Private A Dark Union

[Shan]

Shan nodded at Kahlil's comment about helping the Sithspawn. He was mentally kicking himself over it however. Normally he wouldn't have ever entertained the idea of having to kill something instead of saving it but his viewpoints had changed somewhat recently. He was worried that he was too naive most of the time anymore. It was something he was aware of and saw as his biggest weakness Though maybe he should have saw it as a strength. The Padawan wasn't even sure at this point.

Though Valery also had a point with how they'd need to know how the Sithspawn worked, Shan was just more worried about the plague being able to spread without them knowing the cure. They wouldn't be able to help treat people if the Sithspawn infected them...but at the same time, they needed to find out the cure by facing the beast itself...

None of that mattered however, as the trio of Jedi rushed after the scream. Shan keeping his eyes open on their surroundings for anything that seemed like it could collapse onto the trio. Whilst Valery worked on checking over the woman, Shan kept looking around the cave, trying to make sure they weren't ambushed by the Sithspawn now that it jumped up through a hole. He would have ignited his lightsaber to try and light up the area...but at the same time, he felt like it would mark him out as a target, so he just kept himself looking around.

Though at the confirmation that the woman was dead, Shan was just...more curious as to what was going on with this sithspawn. How were they meant to capture it if it was just killing people all over the place? He shook his head however to try and stay focused. All that mattered was him listening to Kahlil right now. The time for reflection could come afterwards.

Kahlil Noble Valery Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

This was getting more and more confusing. Was it dangerous? Was it not? It was clearly dangerous given it'd killed someone, but was it really to blame? He didn't wait, instead continuing on after the Sithspawn in a burst of speed. It needed to be stopped before it could hunt someone else, and he trusted his senses more than enough to be fine walking into a possible trap. "If you really are sentient enough to speak, stop running! Let us help you!"

Valery Noble | Shan

 

[Valery Noble]

Bordal

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Shan

"Help me?"

The sound of its voice seemed to echo from everywhere around the Jedi, before a deep laugh caused the earth to tremor. Tracking the presence of this beast was no easy feat, as this entire cave felt like death itself. Echoes of the people who had gone inside were trapped within the walls, and this being almost reveled in it.

"It is too late."

With Kahlil running after it, the beast was trying to exploit the tunnels it had clawed into the walls of the mines. They were at impossible angles for any normal person to climb through, and many were too small as well, but he moved fast. Kahlil was a target he could recognize as a threat, but there were others in this cave. A woman, strong in the Force like the man, but a younger boy as well.

A target.

"You have done this to me. You have done this to yourselves."

Suddenly, several tendrils extended from a hole in the ceiling above Shan. The beast had circled around through its self-created system of tunnels, and looked to wrap the fleshy tendrils around his throat. Not to choke him out or pull him up, but to expose him to infected skin and infect him like the others.

 

[Shan]

Even as the voice echoed around the tunnels, Shan tried to keep his calm and focus. This was a threat he couldn't see...but he could hear it. Even if the tunnels were echoing around him, Shan could still focus his mind. Let himself reach out to try and keep himself protected whilst Shan tried to decide what to do. Kahlil already had a headstart on him so there was no point rushing off, but at the same time standing still was just going to make him a target. A target that would have been easy prey...

This wasn't the first time he had been targeted. There were the men on his mission with Amani who tried to kill him. He managed to deal with them...He'll be able to deal with this. This was different however. When he was fighting against those men, he knew he could easily disarm them. Destroying their weapons or their arms. It was going to be more difficult with the Sithspawn, especially if they wanted to bring it in alive. The sensations of the people lost in the cave were also easy for Shan to sense and it just made his heart race more...but he was pushing his fear down. Fear meant he was alive. It meant his blood was flowing. Flowing to the parts that were important. His limbs. His mind. His senses.

"It is never too late for help! You just need to be willing to take it! You just need to believe in it! And believe me when I say I want to help!"

With his declaration of wanting to help, Shan brought his saber to his hand before swinging it around himself to form a circle of shelter. It was one of the moves used in Soresu, which Shan was relying on both to limit the amount of his body he had left vulnerable whilst also trying to slash any of the infected tentacles coming near his body. The tendrils were coming from a hole above him which had given the Padawan an idea as he focused on using one hand to slash around him, whilst holding his hand out towards one of the rocks he could find. It was fairly large, but not larger than the tunnel entrance, which was what Shan needed. He focused on the rock, using the Force to grab and levitate it into the air...before trying to jam it up into the tunnel to hold the sithspawn and its tentacles at bay. He could have tried to keep slashing the tentacles as they came for him...but if he wanted to help the thing, causing it more and more pain probably wasn't the smartest idea.

