|
Post by Demitri Maximov on Feb 24, 2012 22:19:32 GMT -5
He stood idly. His head turned in the direction of a darkened cove, separate from the tomb they had emerged from. As Dvork stepped towards him he sensed a deep apprehension in the man. His veil had slipped for a moment and emotion had spiked, but it passed all the same. There was something about him...a trepidation...a nervousness bordering on full panic. He glanced his head in the direction of Dvork as he approached, the calm demure of both Dvork and Anika had shattered with his statement. There was certainly something they were not telling him, something else he could not sense fully, but he would allow it pass for now. They had done much for him, though he doubted it was out of the goodness of their hearts. He paused for a moment, where was all this suspicion stemming from? Neither of them had done anything to him. Yet somewhere inside him he felt as if he was being ever so slightly mislead, as if there was something they did not want him to know.
It was apparent in seconds that there was more to Dvork than he let on. It had been in the tomb as well. So bold and audacious was his willingness to haphazardly revive an unknown entity inside a desolate tomb below a valley of Dark Lords...whatever that meant. His sense of self told him such a nature in a man was not normal for his profession, how he knew this he did not know, but he knew it, sensed it immediately. He wished desperately in that moment he knew who he was. But there was one thing very telling about himself...he could sense fear, clear as others could physically touch an object he could feel a rising fear, and it was not entirely due to there being another presence here.
Dvork's behavior had changed, he watched him and listened as he ordered Anika to prepare defense protocols for the ship. Anika's fear overwhelmed her senses, clouded simple judgment and caused her to act sloppy. It was a familiar sensation and it nearly distracted him for a moment as he honed in on her, his senses surrounding her, feeding off her fear, so familiar...so potent...something... A drop of sweat trickled from his brow and landed on his shoulder. Her fear resonated through the land, each uncoordinated step causing ripples through...what was this he was sensing? This ability to feel her so far but so near...to see the way her emotions affected her and the world around her. The darkness crept forth from the tomb and a shudder ran through the man as he felt a sudden pulse from within the tomb they had left.
He winced visibly, his hand lifting to his forehead as he felt the pangs of an on setting migraine behind his dead eyes. There was to much to sense...to feel and he had no filter for it. Anika's fear, Dvork's veiled panic...the presence of another being nearby and it's own fear...and then... He lifted his head slowly, peering into the darkness of the tomb, feeling it now, a cold, sleepless malice resonating from within. Something dark and sinister, powerful, an aura of pain, it was sentient, but not, forged of death and destruction. Something evil still lay within that tomb, but it was not frightening to him. It was inviting...inviting? He checked himself. What was he thinking? Who was he? And why did he feel a draw to such an aura? Somewhere in his mind...fractured...
"I don't think I like the man I'm turning out to be..." He commented offhand to Dvork as Dvork drew out his weapon "And you're not the man you claim to be..." He turned to face him with his dead eyes, a mild scrutiny apparent in his expression. He turned then in the direction he sensed the other presence. "There is someone there, in that nearby cave." He raised his hand a pointed to the left, to an entrance shrouded in darkness, not a stone's throw from where they stood.
From within that cave he could feel apprehension and a more primal fear, the mind inside that cave was fractured like his...it's thoughts erratic. He felt almost a kinship with it. He turned and started walking over the jagged stones in the direction of that cave, willfully ignoring the call from inside the tomb, feeling it's presence gnawing at him. He walked at a steady pace, keeping his posture nonthreatening as he spoke to Dvork, "You're not going to need that," Referring to the man's weapon and behavior. He turned his attention then to the entity in the cave, he could feel the ripples of a...patting foot...a nervous tick. He moved closer, but did not call out, instead he reached out with his thoughts, reflexively seeking the thoughts of the other entity. You need not fear us. Those words were not audibly spoken but they reached the entity with as much force as if he had stated them out loud. He wanted to know this being, this one who resided so near to where he slumbered for ages. Maybe they knew more about him than he did, and that hope drove him forward.
