A New Partner

[ToKola Bakari]

Cardinal saw no reason to press Madalena on her inability to property meditated. Instead he would continue on with their lesson. If she wished to fix her problem then he would be there to aid her. He took notice of her lack of inhibition with the knife challenge. Although he doubted she would be harmed it spoke to the warrior that she was. He gave her a slight smile as he recalled the warriors on his home planet, she would have fit in well with the female warriors from his clan.

He took hold of the knife and gestured to her arm. When she appeared ready Cardinal would raise the knife over her arm and test it's grip in his hand. He knew if the blade was held loosely and it impacted her barrier it may lash out at one of them. Of course her barriers were not yet that strong but in time it would be a risk they would be more wary of.

His hand would tighten just before he would press the dagger down towards the woman's arm. Nowhere near his full strength yet he had applied enough pressure to where he felt it would be an acceptable test. If the dagger flew through the barrier it would surely damage the woman’s arm. Cardinal was eager to see if Madalena was as talented as he believed.
[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She saw the grip tighten around the hilt, and she prepared herself, using that fraction of a moment to strengthen her barriers once more, make their foundations better, close her eyes and use her imagination as she so often did to guide the Force where she willed it. She knew without it being said that this was the ultimate test, this would be her chance to prove to the Dominus just how good she was. And she knew she was good.

When her emerald eyes snapped open it was a fraction of a second before the knife came to the barrier, the intense glow of her eyes intensifying almost to the point of a flashing light.

Her barrier held.

As soon as the blade bounced off, Madalena blinked, her eyes returning to normal, a wide grin appearing on her face. She felt that sweet sort of ache that often came after a long physical session, and she wiped the sweat that had beaded on her forehead on the back of her unprotected arm.

"I can use the Barrier," she said with a nod, "I will continue to practice this," she added. Managing three times was just the start, a confirmation that the ability was within her. It didn't mean she was off the hook though. Now she would have to add it to her training, keep it happening until she could call the barrier and put it up in time of need without needing to conscious think about it. Instinct was always better than needing to think when you were facing enemies on the battlefield.

"Other than the danger of it breaking," Madalena asked, looking at the Dominus, "is there something else I should know about this before I pull it off mid-combat?"


[member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

Watching closely as Madalena prepared her barrier Cardinal took notice of the brief flash that occurred in her eyes just as his dagger struck the base of her shield. It rebounded off with a loud near-metallic clang. Nodding approvingly he knew she would have no trouble mastering this technique. He looked up to her once again and the green glow had died off and her eyes were back to normal once again. There was no reason to press his curiosity about her eyes as she did not press hers about his own. Though it was apparent she had relatively figured it out for herself.

He looked over the woman briefly before a hand fell over his chin. She spoke and he remained silent for a moment before he finally continued on the barrier. “As all things it is not nearly as easy to erect a strong barrier while you're in combat. I don't think you'll have much problem with that. What is very important is to make sure you never trap anything in a barrier with you. I've seen enemies use an opponent's barrier against them and it is not a pretty sight, so be mindful of where and how you raise your shield.”

Cardinal craned his neck to the side and stretched until a loud pop could be heard echoing throughout the ship, exhaling he looked to Madalena with a piercing gaze that seemed to be assessing her. “Well. You've learned a new technique. Now it's time to condition your body.” He explained to her. “For the mind to be effective the body must be kept in proper condition. So it can keep up with your mental prowess. That is why every day we will do a few hours of exercise unless we are on mission. Afterwards we will take an hour to enhance our minds, there is a series of books you will be reading. They are on the way different species and creatures in the galaxy wage war. I will test you on these species and their ways, if you fail you will not learn any new techniques until you pass.”

“Now. Let's get to it. It's going to be a long day.” He said, that gaze never lightening up.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Trap something in the barrier? Madalena blinked. She had not considered that she could "trap" anything with her while in there. But then her thoughts took her somewhere else entirely with this. What if she didn't want to "trap", but wanted to protect someone else, someone that was standing or sitting close enough to her? This opened a whole new world of possibilities. The only thing she knew for sure yet though, was that she'd have to practice this until her energies gave out to make sure it was useful at all times.

