? it had to be on an instinctive level that he had not earlier grasped. perhaps he couldn't have understood earlier, as his reaction to magic, as a force-wielder, was revulsion. its touch brought an automatic recoil, and so he could not achieve any knowledge of it beyond the grim's words. only now, when he could not feel the force -

a terrible thought occurred. had it been the magic that stripped him of the force and stole it away? was it to be forever? this was not what he had planned!