|
|
avayl
New Member
I Am All That Is
Posts: 37
|
Post by avayl on Feb 25, 2012 21:05:52 GMT -5
Anika ran as fast as her legs cold carry her. Dirt covered her clothes and attached to her skin. Somehow she was unable to see straight and her path through the wasteland desert was a zig zag of dodging boulders and rocks. The darkside of the force swirled around her. She was not calling it consciously. Her fear is what called it and in this case it was by no means an ally to her cause. The malevolent forces that existed on this planet were not checked by any means of light. She was defenseless against this unseen onslaught of the forces around her. Her vision blured, she stumbled over a rock jutting out of the sand and fell to the ground. Her head smacked against a small hand sized rock. It cut a gash on the left side of her head near the temple. Waves of pain coursed through her body. Shadows crept up between the stars in her eyes. Shadows that touched her belly...
She finally reached the ship and stumbled up the loading ramp. "R9! Power up the ship!" She entered into the main cabin where their astromech droid was attached to a recharge station. The droid spun its dome around and pointed an ocular in her direction. It beeped and whined an affirmative and dislodged itself from the station. Gliding smoothly down the corridors, past the science labs, it came into the central control directly behind the cockpit. It pulled up to the panel and plugged itself into the slot. Dials twisted while Anika raced down the ladders to the small defense array that was installed on the lower deck of the ship. She hopped into the chair and strapped on the communicator.
"Dvork, Dvork. Come in! I'm at the ship. R9 is powering it up. What's the situation?"
***
Dvork stood beside the blind man with the small pistol in his hand. He held the stance and gazed into the dark cave. He glanced to his side when the stranger winced. What was this man? One moment he gave a command like a general and the next he was acting like a crazy man. Little made sense about him but little made sense about what was happening. 'oh YOU don't like the person your turning out to be?' Thought Dvork. He nearly grumbled to himself. Weakness in a time like this was not something was used to seeing, he didn't like it.
Then, yet again, a change of tone. From crazy to confidence. Dvork ignored the suggestion that he was not going to need his pistol. He knew their was someone near by. He could not deny the feeling he had. But there was also a small patting repeating itself. Like a bare foot tapping to floor. Please no more crazies .. His hope was shattered by what he 'heard.' He didn't hear actual words, it was more a feeling. But the feeling came with an inaudible tone. That tone came from the stranger. Disbelief and wonder momentarily overcame his focus and concentration to be further disrupted by his commlink. It was Anika.
"Stand by." Was his only reply to her. To the stranger he said, "What are we going to do?"
|
|
|
Post by NiomiSykes on Feb 26, 2012 13:08:08 GMT -5
Sala shook visibly, feeling the anxiety rise within her, speeding her breathing, and making her grit her jagged teeth. She had been alone for so long. To sense someone else's presence on this desolate planet disturbed and excited her simultaneously. She had tucked herself into the cave out of sight, even though she heard the stranger approach the cave with a heavier footfall, yet confident gait.
She was not sure of this being's intentions, but she decided to cut to the chase. Grabbing her shoulder satchel, she slung it over her should, and grabbed her water cantine. She forced herself to stand up though it was difficult due. It was always difficult when the voices wouldn't stop intruding on your thoughts. She faced the being. "I need.. to leave this place." She mumbled, looking small, emaciated, and trying not to shake with anxiety. "I pay you."
|
|
|
Post by AtraVentus on Feb 27, 2012 11:15:41 GMT -5
Layia motioned for her apprentice to follow as she set out towards the nearest strand of Dark energy. She knew the folly of their presence here but they needed to get evidence, something to bring back with them. She split her focus out of necessity, finding difficulty with her footing in the sand whilst keeping their presence cloaked. She wasn't the most powerful of her peers, she was a duellist not a sage, but she expected her skills would be enough to cloak them. The sand whipped past in gusts, biting at her eyes as she fought to keep her bearings. She hated this planet, and was pretty sure the feeling was mutual.