Kahlil Noble Valery Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

So it'd made itself a lair?

Kahlil paused his chase once he realized that much. As a Sith, he did the same. Set up his safest place, where he could make his runes and set his traps so he might have every advantage he needed to defeat his foes if they came after him. It was a terrifying realization that the Sithspawn was the same. They might not have the traps he did, but they weren't foolish. And they knew who to target.

He turned and sprinted back to the others, fully trusting Valery to at least keep Shan safe until he got there. And when he did, that's when the next part would start.

Shan had already taken a good first step clogging up the first tunnel.

"Keep the defense. I've got an idea."

All he'd need were his runes, after all. Freeze, stasis, grow, swift. The four runes flashed around him before he reached up towards the hole Shan was covering to let it unleash. A swift creeping frost. It didn't matter how many tunnels the Sithspawn could travel through, he'd just freeze them all shut.

Valery Noble | Shan

 

[Valery Noble]

Bordal

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Shan

"I'm moving around!" Valery called out once Kahlil rejoined them. With her husband close to Shan, she felt confident that he'd be safe, even though he hardly seemed to need it. With some clever thinking, he clogged up the tunnel to keep the Sithspawn away, allowing Kahlil the time to respond with his own plan.

Runes.

Layers of ice quickly began to spread through the tunnel, and judging by the shriek that echoed through the caves, it was catching up to the Sithspawn. Through the Force and by listening to movements in the earth, they'd be able to tell that it was moving away, but the frost was following it, threatening to corner it within its own lair. Either, it'd freeze up or it'd have to come down and expose itself to the Jedi. Or... it had its own idea.

"You want me to come down? Very well."

The claws it had used to dig the tunnels in the first place got to work, not to create a new tunnel for it to climb through, but to make the entire ceiling unstable. It wasn't a difficult thing at all, and within seconds, various parts of the caves started to collapse, inlcuding the entrance, and the path between Valery and the others.

"Wait, Watch out! It's-"

Her voice was cut off, as dust and debris blew up into the air, filling up lungs and taking away what little light they had to see inside the caves.

"Trapped, and all alone."​

 

[Shan]

The fear was more palpable for Shan now. Whilst he was able to push away some of the fear, it was getting harder and harder for him to focus. Letting Kahlil set up his runes was something Shan didn't expect to happen...Mostly since the young padawan had no clue that the runes were actually a thing. He just had to focus. Kahlil and Valery totally had this. He didn't need to worr-

Of course he had to jinx it! He could only watch as the ceiling started to collapse atop of them, as he tried to make sure he didn't become a Shancake. He could only watch however as the rocks first started blocking off the light from the entrance and then blocking the path towards Valery. That was only making the fear worse. Valery was all by herself in the dark now...but he was sure she'd be fine. She was more than capable. The Force could help her. She was skilled and experienced. Shan wasn't. That's why he was a target. He knew it but didn't know what to do about it. This was far more than he had expected, was he even capable of helping? This was worse than anything he's had to face before...but he had to try and calm down. Freezing up would get him killed, or potentially worse get the others killed. Just think. Think of a plan.

It was hard to think with the dust in the air. Every breath in was causing him to feel like he was coughing his lungs up. He could hardly see in here...but did that potentially mean the Sithspawn couldn't see either? A dark mine either meant it had good night vision...it had echolocation...or potentially it was able to sense people through the Force. "Mast-Master! Is there any way we can disorientate the...person?!" He had to remind himself not to call the Sithspawn a creature. There was a person in there. They might be corrupted...they might be scaring the life out of Shan, but they were still a person. Either way, Shan made sure to yell, as loud as he could to Kahlil. If his theory of the Sithspawn being vulnerable to sound was true...Well, that was going to be easier for him to do, as opposed to relying on bright lights. The light from his saber wasn't going to be helping much, except it was ruining his own vision in the dark. He had to rely on something more than his sight but he had no clue what he could do.

Kahlil Noble Valery Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Ah. That was it's trap.

Crap.

Kahlil felt the danger around them, and he didn't hesitate. The Force shifted as he cut off his runes entirely and reached out. The crumbling roof came to a pause as he caught it with both hands. Strained to keep the whole room from collapsing. Valery could handle herself, he could too, but Shan was just a Padawan. This was a Sithspawn they shouldn't have brought a Padawan to deal with. He gaze an incredibly strained looking grin towards him as he kept the rubble from crushing them both.