But there would be time for that, and that time was not now.

Turning her attention back to the Dominus, Madalena nodded. A few hours a day was what she was used to anyway. But… Books? Her training had certainly never out right included that. Of course, she'd read books, she knew how it worked, she often found herself doing research regarding her blood hound abilities (with no success) and Blood Magic (more success), but this…

She smiled. It was another challenge. She would do anything within her power to fulfil it, to continue to prove herself worthy.

"Yes, Dominus," she grinned, taking the first book.

It was sometime later that Madalena was sitting in the kitchen area, feet propped on the table, beef jerky being nibbled on, and her interest deep into the book she's started with. Warfare was so different than what she was used to. She rarely fought in troops, when she was in a group it was usually more like a pack of mercenaries, but this… It was a whole new world. And beyond a few technicalities, she understood very little of it.


[member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

After their exercise Cardinal would leave Madalena to her studies. The first book he had given the woman was a study on the children of Eshan, the Echani. A warrior culture formed around strict doctrine the snow haired warriors were some of the most famous in galactic history. As such they were a good starting point for the young woman. As Madalena was a warrior herself she would hopefully grow to appreciate the unique views of her counterparts around the galaxy. While she studied Cardinal had spent a bit of time in deep meditation hoping to gain some insight on their mission to come. Through The Force he was privy to certain visions of the planet they traveled to. Yet no matter how hard he tried he could make no sense of these premonitions. Finally he turned his mind away from the visions and left his room.

In the hall Cardinal took notice of the three astromechs who were assembled and apparently having some type of dispute. Cardinal’s ears recognized the beeps and chirps for the words they represented but they were all going off at once to the point where it was a jumbled mess. “Enough.” He raised his voice at the trio as he passed by them. Each R2 unit gave an apologetic chirp before they separated to see to their own chores on board. The small droids amused Cardinal and it was one reason he had chosen for them specifically. They had accompanied the Dominus on several missions and no matter how many times he wiped their memory they always ended up the same way. Rambunctious.

Walking into the kitchen Cardinal took notice of Madalena. Her eyes seemed to be focused on the book so he said nothing to her, no reason to interrupt her studies. Grabbing a small plastic cup from the cupboard he began to make a pot of cafe. While Cardinal did not play into many vices he certainly enjoyed the smell and taste of a fresh pot of cafe. In fact, other than water it was the only thing to drink on the ship. Cardinal hated sweets and sweet drinks and did not drink alcohol so it left them little in the ways of beverages.

Once the pot was set and water flowed into it he turned to lean back against the counter. He arched a brow as he saw Madalena seemed to be taking to her studies well. A good thing since the man held all parts of his training as equal. If she could not study she could not train, if she could not train she could not fight, and if she could not fight she would die. However it seemed there would be no problems in that regard.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Echani. Madalena knew a wee bit about them. Well, not anything that the book had to offer, but she knew what they smelled like through the Force. She didn’t need her eyes open to recognize one that was near her. All the info about their culture was new though. Some of the war stuff seemed somewhat familiar. While reading, she was already trying to come up with various way to counter their more known tactics, though she was half sure any of them would know better than to go for the classics that appeared in printed media.

Still, she was so focused on the reading that it was only the smell of coffee being prepared that caused her to raise her sight, her eyes falling on the Dominus.

“I know a few echani,” she commented, “but they don’t really behave like anything in this book. One doesn’t touch anyone and the other one does casual touching but relies entirely on verbal communication for general communication. It’s kinda weird.”

She had a shrug to offer, and then called a bottle of water to her hands. Coffee wasn’t really a thing for her. “Could be funny to see Echani dealing with slug-like slime filled species,” Madalena said with a grin.


[member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

“The Echani are a particularly interesting race to fight.” Cardinal stated, recalling his last clash with an Echani warrior. The scars still felt fresh though some years had passed since then. He cleared his throat with another sip from his cup of cafe before continuing to speak. “Their military tactics get to be kind of predictable. But it's the way each individual fights that is the most impactful thing in a fight with them. They are like surgeons in the way they can break down each punch and kick and decipher it into something you could never even comprehend.” He said.