Taking a moment to compose herself Layia's breath was caught sharply in her chest by an explosion of Dark power. It was nearby, extremely close and it honestly scared her. Checking on the young Jedi behind her she projected waves of calm towards him. It was the best she could do in this situation. Reminding herself that stealth was their goal her hand hovered over the hilt of her saber as she moved closer to the origin of the dark power.
|
|
|
Post by kiankarr on Feb 27, 2012 22:26:31 GMT -5
Kian followed his master quietly. He kept finding himself gripping his saber so tight that his hand would start to fall asleep. This planet was not good for him, but by making his presence as small as he could, he seemed to be holding together.
A blast of darkside energy caught him by surprise, but the calming presence of his master pushed aside his fears. He had the feeling they were not alone, but it wasn't so much that there was life on the planet, it was the magnitude of it. It felt as if the planet emanated a dark, ominous life-force. It was unnerving.
|
|
|
Post by Demitri Maximov on Feb 28, 2012 1:58:45 GMT -5
He was visibly shaken, not by the woman or Dvork, but something unseen. Everything he could sense through the Force was causing pulses in his mind, unchecked, uncontrolled it was like a damn had burst and the flood was pouring through. He could feel things, sense things all around him, but he could not shut them out. It had been over a century and a half since he had last been awake and he did not know how. He grunted and winced again, his hand covering his eyes and rubbing his brow as he face pointed towards the ground. The aching behind his dead eyes was growing in intensity. He heard Dvork speak, but he sounded so muffled and distant. He turned his face in Dvork's direction and feigned a smile and chuckle. His head was hurting, but it was not a burden Dvork needed to be saddled with.
"What we do depends on whether you accept payment for passage," He chuckled and nodded in the direction of the woman. If she looked his way he would smile, masking the pain he was feeling in his mind. The darkness was still there, still calling to him, and there was something else, something he could not fully sense. It was muddled by all the unfiltered energies the Force was presenting him. He continued facing the woman as he spoke to Dvork, "It seems I was not the only one abandoned here, but unlike me she did not have the 'luxury' of being asleep."
Dvork had presented himself with good will to this point, a seemingly humble and honest nature, could he really turn this woman away, forcing her to stay in the wilds of this...dead world? He doubted it, or at least somewhere beneath the headache he hoped. Something about this woman gave him hope. He could not explain why, for she most likely knew nothing about him or his predicament over the past few decades, but it was apparent she had been here for an extended period...maybe she knew something that would jog his memory.
Again he felt it, distant, obscured and hazy. He could not place it but this world suddenly seemed to be getting crowded. Still facing the woman he motioned for her to come with them, "Please, accompany us. Though it means little, I can vouch for him...he is a...kind...man," He spoke on Dvork's half before turning to face him with his dead eyes.
"I think we should get moving to your ship." He stated bluntly. He was inviting another unknown variable into Dvork's life, into his vessel for that matter, and he did it with the assumption Dvork would quite simply accept it. Dvork had at least signed up for such uncertainties and troubles when he awoke him from his long slumber.
|
|
|
Post by NiomiSykes on Feb 29, 2012 13:59:46 GMT -5
Sala listened to the man speak to this other dark man, and suppressed a shudder. There was darkness in both of them, however, she could live with their darkness. The darkness of this planet was another matter. The darkness of this planet spoke of thousands of years of silent screams that could not escape the throats they were uttered from, yet gathered in the minds and rang in the ears of all those that set foot on this planet. Going with them was a much better alternative to staying on this planet and continuing the descent into the warring madness the planet seeded into a beings mind.
This man seemed different, and she felt she could almost trust him to the point where he seemed like he wouldn't be someone to hurt her. She had learned to be wary. Any sane being wouldn't trust a stranger in this galaxy without getting to know them first.