"Sonic would be good for that, but I unfortunately can't.. It's not something I can do. You have to- Don't worry about the creature. Make your way out. Get to safety."

Shan | Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Bordal

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Shan

<I'm okay!> Valery's voice crackled over their comms. <I'm stuck though, and I worry if I remove the debris, even more will collapse.> Looking around, the path back was cut off, and so were other pathways. She was trapped in a small pocket of air she had created by holding up the rocks that would have otherwise crushed her, but now she had to find a way out. The safest way was to wait for Kahlil and Shan to maybe get out, so that in the case of another collapse, at least they'd be out safely.

However, they were quite stuck themselves for now.

"How does this feel?" the voice spoke through the earth. "Suffocating? Fearful?" Anger fueled his voice as it seemed to get louder, while his presence grew closer. "That's how I felt, but no more." The sound of claws tunneling through dirt and stone was rapidly approaching, the tremors seemingly coming from every side all at once.

But then it stopped.

"Now you will suffer."

From various piles of debris all around them, tendrils lashed out again, this time targeting both the Padawan and the Jedi Master. The flesh was rotten and felt dark in the Force, but the true danger was the short, but sharp little hairs at the very tip of each tendril. They could cut, and they could infect.

 

[Shan]

Shan couldn't even see a way to get himself out, not that he would take it. "I can't see a way out! I don't know where the thing is hiding either! And I won't leave you!" He wouldn't leave Kahlil here, whilst he was holding the rocks up. Kahlil had both of his hands busy trying to stop them from getting crushed, how would they be able to fight off the Sithspawn unless Shan stayed here? He didn't want to stay here of course. The padawan wanted to esacpe, he wanted to live but he also didn't want to leave Kahlil. At the very least, he knew Valery was safer than they were right now. She could always figure out a way out...at least that's how he saw the situation.

Though then the sithspawn started to talk again...and whilst Shan was starting to feel like it was more and more of a lost cause, Kahlil and Val had helped convince him that it just wasn't in his nature not to try and help it. "You don't need to feel angry! You don't need to hurt anyone, or make anyone else suffer! Master Kahlil can help you! He's helped others like you!" He knew it was mostly just talk, so he didn't expect the Sithspawn to believe him.

Then the tendrils lashed out again. Shan wanted to stay frozen in fear. He wasn't strong enough to help...but he wasn't going to be dead weight. So Shan rushed forward to try and slash at the tendrils, relying on Soresu again. Just don't think. React instead. The Padawan just focused on his breathing whilst lashing out at the tendrils, trying to protect Kahlil more than anything. If Kahlil got hurt, there was a chance the rocks would collapse atop of them anyway. He felt his heart racing in his chest as Shan slashed and hacked away at the tendrils, before the Padawan let out a yelp...

The Padawan's heart just dropped as he looked down at his hand. One of the tendrils had managed to scratch it. Of course it did, Shan wasn't an expert in Soresu. Sooner or later he was gonna have let some kind of attack through and he just did. Was he infected? He didn't even know. Was it something that was bloodborne? Or did it work through the Force? Shan didn't want to die to some kind of sickness. Some kind of plague. Apparently the cure they had for a similar plague didn't work. If it transmitted through the blood...Maybe he wasn't too late. Shan held his hand out, holding his lightsaber up in the air. Hesitating as he stared down at the hand. He didn't want to lose it, but Jedi were self sacrificing right? But maybe he was just assuming things...Maybe he wasn't even infected. The Padawan just didn't know what to do!

Kahlil Noble Valery Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Don't even think about it."

Kahlil spoke rather harshly from where he stood, glancing down to Shan. He kept his hands up, towards the rubble above them to keep it falling, but even as tired as he was getting he didn't let his gaze falter as he practically glared down at the padawan. The panic, the fear and uncertainty. Kahlil could feel it easily through the Force. Shan had been cut. Defending him no less. His own frustration built.

This really wasn't a mission they should've brought a Padawan on. He'd have to talk to Valery about that when this was all finished.

His expression softened as a mark along his spine started to grow. A rune, but one that didn't look anything like the others he'd written before. The area was probably too large for him to do this in, but that didn't matter. The rune flared, and all at once the rubble around them shot upwards. Not that they were lifted up by the Force as he'd been keeping the others from collapsing. Piece by piece they continued back to where they came from, once more becoming a whole. Once more returning to the tunnel it had been.

He simply reversed time on them.

"We're not done yet."

Shan | Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Bordal

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Shan

What was that?

After lashing out at the Padawan, he was sure that the end was near for the Jedi, but all of his work was suddenly beginning to change. It was being undone. The tunnels closed, the ice caught up, and with how close he had gotten himself to the Jedi, it meant he was stuck within the walls, inside his own little chamber of rock.