“But they have their weaknesses like everyone else. Many of them believe in very light armor, if any at all, and that makes them very vulnerable. Dampening their senses can also be very crippling, especially sight.” Setting his cup down Cardinal let off a slight yawn before bending his neck towards his shoulder. “The book has a little bit of information on the Thyrsians as well. They're pretty much the complete opposite of the Echani, but they're way of interpreting combat language is more….fluid.”

Madalena spoke of the echani she had met and this caused Cardinal to run a hand over his beard. “Well. Obviously not all of their people will follow culture and tradition so closely. Especially ones who we're born away from their home world, and some just hide their mannerisms to make socialization a bit easier.” Cardinal took his cup back into his hands before gesturing back out into the hall. “I'll be in the cockpit if you need me. We start training again in the morning which is in five hours, so get some rest.” He ordered, before disappearing into the ships main hall.

The time it took for Cardinal and Madalena to get to Rishi was completely spent in training and studies. It seemed each day the two got less and less sleep, though Cardinal did not appear to sleep at all, he spent most of his time wandering the ship or in meditation. The morning they were set to arrive Cardinal had redonned his Obsidian Strike Armor and sat in the cockpit with a Stoic gaze. He watched the flashing lights of hyperspace closely, as if there was a story to be told from them.
[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“My Echani friend owes me a real fight one of these days,” Madalena remarked with a grin, “he also taught me how to wield lightsabers, a little bit before I joined the Knights. Before that I only used knives and daggers. The difference between them and the sabers was surprisingly great. I still prefer the heavier weapons though; there’s something too light about the lightsabers that makes them less than optimal for my style in most of the things I end up doing.”

She hadn’t gotten to the Thyrsians yet. She was a good reader and retained most of the information she came across, but she wasn’t a fast reader by any means. There was a reason it had been a few hours and she was still not done, despite the book not being that big or long.

But then came the part Madalena had been dreading since agreeing to join the Dominus on this months-long mission. Rest time. Five hours were fine but… But she needed to sleep during those five hours, and she knew what her sleep looked like, how it sometimes scared people who heard her waking up screaming in terror, sleep-round after sleep-round. She’d come up with some sort of a plan to deal with this, but… But she was terrified it wouldn’t work.

Still, with a nod, the Sithling rose from her chair and headed off to the refresher before curling into the little bed. Her alarm clock was set to go off every twenty minutes, completely avoiding any chance of herself entering REM. IF she did not dream, she would not have nightmares, and if she did not have nightmares, she would not wake up screaming.

And thus close to five hours of waking up every twenty minutes began.


[member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

There was a loud beeping to echo through the cockpit that broke the thick of thoughts that had been flowing through the man’s mind. His eyes gave a few fleeting blinks before he looked down at the Navicomputer. His hand fell over the Hyperdrive controls so that he could bring their ship from it's extreme speeds. His hand pulled back on a lever and almost immediately the flashing lights surrounding them were drug back into the reality that was real space. One of the R2 Droids had been aiding him with pulling out of hyperspace, the droid gave off a series of happy chirps before Cardinal gestured back to the ships inner workings.

“Can you go and get Madalena, please? We’ll be landing soon.” He divulged. The droid gave off a quick beep before turning back into the ship.

Cardinal leaned back in his seat for a moment with a hand slowly rubbing his freshly trimmed beard. His sunburnt eyes peered into the world as he reached out with The Force. The connections of The Force were drawing him, pulling him even. Which was never a good sign. The Dark Side was strong on this world, or rather something strong in the Dark Side had made Rishi it's home.

“That would explain quite a bit…” Cardinal muttered. “Maybe a rogue Sith…” He said before closing his eyes and focusing on the source of this darkness. Even from the reaches of space he could feel a hellish presence. It was filled with anger and anguish and…. Fear? In a flash an image flew through Cardinal’s mind, one that forced his eyes open and the slightest gasp to escape from him. Fear, there was so much fear. Cardinal stood from his seat and called out. “Antares, it's time to go.”
[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena was tired. Waking up every twenty minutes had proven to give her less rest than sleeping until she woke up screaming did. The skin beneath her eyes was slightly puffy, and her body screamed at her to go back to sleep. But no. There were bigger things happening here than her need to sleep decently, and even without the alarm clock, she would not be sleeping decently anyway.

