Private A Good Start

[Jacen Nimdok]

When Elise poked him playfully in the ribs, Nimdok pretended not to notice, showing no reaction. But a few seconds later, just before Kurenai returned from the kitchen, his hand shot out and jabbed her right back. He thought Elise’s teasing might be a sign that she craved his attention, which was currently divided between listening to Kurenai’s story about Kiso and passively monitoring Miri’s mood through the Force, making sure everything was okay outside. Of course, if Elise wanted him all to herself, she could always come up with an excuse to get them alone together, like claiming they were tired from traveling and really ought to go to bed. Truth be told, Nimdok was pretty space-lagged after the trip from Saleucami, but awake and alert enough to still carry on a conversation.

Kurenai's tale certainly raised a few more questions. "The One Sith Wars?" he echoed, then quickly added, "I'm afraid I'm not as familiar with more recent events as I am with the rest of galactic history. The One Sith was the precursor of the current Sith Empire, correct?"

In actuality, Arimanes had been either still living on far away, remote Lao-mon, or deep in hiding in the Unknown Regions during the period of time Kurenai was describing, and therefore had only heard rumors of wars occurring elsewhere. Nimdok may not even have been born. Neither of the two personalities knew what she was talking about, which caused both some degree of embarrassment.

“Have you stayed in touch with Kiso?” he asked, trying to hide the faint exasperated blush on his face by changing the subject. She said they had met a few decades ago, but unless Kiso was also a slow-aging vampire or similarly long-lived being, all that time would have passed for her just as surely as any ordinary human would experience it.

Elise Ike​

 

[Kurenai Yumi]

Elise let out a slight 'eep' at the sudden jab, her hands going to rest on Jacen Nimdok leg as Kurenai pondered the other question proposed by the man. "They are not related, the current Sith empire we know formed out of a union between the Sith Ascendancy that was located at their current northern borders and a smaller faction that held control over the Sith home world". "The two joined forces after defeating another power called the Dominion, the last bastion of freedom on that side of the galaxy".

"The One Sith wars, took place almost 20 years ago, when a faction of Crusading Sith attacked the republic and cut a warpath through the core worlds". It was a very 'final destination like campaign' she had seen. "After then had defeated the Republic they quickly declined, having no threat to face, the older Galactic Alliance made up of former republic and outerim driving a spear head into the One Sith and restoring themselves".

"It was during that time I met Kiso, and also my husband during the latter parts of the fighting funnily enough". It was a chaotic but also interesting time to be alive needless to say. "The current Galactic Alliance isn't that one from before, the older alliance fell to the first order and current Sith, a small republic formed after the First Order fell but it was ruined by the Mandos, thankfully the CIS took up charge and with the SIlver Jedi still around the new galactic alliance should last a while".

Speaking of the Silver Jedi that lead into his latter question. "We fell out of contact for a bit, herself joining some group of refugees from the Dominion which became the Eternal Empire we know today, they used to be allies of the CIS and located near Tatooine, but, well, their 'EMPEROR' was a back stabbing dick, sooo yeah now there are on the other side of the galaxy". Despite all the Shit that nation had pull she had to give them credit for their resilience.

"I more or less put Kiso on the straight after that and she now serves in the Silver Jedi along with my other children, though she isn't force sensitive and is a Admiral". More so due to the fact all the deserters that went with her to the Silver Jedi probably wouldn't listen to anyone else but that was neither here nor now.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Nimdok listened to Kurenai's explanation as intently as a child being read a bedtime story. It was difficult for him to follow the changing factions and shifting power dynamics in the galaxy these days, so her explanation was very helpful.

"Twenty years ago... I was in the Unknown Regions then," Nimdok murmured. He was now leaning forward, his chin propped on his hand as he hung on to every word his stepdaughter was saying. "I was... in hiding. I had done some unfortunate things, and was doing my best to outrun the ghosts of my past."

Nimdok shivered with pleasure at Elise's touch, but he maintained his composure and kept his gaze fixed on Kurenai. As long as he was absorbing historical information, he couldn't focus on anything else.

"The current Galactic Alliance isn't that one from before, the older alliance fell to the first order and current Sith, a small republic formed after the First Order fell but it was ruined by the Mandos, thankfully the CIS took up charge and with the Silver Jedi still around the new galactic alliance should last a while."