He had only one way to go.

"Wicked beings, you will not harm me today."

With its claws, it dug straight down, and fell into the pocket with Kahlil and Shan, where it stood up to its full height. A loud shriek echoed from its maw, and with the claws on one hand, it lashed out at the Padawan, before trying to entangle its sharp tendrils around the Jedi Master's legs. Up-close, he was not at an advantage anymore, but every possible way out had been locked down by Kahlil.

He was trapped, and like a beast forced into a corner, it attacked with fury.

 

[Shan]

Shan was frozen in surprise at the sight of the chamber starting to reform all around them. He hadn't ever seen anything like this before. At least it meant they wouldn't need to worry about getting crushed...but there was still the Sithspawn and its possible plague. That wasn't something he'd be able to defeat...but now that Kahlil was free, there was a chance that Shan didn't need to defeat the Sithspawn. He just had to hold his own ground long enough to survive...Though he wasn't sure how that was going to go now.

He had at least not went ahead with slicing his hand off. Kahlil had made sure he wouldn't do anything like that. Maybe Shan had just been...overreacting over it all, but for now he had to stay focused. Though he couldn't help but get frustrated at the Sithspawn's comments.

"We don't want to harm you! We want to help you! You've been telling people to stay away from here! You've only attacked people who have attacked you back! I swear to you, we are here to try and help!" Shan was trying to keep his composure. Was he wasting his breath? More than likely. But he was going to keep trying. He just raised his saber, trying to block the claws of the Sithspawn. If he wanted to prove they weren't here to harm it...Well, slashing out at it recklessly wouldn't help.

"Look! All the attacks I've done have been to defend myself. I have made no attempts to kill you! If you can stop fighting for a minute, we can actually try to help. I promise you." He had to stand his ground as well as he could against the Sithspawn. Though now it made more sense for him to refer it to as a beast than a person with how much it was lashing out. Shan was just fighting every nerve in his body to go on the offense. If they managed to capture it, or have it stop fighting, they might be able to get some kind of cure for its plague, or at least learn something from it. He just had to focus on his own defense. He couldn't afford to get cut a second time.

Kahlil Noble Valery Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil let out a deep breath as the weight on his shoulders finally faded. Not literally on his shoulders, but it was good that he wasn't trying to keep the roof from caving in on them anymore. He didn't seem to react at first as the tendrils came towards him. Caught him, cut him. He was tired after everything that he'd just done. His back was burning from the use of the rune. And now his flesh burned from the disease unleashed upon him.

"Would you just listen to the boy!"

He reached down, uncaring of how the tendrils cut into his hands, and ripped on them to pull the creature right for him. The Force surged with him, acting to fully drag the Sithspawn towards him. And, brought around his lightsaber. He hadn't lit it up since they came here, but this time the green blade was on full display. But silent. Kahlil was using Entropite with the pure intent of keeping the creature alive.

Valery Noble | Shan

 

[Valery Noble]

Bordal

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Shan

In his mindless rage, the creature managed to wound the Jedi Master, but despite the cuts it managed to cause, Kahlil pushed himself through and turned his tendrils against him. Inch by inch, he was pulled closer, until he was right in front of the Jedi Master's face with nowhere left to go. It was at that moment, as Kahlil called out to him, that he processed the Padawan's words as well. So just as the green blade swept in, there was a short moment of calmness that echoed out into the Force.

It understood, and with the Entropite crystal flaring to life, it finally went down.

<Kahlil?> Valery's voice was filled with concern, as she had felt the way the Sithspawn cut his hands and body. Jedi had the natural ability to cleanse their systems of diseases and poisons, but would that work here? Valery wasn't sure, so until he reassured her, she was clearly panicking a little.

What if he ended up like the people they found at the camp? She couldn't lose him again.

<Shan? Are you okay? Please tell me you two are okay.>

 

[Shan]

As soon as the creature was done, Shan went to work trying to do his own treatment. The moment of calmness through the Force had stopped the Padawan from fully melting down into a puddle of nerves but that didn't mean he was calm. He was just trying to think about all of this logically. Don't focus on the wound, or the pain, or his own emotions. Just keep himself moving for as long as he could. Auto pilot was the best thing he could do right now, as he tried to get to work clearing the tunnel with the Force so they could get to the exit and to Valery.

Calling upon the Force however was more difficult than he had expected however. His hand had stung for the initial cut, but now? It was burning. His entire arm was slowly feeling like it was burning from the inside out. Which meant he had to rely on one hand to try and clear the path so...work was going pretty slowly for him.

