StarSiren
Super-Earth
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2017
- Location
- among the stars
Korra awoke well before the guard-droids sounded the morning alarm. Laying in the dark on her filthy little cot, she hummed a familiar refrain to herself and sighed. "Happy Birthday, Korra. You're 17 today.." She reached into a small gap between her thin mattress and the cot frame, and pulled out a flat, round baked good. Her fingers carefully dusted it as she brought it to her lips... and shoved the entire thing in her mouth at once!
At first, the taste was exotically sweet, but the more she chewed, the more it became bitter until she was forced to spit it out onto the floor. "Ugh! I thought those were a delicacy! Man! Way to go Korra, stealing a birthday treat that tastes like womp rat shit. Gross!"
Perturbed, the young woman sat upright in bed. Her eyes roamed the room, taking in the details despite the dimness. She had grown accustomed to this life, this place, this room. It slept nearly 40 other women, all servants like herself, all with a debt to pay. While most of the women in the room had earned their place here through their own foolishness, there were a few (like Korra) who were innocent from such matters. Those blameless girls were all here because of a family member.
For Korra, it was her parents. They had fallen on hard times and were faced with two options: sell Korra into indentured servitude to pay off their debts, or go to work in the labor camps. Knowing that they wouldn't last a week in the labor camps, and it would take close to 40 years to earn enough there to repay their debts, Korra's parents signed papers that sealed Korra's fate.
Korra was taken away and her contract was sold at an auction to offworlders. This was done to limit her ability to escape and force her to become dependent on whomever her new masters would be. For months, she toiled on the slaver ship but her independent streak was strong. Every opportunity she had, she defied them. When she was finally taken from the ship and brought planetside, she thought at first that they would leave her on a barren dustworld. Instead, she found herself standing before an audience of Hutts. Her circumstances were made quite clear to her: either ask the Hutts to take over her contract or return to the ship with no guarantee of surviving the trip.
Eager to be rid of the vile crew aboard the ship, Korra chose the Hutts. The room burst into uproarious laughter as she made her preference known, but she was soon taken away and fitted with a behavioral collar. Since she was both young and rebellious, she was given to the droid in charge of cleaning the household. She had been doing maidly duties ever since. They were never hard, but they did keep her busy from morning until night.
But today was special. It was her 17th birthday and even if she couldn't enjoy a treat, she could still practice her magic a bit before the day truly began. Korra focused on the pile of mush on the floor by her cot. She was sitting with her feet on the floor, on either side of the discarded snack and her hands hovering over it. Her fingers wiggled as she concentrated. Slowly, little bubbles of water pulled free and rose into the air.
Korra began moving her hands opposite one another. The right hand went up and roughly formed the top of a circle while the right hand went down and roughly formed the bottom. Then they switched positions. Each time her hands moved like this, the bubbles floated closer together until they finally coalesced into one large water sphere. Korra exhaled and smiled to herself once the ball was formed. She repositioned herself to lay on her back on the cot and began tossing the water ball from one hand to the other.
"You're gonna get caught, you know. They'll think you're a Jedi and they'll take you away and kill you."
Korra froze; the ball spinning above her right hand. Her eyes sought out the voice's source. "Where are you?!"
"She's right. It happened to my sister. She got mad and pushed a guard away using her mind. It was the last time I saw her. They dragged her off to who knows where and probably killed her."
"Would you both shut up! You're gonna alert the guard!" Korra barked at the two unknown women, louder than she had intended. All she wanted to do was have a treat and practice her fun water magic and these two chatty cathys were ruining it!
"Suit yourself. I'm just trying to protect you, child."
"Yes, best keep your unusual talents to yourself. Don't want to catch the Master's interest."
"But even if he doesn't kill you, he'll definitely move you out of our ward. I've heard horror stories about the other wards in the household.. maid duty is the safest ward here."
"The Master has unusual tastes. The last thing you want is for him to find you interesting. He might move you to his personal harem! ICK! I could never serve a creature like him.. in that way.."
"Shut up! SHUT UP! All of you shut up!!" Was everyone awake? Had they all been watching her this whole time? Oh gods, had the guard seen? The water ball continued to spin in Korra's right hand as she ran scenarios through her mind, but it was still possible that no one outside the room had seen-
"You There. What Are You Doing? Stop At Once!" The voice came from a droid near the door and Korra reacted. She flung the water ball at the machine in a fury of fear and anger, and watched it harmlessly splatter across the droid's body as the lights came on.