"They were called the Grayson Imperium for a while, as I recall. Then they became the Galactic Alliance, and finally they merged with the Republic to become the faction they are today." He shrugged. "I went with them on an expedition into the Netherworld not too long ago. We managed to retrieve a shard of the Dagger of Mortis - and they used it to create these crystals." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out beautiful ghostly sapphire crystal for the two women to see.

"We fell out of contact for a bit, herself joining some group of refugees from the Dominion which became the Eternal Empire we know today, they used to be allies of the CIS and located near Tatooine, but, well, their 'EMPEROR' was a back stabbing dick, sooo yeah now they are on the other side of the galaxy."

"You mean Darth Tacitus?" Nimdok remarked. "Didn't he recently disappear? And now his former second-in-command is running things. Empress... Ingrid? I believe that's her name."

Now that Kurenai had thoroughly answered his questions, Nimdok straightened, resting his hand over Elise's. "This may seem like an odd thing to mention now," he began, a mischievous look in his eyes. "But Elise, whatever happened to those two pirates you enslaved on Odessen? The Human and the Weequay. Are they still yours?"

Elise Ike​

 

[Elise Ike]

Elise fingers continue to dance along @Nimdosk leg as he explain his absence. It didn't take a genius to understand his hiding was a sensitive matter, both women not asking any questions for the time being. Such would be save for more private times, when there were not any children around that could bust in suddenly.

"Yes I recall that, though most of the information I've gotten has been second hand at best". At the very least it was some new Imperial Empire power like so many had tried before, though only time would tell if this alliance actually held proper standings and morals. At the mention of an expedition Elise poked her head up, her eyes fixated on the gem held by the fellow scholar, Kurenai herself being somewhat intrigued. "Oooooh, you should have told me about such a nice thing".

Whie Elise was captivated by the crystals Kurenai contained to answer his questions, "Yes that is the one, they called themselves the Ancient Eye for a while before hand". "Hopefully the Empress doesn't do on geocidal campaigns to wipe out any force users they find and staging attacks to give them reason to invade peaceful worlds". That is what happened with the CIS, Tacitus organizing his forces to attack civilian to lure the CIS into a war with one of the older galactic republics.

Why the CIS blindly believed such attacks from came from the Republic that stood for peace, employed Jedi and had suffered similar attacks she could never reason. The only thing she took solace in was the fact she wasn't present for the attack and heavily against taking military action. Kurenai could only shake her head, recalling all the stupid things the CIS had done, while minor compared to other powers from her perspective and experiences most of them could have easily been avoided if people just asked a few questions.

As that happened Elise ripped her attention from the crystal and towards Nimdok again, placing a finger to her lips at the question. "You really want to know? She bore a toothy smile, her fangs showing a bit,a long silence went through the air before Elise began to chuckle, patting her lowers legs playfully. "Nothing bad, I just sent them back home, they are most likely at one of the many vampire enclaves around the galaxy, being rough necks means we can use them in the more outerim areas".

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

“What, this little trinket?” Nimdok held the crystal between two fingers, turning it from side to side like a jeweler. The light shone upon its facets, bringing out both the ghostly sapphire luminescence and the iron gray interior of the gem. “It’s no artifact on its own. Just a synthetic crystal grown in a lab, imbued with powers taken from a mere shard of the Dagger. If I had the shard, I would’ve certainly given that to you. But this is just a tool, part of a weapon.” He smirked. “After what happened last time with Meetra Surik’s crystal fragment, I don’t recommend you touch it, Elise. This crystal may be artificial, but it is much more potent. It might do you serious harm.”

His playful tone and faint smile gradually faded as he spoke, until he rather abruptly put the crystal away, as though he were afraid to touch it any longer. He could feel the gem tugging at the edge of the binding between his two souls, threatening to rip away the part of him which ought to be dead and banish it back to the Nether. The pull had been faint at first, but the longer he held it…

Reaching for Elise’s slender white hand, he cradled it between his. “I was going to give it to a friend of mine. I don’t think I’ll have much use for it. It does have considerable power, particularly against spirits and Sithspawn, but I tend to prefer diplomacy to fighting anyway.”