Which was when he had Valery's voice, catching the Padawan off guard. She was asking if they were alright, and a small thought of lying came to his mind before shaking his head. He was going to be as honest as he could. It would have been obvious to figure out he was lying though, with the panic and fear that was in his voice. His focus now just on replying to the Jedi Master. <I...We're alive. But we both were attacked and cut by the Sithspawn. My arm is on fire...I was going to cut it off but Kahlil stopped me. I'm scared.>

Kahlil Noble Valery Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil let out an exhausted sounding sigh as he just plopped down beside the now unconscious Sithspawn. It had caused quite a bit of trouble, hadn't it? And to think it was once.. Someone. Looking at it now, it was hard to see what it came from. Who it might've been before. There was no forgiving it's actions though. Even if they were able to cure it, how many people had they decided to kill?

<We'll need a way out and a place to work on this. IF we're infected, well, we'll probably need a doctor to help cure it.>

Valery Noble | Shan

 

[Valery Noble]

Bordal

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Blasters | Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Shan

Valery didn't care anymore.

She had stopped herself from using phase, for fear of not reaching another air pocket before having to materialize again. But with both Shan and her husband hurt and potentially infected, every overly protective fiber in her body screamed, and she was forced into action. So after moving up to the wall inside her prison of rock, she phased through the wall and ran straight for them.

It seemed that this would be her lucky day.

Within a minute, she suddenly appeared near the others, as if she walked through the wall like a ghost. Her eyes were filled with concern when she spotted Kahlil sitting on the ground, and felt the pain Shan experienced. Why did she have to bring a Padawan along for this? She should have known it could be this dangerous.

"I..." She frowned. "Let's get you two out of here. Your bodies are far more resilient to disease, so you'll have a lot more time. But...we have to get you back to camp. Maybe they have found a way to cure it." She walked over to her husband and crawled down to lift him up to his feet with an arm pulled around his shoulder.

"Shan? Can you walk? I'll need you both to help me move these rocks. We can do it together."

 

[Shan]

The sight of Valery coming through the rocks nearly gave Shan the fright of his life, causing him to think he was going crazy from the sickness, until she put her arm around Kahlil's shoulder. Okay. She was real. That was good.

"I-I can still walk...I'm sorry. You...You don't need to worry..." He just needed to calm himself down. He shouldn't have agreed to come. He should have backed out instead of trying to power through this. His heart was racing and every breath he was taking felt like it was giving him less and less air. Maybe he was just panicking too much...or maybe it was something more but the Padawan couldn't let himself spiral down into fear. Fear normally meant he was alive, that his blood was pumping through his body, but right now? That was the exact kind of thing he didn't want. Just breathe and focus.

Though his eyes trailed towards the form of the Sithspawn, his eyebrows furrowing even as sweat was already forming across his forehead. "W-We can't leave them here...or they'll think we've abandoned them...but if we take then with us...the people at the camp might want to kill them as revenge." They wouldn't be able to carry the Sithspawn with them anyway, but Shan didn't want to leave it behind. It was the closest thing that would be able to give them a cure, but if it got killed...Flashes of what the people at the camp looked like came to his mind, as Shan could feel his blood running cold at the thought of that being him and Kahlil.

No. Focus on the task at hand. Get out of the tunnel, then he could worry about that. Instead he turned his attention to the wall, getting ready to help Valery deal with the rubble. Just clear his mind and don't let the fear ruin his thoughts. Fear and Anger. Two emotions that could lead to the dark side, and Shan was starting to see why. Anger could give more strength, whilst he'd happily do anything to stop himself from being afraid again...but he shook his head at that. It wasn't who he was. Instead he turned his attention towards the Force, to the comfortable and familiar presence around him and tried to focus on the rocks, preparing to try and move them with the aid of the others.

Kahlil Noble Valery Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil was practically dead weight against Valery. He felt.. Oddly tired. Much more than he expected to be. Was that the blowback for the rune, then? Or just because of everything else he was doing? Hard to tell, he wasn't able to think too straight. Maybe that was just the plague. Whatever it was, his focus was shot for the moment. .. That was more worrying than anything else. He frowned, glancing to the prone figure before he nodded once.

"No, we're not going to abandon them. And if the villagers try to take matters into their own hands, remind them that without the Sithspawn, we won't be able to cure this plague. Which now festers in our own bodies."

He forced a smile and gave a thumbs up.

"We're gonna save everyone we can, no matter who. Don't worry."

Valery Noble | Shan