#also Merkara gets to meet the love of her life thanks to Ashara. that's kinda important too

[vihola]

hey! what does ashara zavros think of your Inquisitor and the other way around? my ds!inquisitor probably threw her out the airlock at some point💀

Ashara doesn’t quite know what to make of Merkara, this Sith is a creature of chaos. Merkara is weird, eccentric, contradictory. But Ashara appreciates that she doesn’t push her toward the dark side and doesn’t seem to care what Ashara is doing as long as she pretends to be a good and obedient apprentice in public. Merkara has a reputation to uphold, but she’s not dedicated to the Sith and Imperial ideals. If anything, she’s an outcast in the very system that’s supposed to favor her, a heretic. Ashara soon learns not to have any expectations regarding her new Master because these expectations are too often subverted. The only thing she knows for sure is that Merkara can be reasoned with ― and that’s a relief.

For Merkara, Ashara is the first Jedi who doesn’t immediately activate a lightsaber while saying something boring about the corrupting power of the dark side. And it’s so interesting! Merkara doesn’t know much about the Jedi and their ways, and she wants to learn for the sake of learning. She pesters Ashara with constant questions and then answers Ashara’s careful inquiries about the Sith and the Empire in turn. That’s how they get close over time. That’s why when Ashara starts talking about cooperating with Jedi to end the war, Merkara considers it as a perfectly valid option. Merkara comes to value her apprentice’s judgment so much that Ashara becomes one of the few trusted individuals who keep her from going batshit crazy after her ascension to the Dark Council. When you are so drunk on power that you’re ready to set the galaxy on fire and laugh about it, it’s nice to have someone who’s not afraid to slap you on the wrist. 

Their relationship starts with blatant manipulation on Merkara’s part, but then the obvious power imbalance gradually disappears. They are both lost and questioning and searching. They both strive to understand things that are much greater than they are. And so they stick together.