Kurenai’s remarks gave him pause. “It’s curious that you mention that,” he said. “The Eternal Empire has had certain… anti-Force agencies, from what I understand, but the Empress is herself a Force User. Not to mention she is engaged to marry a Dark Councilor of the Sith…” Whether the marriage was a purely political maneuver remained to be seen. He shrugged. “I suppose there is hope that they will relax their persecutions. Otherwise, I doubt Ingrid will remain in power for very long.”

Elise’s giggling reply made Nimdok shake his head and cluck his tongue in mock disapproval. “They’ve become vampires themselves? Curious. I certainly hope no other misfortune befalls them at the enclave. They were a likeable pair.” Glancing at Kurenai, he added, “I don’t suppose your mother has told you about our little trip to Odessen?”

Elise Ike

 

[Elise Ike]

Elise remembered their first home meeting and reeled back a little at the information, knowing full well her reaction to such an item. Still even if it wasn't some sort of ancient artifact. Being an anthropologist didn't limit her field to the past like others would think, modern cultures and advances in science were still relevant to her. "Well, it seems like a tool that could come in use either way, but I think I will leave it alone for now, don't want to hog all the powerful items hehehe".

She gave off a small chuckle as the conversation turned back to the Eternal Empire, Kurenai slightly rolling her eyes. "From what Kiso told me apparently they had a goal to try and 'kill' the force at some point". "I thought Sith were bad in their whole 'oh we bend it to our will', but destroying it outright"? It was so stupid to contemplate, it was like trying to out run a black hole on foot. "I wouldn't be surprised if they came to blows with the First order in time, their way of thinking it just too.... different". Almost unnatural, and that was coming from an almost immortal vampire.

"Well not full vampires, not like us, servant's, more thralls that have been given... 'gifts' more or less". Even if they did have their uses such pirates were not worthy of being fully blooded vampires. "As for our little trip, she knows the basics, more along the lines of that stupid Dark Lord that kept trying to fight us, I think he may have been locked up by himself for too long".

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Truth be told, Nimdok had been planning on giving most of the artifacts he recovered in his travels to Elise. There were few other people whom he trusted not only to keep them safe from errant treasure hunters and power-hungry youths hoping to get a leg up in the race, but to maintain and study them as an archaeologist. Experience had taught him that he couldn’t simply carry everything around with him everywhere he went—that was asking for trouble. Not to mention it was a pain in the ass trying to get everything through customs. He really ought to buy himself a proper ship…

“So I’ve heard,” he remarked. “Wardens of the Shroud, they call themselves. They based their beliefs on the teachings of Darth Traya.” He glanced briefly at Elise, assuming she knew who he was talking about. After all, at their first meeting they had spoken briefly of Jedi Master Atris, who had dueled with Traya… and lost. “It is certainly a different point of view compared to the typical Jedi versus Sith debate. Madness, without a doubt. On the other hand, I’m not so sure it is impossible. Traya apparently came quite close to accomplishing her goal, though she was stopped by her apprentice before she could enact her final solution.”

The whole story was very interesting, especially because Nimdok found it rather hard to understand. He knew that Traya’s plan had involved manipulating a Wound in the Force, with the intention of expanding it ever greater until the Force itself was destroyed… failing that, she hoped to lure all the Force sensitives in the galaxy, bringing them together on Malachor V. But rather than slaughtering them, she had founded a school… Well, he supposed it couldn’t be that simple. There would always be Force sensitives being born somewhere out there, and Traya couldn’t live forever. Her disciples would have to continue her work after she was gone, killing and suppressing anyone who felt the Force strongly. It was an inefficient, hypocritical, and inherently flawed methodology, but he couldn’t come up with any alternatives. The Force was too deeply integrated into the universe as they knew it, to try and remove it was akin to attempting to eradicate life itself.

“Thralls, yes.” He smirked at Elise. “What sort of ‘gifts’?”

To Kurenai he winked and said, “Darth Ravenous. Cute name for a Sith. He was there both times we visited Odessen.” Raising an eyebrow, he suddenly remembered something he had yet to tell Elise about. “You know that disk containing the files from the base, the one that I stole? I had it decrypted. Most of it was fairly esoteric, so I’m not sure what our Dark Lord wanted with the data. But while I was on the Scintilla, a young Lethan woman approached me and asked about it.” To be fair, he’d started rambling about history and his archaeological work without having to be asked, but she had singled out the data specifically among all the other discoveries he had made. “I’m fairly certain she was hired by Ravenous to try and wheedle it out of me. Her overly-flirtatious attitude made that quite clear.” It had been quite an amusing episode.