She took a shaky step out of the cave, but forced herself to stand tall. The Zabrak waited to be lead to the ship. She stood at 5'8, was emaciated and gaunt from malnourishment, and her tanned skin was marked by scars and tattoos of her clan of Dathomir she was raised on. Her green eyes were sharp, and intense, and ever watching of whatever movement she perceived. She swore, sometimes she could see things others couldn't. This had scared her the first few years of living on Korriban, and although she had become accustomed to it, she felt it was now time to go, before the invisible threats became a reality as they had in her mind.
When the man looked over to his companion, she muttered to herself. The voices and whispers of the wind were getting to her again. She had to leave this place. The sooner, the better.
|
|
|
Post by Demitri Maximov on Mar 1, 2012 23:49:11 GMT -5
Dvork seemed enmeshed in silence, unable to find the words he was looking for perhaps. He turned to face Dvork again and then back towards the woman as she exited the cave. There was no reason for him to turn to face either of them, other than some instinctual habit perhaps. For all intents and purposes he could not see them, and if someone was to look at his eyes it would be very apparent by the foggy, grey haze and focus-less gaze that his eyes were dead. He had awoken blind. If he had been blind before he had been placed in stasis this he did not know and could not discern from all of the thoughts and...memories...flickering through his mind. Instead he focused on minimizing the ache behind his eyes. He stood still as the woman timidly made her way out of the cave. She was reasonably cautious, and had every right to be, stranded here by herself for who knows how long, with only...he wondered...'all by herself'?
"Hello, iIt is a pleasure to meet you. I am..." He stopped his cordial greeting cold, the blank revelation striking him hard as he frowned. He had been eager to greet her, and in his haste he had come to an impasse, he did not have a name, or he did not know his name to introduce himself, so he had backed himself into an awkward pause. He sighed and smirked slightly, "Well frankly I don't actually know who I am, but it is a pleasure to meet you none the less." He smiled genuinely and stepped his left foot back, scraping the bare sole of his foot across rocks and dirt as he motioned to his side for her to accompany them.
A thought crossed his mind then. He may not know his name, but there was a name that had stuck out in his mind earlier in conversation with Dvork. "I suppose you can call me Jak. And what is your name?" He had numerous questions for her, but he figured to start slow, so as not to overwhelm her and send her retreating back to the darkness of her cave. He could sense in her an apprehension, but it wasn't directed entirely at him or Dvork. She seemed, unsettled by...he thought a moment...this place. He had noticed the way Anika had reacted and how Dvork seemed to be constantly on guard, and then there was the darkness from the tomb, and the mundane evil that was stagnant here, all around them. It did not seem to unsettle him as it did them. Peculiar fact that is. He made note of it. All in all his thoughts were not about this place, or the quiet darkness that loomed like a gaping shadow over all of them, his thoughts were on her, and Dvork, and the promise of leaving this place. He turned to Dvork again. "Which way is your ship?"
|
|
|
Post by AtraVentus on Mar 22, 2012 8:52:34 GMT -5
Time stood still for Layia as she came upon the precipice of Darkness. It was massive and imposing, causing her body to shake down to it's very core. Everything she was rejected that sensation, not that it mattered as the tendrils sought to worm their way into her flesh. Shivering slightly her hand found comfort as she gripped her saber hilt. Letting out a low sigh the Blademaster of the Jedi leaned out from the cover of the sand dune and rocks to gaze upon the source of the darkness she sensed.
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust against the glare of the sun, moving across the horizon before her. Raising a hand slightly to provide a subtle shadow for her gaze Layia squinted upon the strange scene before her. A nomad, two spacers, and what could only be described as a massive man stood in her sight. The aura she sensed emanated from the tombs around them, but more noticeable was the whirlwind of sensations from that man. She could sense the darkness pressing out from him, but at the same time confusion and the possibility of light. This confused her greatly as her head cocked to the side.