When the droid came for her, she was already washed and dressed, trying to take a few good yawns to get air into her brain. It was moments like these in which she wished she was a coffee drinker. People always behaved as though coffee solved these fatigue issues for them, but she couldn’t stand the taste of the stuff.

Walking into the cockpit, she was as ready as she was going to be until adrenaline woke her up a little bit more. Much like the Dominus, she could feel the Darkside radiating from the planet but unlike him, it didn’t trigger any warnings for her, nothing to cause her to think that this was somehow not normal.

“Where are we, Dominus?” she asked, her voice slightly hoarse, “what’s the mission?”


[member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

Cardinal stood from his seat as Madalena made her way into the cockpit. His thumb jerked back to the planet behind him as he spoke softly. "Rishi. I sense the dark side of The Force on this world, even more so than last time..." He stated. The autopilot to the starship had already been programmed to bring the ship into the planet's atmosphere. While they made their descent Cardinal explained the mission to Madalena. "Like I told you we're here to investigate the missing people's reports and find out what destroyed our battle droid units. There should still be a platoon of droids protecting the village so we'll start by landing near the village and meeting with them."

As usual Cardinal's trusted blade was sealed to the back of his armor. His hand rose to the hilt of the Greatsword for a moment before making his way to the back of their ship. There was a brief shift as they went through the planet's spheres yet Cardinal's mind was on the task at hand.

"Stay alert. I sense something is off.....and more than just a few missing villagers." He revealed. As he spoke his armor materialized it's helmet around his head and his voice was coated in a dry metallic tone.

Once their starship had landed and the ramp was lowered, Cardinal's HUD scanned over the terrain closely. A thick, sickly green, mist washed over the land to where even the largest of features were impossible to see. Even Cardinal's HUD was having trouble outlining the terrain that was further away from the two. Stepping down from the ramp, Cardinal glanced back up to Madalena. "Bringing back memories?" He asked, calling back to their last visit to the planet.

"The village is about a mile away." Without another word Cardinal would step into the thick fog and make his way into the forest.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Rishi. Of course. He had mentioned that the day before. Madalena blamed her horrible sleep on her not knowing this without needing to ask again. She wanted to make a face and to tell the Dominus that Rishi could burn for all she cared about it, but she held her tongue back. They weren’t personal enough with each other for cracks regarding the matter to be made, even if she did hope the world would someday crash and burn, along with its stupid jungles and animals that had no business being there.

Still though, turning her mind to serious matters, she could still not say she gathered up the darkside in the way that the Dominus said he could. Nothing felt off to her beyond the mere existence of the world. And perhaps it as their different experiences that had caused this? Madalena was not weak or new with the Force by any standard, but when she had been on Rishi, she had been entirely cut off from the Force because of the collar they had put on her.

“Dominus?” she asked as the two walked down the ramp and headed towards the village, “What were your personal experiences on Rishi when the Confederacy was here last?”


[member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

"My experience? We assaulted a stronghold not far from here. The same cult that captured you may have a hand in what's going on here but I was sure we eliminated all of them.” He responded to Madalena’s question without hesitation yet his eyes were always on the thick fog before them. It did not let up even as they approached the village outskirts. It was a small farming village that could not have held even fifty people, however one thing was immediately noticeable.

The village was a ghost town. Even from where they were Cardinal could tell not a soul moved about the conglomerate of huts and buildings used by the locals. With that there were also no droid sentries like there should have been. “An entire platoon of droids should still be here… What is going on?” He asked before looking to Madalena. “I am going to survey the outskirts. Go into the village and scope it out.”