Elise Ike​

 

[Elise Ike]

Elise looked at Nimdok with a slightly confused look for a second, giving him a slight frown. "I'm not that old, geez, not even my grandmother was alive back then". She joked placing a hand to her chin as she thought about it. "To be honest my knowledge of her probably isn't much better, it only takes a few hundred years for history to be muddled by mortal's and she ". "Even by the time of the galactic civil war was much of the knowledge around her starting to fade, so when I was born a few hundred years later I wasn't in any better situation". More so since back then she didn't really care for history, it was until she left the Jedi and started wandering that her interest in the past began to grow and by then over 1000 years hand passed.

It was something to look into at a later date, perhaps her family did indeed keep some older records of those events. Turning back to Nimdok she cocked her head to the side as if his question was the silliest thing in the world. "Um like extra strength, longer life, simple vampire stuff, not as strong but also without the whole needing to eat people or drain their energy part". The only other downside is that they were sort of slaves to her command, unable to disobey and often would put her needs before their own like it was second nature.

"Really that is what he called himself? Sounds like quite the show man, would have love to be their, watching him flail his saber around only to just punch him in the face". It was crude but hey it worked, she couldn't count the number of times disarming a Sith was all it took for them to turn tail and run. "So not only is he a hoarder the man was sending women of the night to try and steal you away from me"? Elise showing a sign of fake anger a shock. "Such a home wreaker, I will have to go have word with this Twi'lek you talked of and tell her you are spoken for".

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

“It was around 4,800 years ago, yes.” Nimdok grinned at the appalled look on Elise’s face. He didn’t think she’d be sensitive about her age, considering that she still looked like a beautiful young woman. “You’re quite right. What I know of Traya comes from secondhand accounts, and their authenticity cannot be verified. The Wardens of the Shroud may claim to base their beliefs on Traya’s teachings, but more than likely they have strayed far from what she truly taught.”

Her change in expression as she became almost annoyed with him for asking about the thralls left him struggling to contain his laughter. He shot a bemused glance toward Kurenai, then replied, “I was just curious, my love. It sounds like a great deal, all things considered. Superior strength, longer life—does it increase their speed as well? What about reflexes?”

His interest in the thralls was coming both from a place of compassion for the two pirates, and genuine intrigue. Though he didn’t want to become Elise’s thrall, he certainly wouldn’t have said no to the benefits they received…

"So not only is he a hoarder the man was sending women of the night to try and steal you away from me? Such a homewrecker, I will have to go have a word with this Twi'lek you talked of and tell her you are spoken for.”

“Ah, but luckily you and I weren’t together yet when it happened,” Nimdok explained cheerfully. “It was only a few days after I got back from Odessen. I was on the Scintilla with Miri, staying with an old friend while I had the data from the disk transferred. The Twi’lek—I think her name was Telani—came up to me out of the blue and struck up a conversation.” He shrugged sheepishly. “You know me. I talk too much. Before I knew it, she was asking about the files. I wound up sending her a copy of them. Only after determining there was nothing really useful on them, of course.”

Telani had eased up on the flirting after learning he had a kid, assuming that he was married as well. Then she had expressed her condolences upon discovering he was a single father. He knew that if she was truly working for Ravenous , then she must be a Sith like him. But she had seemed… more decent than your typical run-of-the-mill evil henchman. He sincerely hoped she had gotten away from Ravenous by now and gone on to something better. Assuming she was even still alive.

Elise Ike​

 

[Elise Ike]

"It was only a joke honey, but yes, I am only around 3500 years old that is around 1300 before my time". A period of time she would need to look into some day before the knowledge of it passed into obscurity. Hopefully her family had information on that period of time to make a decent personal record of things to past down in their, well current family.