Regardless of the confusion there was great danger here. Glancing at her apprentice she motioned him forward, cautioning him against revealing himself. She came to Korriban to find the Sith, and what she found she didn't fully understand. All she knew was that she was afraid, and that was a sensation she was unaccustomed to.
|
|
|
Post by Demitri Maximov on Mar 27, 2012 13:11:47 GMT -5
Dvork turned his attention away from the nomadic woman and back to the amnesiac standing beside him. Dvork was a patient man, but he felt caught up in unsettling circumstances here. He cursed his own curiosity, internally. He should have just left this man encased in his stasis chamber and brought him back for the scientists to study and pick apart. He could not explain to himself why he did not.
As the woman approached and the man asked his question Dvork settled into a resigned comfort. he relaxed his stance and stood up straight, holstering his pistol. He disregarded the malnourished woman as any actual threat, perhaps an unconcious judgment. His eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, the woman was emaciated and appeared unhealthy. She appeared to be Zabrak, but he could be mistaken, she had obviously lived through the hardship of exile for some time.
"It's this way. Anika should be prepping the ship for take off as we speak." He nodded his head behind them, the opposite direction of the woman and further away from the dark, sinister caves. His eyes betrayed a momentary glance back to the cave he had emerged from with the man. He could still feel a lingering dread creep down his spine. He did not want to know what or how that bastard sword was used. It chilled him, just the thought of it. He checked his emotions, he was not used to this, but he was a highly trained operative. He would not allow them to see a break in his demeanor. He turned and began walking. He did not bother guiding them, he knew they would follow. He activated his comm link with Anika and spoke openly, "What's the status on our departure?"
***
Anika sat in the co-pilot seat, her hands sifting across the control panel as she began the initial startup sequence. The ships drive core could be heard turning over as it hummed to life. She suddenly felt a sense of relief compared to being stuck outside on an unfamiliar, malevolent planet. She stared out the viewport for a moment as she thought, yes, that is exactly what Korriban is an evil planet. Perhaps it hadn't always been that way, but the ages of corruption and taint left by the inhabitants had forever changed the makeup of this world. She absolutely hated it.
Anika was startled from her thoughts as Dvork's voice called out over the comm. She hit the receiver and responded, "Yeah, all systems are green. We're ready for extraction, and not a moment to soon." The eagerness was apparent in her voice and she made no attempt to hide it. She pulled her hand off the comm and sighed, "Not too soon at all..." She mumbled to herself.
***
Dvork picked up on her tone and he grinned, glancing back at the two stragglers who followed him, one a half naked hulk of a man and the other a frazzled, malnourished woman, what a pair. "Alright, make sure we set bunks, and I mean that plural. We picked up another passenger." He cut the comm chatter and looked back at them again. "It's not much farther, just over that ridge."
***
The man trudged along slowly behind Dvork, walking in even pace with the strange woman that had emerged from the cave. He faced forward as they walked, no sense in turning to study her with his dead eyes. He stayed silent, listening to Dvork's talk with Anika over the comm link. His mind was still racing with innumerable questions, but absolutely zero answers. He gave in finally and broke the silence between them, "What is your name?"
Somehow her presence made him feel comfortable. Perhaps it was knowing he was not the only outsider that had been stranded here, but there were obvious differences between their predicaments. He was void of memories and he was certain she knew everything about herself. She had been forced to suffer through exile here, and he had slept in empty darkness in cryo for how long he did not know...Dvork had mentioned something about several centuries... He frowned at the thought. It all made no sense and he could not peice any of his thoughts together, they were broken and scattered. He decided to continue with distraction.
"How did you come to be stuck in this place?" He asked her plainly. He felt an itch again, an obnoxious prickle on the back of his neck that sought to...warn him? He lifted his head up and listened. He needed to relax, something in the darkness in his mind was telling him they were being watched, but he could not concentrate enough to focus the thought.
|
|