"Oh no. This is gonna be bad.." Korra slumped in her cot. She would be punished for this and something told her it would be something awful.
At first, the taste was exotically sweet, but the more she chewed, the more it became bitter until she was forced to spit it out onto the floor. "Ugh! I thought those were a delicacy! Man! Way to go Korra, stealing a birthday treat that tastes like womp rat shit. Gross!"
Perturbed, the young woman sat upright in bed. Her eyes roamed the room, taking in the details despite the dimness. She had grown accustomed to this life, this place, this room. It slept nearly 40 other women, all servants like herself, all with a debt to pay. While most of the women in the room had earned their place here through their own foolishness, there were a few (like Korra) who were innocent from such matters. Those blameless girls were all here because of a family member.
For Korra, it was her parents. They had fallen on hard times and were faced with two options: sell Korra into indentured servitude to pay off their debts, or go to work in the labor camps. Knowing that they wouldn't last a week in the labor camps, and it would take close to 40 years to earn enough there to repay their debts, Korra's parents signed papers that sealed Korra's fate.
Korra was taken away and her contract was sold at an auction to offworlders. This was done to limit her ability to escape and force her to become dependent on whomever her new masters would be. For months, she toiled on the slaver ship but her independent streak was strong. Every opportunity she had, she defied them. When she was finally taken from the ship and brought planetside, she thought at first that they would leave her on a barren dustworld. Instead, she found herself standing before an audience of Hutts. Her circumstances were made quite clear to her: either ask the Hutts to take over her contract or return to the ship with no guarantee of surviving the trip.
Eager to be rid of the vile crew aboard the ship, Korra chose the Hutts. The room burst into uproarious laughter as she made her preference known, but she was soon taken away and fitted with a behavioral collar. Since she was both young and rebellious, she was given to the droid in charge of cleaning the household. She had been doing maidly duties ever since. They were never hard, but they did keep her busy from morning until night.
But today was special. It was her 17th birthday and even if she couldn't enjoy a treat, she could still practice her magic a bit before the day truly began. Korra focused on the pile of mush on the floor by her cot. She was sitting with her feet on the floor, on either side of the discarded snack and her hands hovering over it. Her fingers wiggled as she concentrated. Slowly, little bubbles of water pulled free and rose into the air.
Korra began moving her hands opposite one another. The right hand went up and roughly formed the top of a circle while the right hand went down and roughly formed the bottom. Then they switched positions. Each time her hands moved like this, the bubbles floated closer together until they finally coalesced into one large water sphere. Korra exhaled and smiled to herself once the ball was formed. She repositioned herself to lay on her back on the cot and began tossing the water ball from one hand to the other.
"You're gonna get caught, you know. They'll think you're a Jedi and they'll take you away and kill you."
Korra froze; the ball spinning above her right hand. Her eyes sought out the voice's source. "Where are you?!"
"She's right. It happened to my sister. She got mad and pushed a guard away using her mind. It was the last time I saw her. They dragged her off to who knows where and probably killed her."
"Would you both shut up! You're gonna alert the guard!" Korra barked at the two unknown women, louder than she had intended. All she wanted to do was have a treat and practice her fun water magic and these two chatty cathys were ruining it!
"Suit yourself. I'm just trying to protect you, child."
"Yes, best keep your unusual talents to yourself. Don't want to catch the Master's interest."
"But even if he doesn't kill you, he'll definitely move you out of our ward. I've heard horror stories about the other wards in the household.. maid duty is the safest ward here."
"The Master has unusual tastes. The last thing you want is for him to find you interesting. He might move you to his personal harem! ICK! I could never serve a creature like him.. in that way.."
"Shut up! SHUT UP! All of you shut up!!" Was everyone awake? Had they all been watching her this whole time? Oh gods, had the guard seen? The water ball continued to spin in Korra's right hand as she ran scenarios through her mind, but it was still possible that no one outside the room had seen-
"You There. What Are You Doing? Stop At Once!" The voice came from a droid near the door and Korra reacted. She flung the water ball at the machine in a fury of fear and anger, and watched it harmlessly splatter across the droid's body as the lights came on.
"Oh no. This is gonna be bad.." Korra slumped in her cot. She would be punished for this and something told her it would be something awful.