"Well they have greater agility, only pure vampires get added reaction time, though that is more due to our new found abilities to zero in on peoples scent and hunter like instincts". In addition one needed to fine tune it over several years least be constantly jumping at shadows or the wrong threat. "I personally narrowed my senses during my childhood, not the most pleasant of day but now I can usually tell if someone is around better then using the force". After all, the force could be masked, a persons smell couldn't

"Well, she got lucky, I suppose I will have to let it go for now", Elise hiding a small smile at Nimdok's joking nature as he continued to talk about the interaction between said women and the nature of the information he had downloaded. "By any chance would you be willing to give me a copy? After all that was one of the reason I had decided to take part in your little trip, twice".

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Nimdok followed along with their answers, but he was beginning to find it harder to focus. He chalked it up to fatigue from traveling and figured he better wrap up the conversation for now.

“Of course,” he replied to Elise’s request. “I’d have sent it to you sooner, but I sort of forgot about it.” His forgetfulness served as a testament to how little interest the data had held for him. A bit disappointing, to be sure, but he hardly regretted one-upping Ravenous and his pirate gang.

Producing a small datachip, he plugged it into his datapad and created a copy of the files for Elise. He already had all her contact information saved, for obvious reasons. When the upload was complete and the files successfully sent, he removed the chip and held it between two fingers, stifling a yawn.

“If you don’t mind pausing and picking up this conversation again tomorrow, I’d like to head to bed.” Checking his chrono, he added, “It’s a little early, but I didn’t get much sleep on the ship. One of the reasons I hate traveling… well, I enjoy visiting new places, but the process of getting there is a bit annoying. A lot of hassle and worry, trying to keep track of everything, paying for tolls and fuel—not to mention everything looks the same in space, so you can’t even watch the passing scenery...”

He realized he was starting to ramble. Putting the datachip away, he stood up. Was he forgetting anything? “Oh, uh, I was going to mention—I was planning on doing some exploring tomorrow, so if either of you wanted to accompany me… you can.”

Good grief. He was acting like he’d been drugged. Am I just exhausted, or was there something in that tea? he thought jokingly.

Elise Ike​

 

[Elise Ike]

Elise slid an arm around Jacen Nimdok lightly patting his back. "Ah yes space lag and traveling, I keep forgetting your mortals are not use to that on such a regular interval". Once again a joke but also to an extent real, being a vampire her tiredness could easily be dealt with via feeding any varying other methods but her husband wasn't so lucky.

"The bed rooms are prepared, this place is always ready to take visitors, I trust you know the way mother"? Elise return a small nod to Kurenai, the latter going out to wrangle up the children before they broke anything. She was quite certain Akari was trying to convince Miri to help her break into the actual dojo room and pilfer the training weapons.

Soon the couple arrived at one of the bed room, Elise opening the door and leading Nimdok in, the place carrying a very tradional Atirian vibe, having the tatami mats, a high quality jet still simple futon as well as similar furniture. "I'll be back with the bags in a second hon, why don't you get comfortable".

Stepping out of the room she used the force to whisk their luggage from the ground floor upstairs, Elise setting them aside next to the draws. "I can look after the kids tomorrow if you want to spend time with Kurenai, she may show you the village in greater detail, it was the one she saved during the crisis and shadow monster's". That and she just knew the terrain better, plus it would give him time to talk more with the new step daughter.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

“Well, I like to think I’ve gotten used to it,” Nimdok replied, a little unsteady on his feet. “I just don’t like it.”

Nimdok watched Kurenai leave the house, grateful that she was taking the lead when it came to the girls. He followed Elise to the bedroom, gave it a brief once-over, then sat down on the edge of the bed, nodding vaguely in acknowledgement as she left to retrieve their luggage.

He laid back on the bed. This wasn’t just fatigue anymore—he felt drained, as if something was sapping his strength. Under normal circumstances he would’ve questioned this sudden weakness, but his thoughts were foggy and unfocused with exhaustion. He closed his eyes for only a moment, just to rest... but by the time Elise returned, he was already fast asleep.

Elise Ike​

 

[Elise Ike]

Elise entered, spying Jacen Nimdok already sleeping, herself giving a small sigh as she got dressing into her night gown. Giving her lover a small kiss on the head as she slipped into the be as well, she had earned a nice rest after all, even if she wasn't as sleepy.

Meanwhile Kurenai did in fact find the two children rummaging around the dojo, giving Akari a scolding while Miri seemed to just laugh.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

In truth, Miri had been more than a little scared after Akari managed to break into the dojo. When the little vampire girl had first suggested they play with the training weapons, Miri had been apprehensive. “We shouldn’t play with that stuff, it’s dangerous,” she’d argued, parroting her father’s warnings about playing with such things. “Someone could get hurt.”

Akari had ignored her, insisting that it would be fun. Miri, not sure what else to do, followed along with the scheme. When they were finally caught by Akari’s mother, Miri had let out a laugh of nervous relief. Finally, an adult had come to take charge of the situation. Everything would be okay now.

As she followed Kurenai outside and across the compound, Miri became aware of something strange in the air. She wrinkled her nose. It reminded her of the stench of rotten food in a garbage can, but… it wasn’t really a smell, was it? It was more like the aftermath of something evil passing through, on its way somewhere else...

Yet when they entered the house, the potency of the “odor” only intensified. Whatever was the source of it was currently inside the building. Miri was about to say something, but she hesitated. Telling Kurenai that her house smelled nasty seemed rude. She didn’t want to be rude. But the reek wasn’t going away, and she had a very bad feeling about it.

“Um, Akari’s mom?” she finally spoke up, getting Kurenai’s attention. She didn't know how to properly address the woman. “It smells bad in here. But it’s not really a smell… it’s, um, I think it’s bad? Like the Dark Side.”

The little girl could sense a malevolent presence nearby through the Force, one which manifested for her as a foul stench, but she had such limited understanding of her power that she could barely articulate what she was experiencing. As for why she could sense it but seemingly no one else in the house could, she didn’t know the answer to that either. The uncertainty frightened her.

"Also, where is my daddy? I wanna talk to him." Her father always had answers for everything. He would know what it was and what to do, she was sure of it.

Kurenai Yumi​

 

[Kurenai Yumi]

If there was one thing she could count on it was Akari's predictability, though how she managed to open the dojo was beyond her, maybe Tana had been teaching the girl how to pick locks. Kurenai bonked the head of Akari, the younger girl dropping the sword, "now I want you to clean that up and meet me inside". Her daughter getting all pouty and walking back, slowly picking up the varying wooden weapons as her mother turned to face Miri.

She was fulling expecting her to apologies or be timid but instead she was hit by a very sudden and out of the blue predicament. "The dark side"? She didn't really feel anything out of the ordinary, but then again she and her mother was users of the dark side, it would make sense that the area felt that way, but Miri didn't seem to focus on that, something else was aloof..

"Your parents went upside to sleep if I recall, is something the matter"? Focusing a bit more she did sense something different, not the usual dark side presence, this was more... oily, tainted, not just dark. She had a bad feeling about this.

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Miri gnawed on her lip—or tried to. Her newly missing tooth made it feel strange. She knew that she shouldn’t wake her father up unless she had a very good reason for it. Was this important enough?

The bad feeling worsened until she almost felt sick to her stomach. Something was wrong, very wrong. She wanted her father. As long as she was with him, she would be safe. That was important enough.

“I gotta talk to him,” she repeated, then dashed for the stairwell without another word. Her little legs took enormous steps, and she wasn’t quite tall enough yet to reach the railing; about halfway up, she resorted to climbing the stairs, using her hands as well as her feet to propel her to the top.

The “smell” was even worse upstairs. Miri was so frightened by it that she stopped in her tracks, afraid to keep going. She reached out, trying to find her father’s presence, and managed to narrow it down to one particular room… the room where the “smell” was strongest.

Something was inside the bedroom where Nimdok and Elise were sleeping. Miri could sense it. It felt familiar, and not in a good way. She stood frozen in the upstairs hallway, too scared to move, but her fear and agitation were obvious. To Kurenai she stammered, "The... there's something in there..." Her expression crumpled and she raised her hands to her face, whimpering.

Kurenai Yumi​

 

[Kurenai Yumi]

In a normal sense Kurenai should have been worries, from Miri's reaction it certainly seemed like this was a threat, but the feelings of fear and worry were something she had grown numb to. The women being more cautious and on guard as she followed behind her new sister, "then we should see if they are both awake".

The duo coming to the top of the stair only for the sudden feel of the strange being washing over Kureani more in depth, ha hand sliding into her belt, drawing a light saber but not activating it just yet. There was not telling if this 'thing' could be hurt through physicals means, Kurenai placing herself in front of Miri.

"Get behind me and don't wander off", she replied in a stern voice, holding out a hand as she slowly advance towards the evil stench, unaware of what was going on inside her parents bed room.

Jacen Nimdok

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

Inside the bedroom, Arimanes awoke to find a creature leaning over him.

The Shroud, as it had been dubbed by its Sith creator, was difficult to describe. While its body seemed composed only of fog or smoke, immaterial and partially transparent, it had a definite shape. Its form resembled a snake crossed with some sort of insect—its triangular head reminded him of a mantis, complete with bulging eyes and gnashing pincer jaws, and its front limbs ended in sharp raptorial claws, while the serpentine torso was supported by several arachnid-esque back legs.

Clutched between the claws was a perfect ghostly impression of Nimdok, his eyes closed and his body hanging limp. It took Arimanes a moment to realize that it really was Nimdok’s ghost—the emptiness he felt inside was enough to confirm this fact. The Shroud had ripped the second spirit right out of his body while he slept. Dark, alien, and paralyzing, it fed upon him like the kiss of a spiritual vampire. He wasn’t just jet-lagged and tired—this thing must have been tailing him for a while, slowly sapping at his strength, probably ever since they left the starport!

The room was filled with that same toxic black miasma that permeated his Force sense, though this close to the source it was almost gag-inducing. Arimanes fumbled in his pockets for the crystal he had shown Elise and Kurenai earlier. His hand closed around the jagged shard, and a second later he found the hilt of the lightsaber he had used it in. But even as he scrambled to place the crystal inside the weapon, he realized that if he used it against the Shroud, there was a high likelihood he would hit Nimdok as well, banishing both souls to the Nether. Once the professor returned to the Nether it would be extremely difficult, if not downright impossible, to bring him back a second time. Miri would lose her father, and Arimanes would lose all of Nimdok's knowledge of history.

But if he did nothing, the Shroud would consume Nimdok, and then he would be worse than dead.

After installing the crystal, Arimanes closed the panel and clutched the lightsaber in his hands, but did not ignite the blade. Above him, the Shroud had already sunk its teeth into its catch, apparently oblivious to the fact Arimanes had awoken beneath it. Sorry professor, he thought, wincing at the sight. If we survive this, I’ll let you go on vacation in my body for a month or two…

He was running out of time. Reaching a decision, he ignited the silvery-blue blade of the saber and swung it at the Shroud.

Arimanes was not a swordsman. In fact, he barely knew how to wield a lightsaber, despite carrying anywhere from two to six of the elegant weapons on his person at any given time. (Most of them unique artifacts, of course.) But he had decent enough aim, and when the blade made contact with the immaterial body of the Shroud it shrieked in pain, immediately releasing Nimdok from its grasp.

Nimdok fell soundlessly on top of Arimanes, who grabbed the half-eaten spirit and flung them both off the bed, rolling across the floor and away from the Shroud. His back collided with the wall before he looked down and found that Nimdok, weakened as he was, was blocked from slipping back inside his body. The lightsaber would prevent their reunion for as long as he still held it in his hand.

Even better, the Shroud wasn’t destroyed, merely injured by the attack. It turned toward them and let out a blood-curdling hiss of rage.

If Elise were to wake up just now, or Kurenai and Miri flung open the door to the bedroom to see what was the matter, they would find Arimanes, still in Nimdok’s form, holding what appeared to be his own ghost in one hand and a lightsaber in the other, while a smoggy serpentine-insectoid monstrosity loomed threateningly over them. Just another typical day in the life.

Kurenai Yumi​

 

[Kurenai Yumi]

Even before entering the room Kurenai could feel the darkness seeping from under the door, herself kicking it open with weapon in hand and ignited. A blood orange blade coming from the tip as she looked around, seeing Nimdok to the side clutching a saber himself but more importantly the strange shroud around the bed. "Mum wake up"!

As she shouted the warning to Elise she sent a force push out, hoping to slam the ghost like figure into the wall to give them some room. The shout doing its work as not a few moments later Elise jolted to life, almost falling from the bed though turning it into a backflip more or less as she stared towards the Sith spawn. "What in the Seven hells is that thing, honey are you okay"!

Elise's hands crackling with force lightning, ready to shoot a burst of the deadly Sith power should the being take another step forward.

Jacen Nimdok