“There should be almost a hundred beings here. It's the middle of the day and I have not seen a single one. Stay alert, Knight.” Cardinal seemed to slip into the shadowy fog and disappear, yet Madalena would be able to recognize the soft shimmer of the stealth field that surrounded him. While Madalena made her way into the village Cardinal kept away from the buildings and instead began to weave in and out of the trees surrounding the structures. Searching for any sign of the villagers. He found no bodies, alive or dead and the lands were as quiet as a grave.
[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Just the Stronghold? Madalena chewed on her thoughts for a little bit. “Were you hit by something out of the ordinary during the assault?” came her next question. “I’m trying to guess why you’re feeling something so strongly but I can’t get a whiff of it at all. I’m pretty sure I would’ve picked at least a smidge up by now, but there’s nothing.”

She stared at the fog, wishing she’d had control of the Air element so she could wind the annoying thing away. Normally, she wouldn’t mind it since she could sense life signs with the Force, but there was absolutely nothing here, making her feel like a blind man walking.

But her job was not to comb the insides while the Dominus checked the outskirts. She gave him a nod as she made her way into the village, still disliking the fog. For a moment she considered casting her Night Sight spell, but then she realized it would do her no good; fog was not night, and the spell would not let her see through the fog. There was also no time to create a new spell to deal with the situation.

Madalena did not shy away from opening cabin doors and peering inside. Everything was empty. It was as though no one had even lived here at all; no livestock, no personal pictures on the walls, nothing. What the krak was going on?

And then something jumped to mind. The Aeshma. She needed to check if Cardnial had read her and Dianah’s report on them. It had been over a month since that mission, but it didn’t mean they were clear. They were an entire organization, and she and Dianah had only taken care of a single cell of them. Maybe this had something to do with it?

It was only upon reaching the village center that Madalena paused. Th village center was where people were punished or hanged, where bonfires happened during special celebrations. And here… There was nothing. Except for a pile of droid remains. She stared at it, noting the signs that someone had just… Pummeled them down into flat pieces of metal? There was so much of it, it was almost like a little pyramid of metal trash. If it hadn’t been for the heavy fog, they’d have noticed it right away, before even entering the village.

Now Madalena felt creeped out, a taste of wrongness sitting on her buds.

Dominus, Madalena contacted him via telepathy, I found our droids.


[member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

The outskirts of the village were clear which caused Cardinal even more confusion. The entire village was completely clear of any sign of life. All that surrounded the area was that thick green fog. Deactivating his cloaking field, Cardinal glanced down to the ground below him. There was a metallic hand that matched one of their droid units. He bent down to pick up the hand just as Madalena's voice echoed through his mind. From beneath his mask his eyes peered over the terrain before turning back to the village.

Once he made it back into the center of the village he realized exactly what Antares had meant when she said she had found their droids. "Battle Droids are not superior beings. Defeating them is not exactly a very difficult feat....however for this many of them to be destroyed like this..." He ran a hand over a few of the droid parts before looking to Madalena. "No blaster marks. They were all ripped apart."

"What happened here?" He asked himself before looking to Madalena. "Did you see anything?" He asked

As she spoke his eyes would take notice of a path before him. The village had a number of footprints that ran from one side to another yet the only ones of note seemed to belong to their own battle droids. Most of the footprint led to a single path outside of the village. As he noticed that he began to look at the surroundings of the village.

No blaster marks.

"Where did the battle happen?" He muttered before gesturing to the path. "Let's see where this leads us. Knight, when you were captured by the cult did you see anything that was capable of this?"

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"Nothing," Madalena shrugged. She'd just found the droid remains, but no functioning droids, and no living people. Following the Dominus' gaze, the Sithling now noticed the path as well, and cursed herself internally for not seeing it earlier. With the green fog though, it was hard to tell where it potentially led beyond 'not here'. Crouching next to him, her hand reached out to the touch the droid's metals. They were cold. "Long enough ago for the droids to cool down from whatever hit them," she noted. They were late. Were they too late though?

When the cult question came though… "No, Dominus," she answered, "we still don't entirely know how it happened. Every single one of us remembered going to bed or doing something, and suddenly we were on Rishi without our clothes and our connection to the Force entirely severed. We never found out who did it at all, not until we got rescued from an incoming stampede and were filled in."

She sighed, rising back to her feet, the two beginning to follow the trail, "there was another cult that I dealt with but… But they didn't do anything physical. They mostly put people to sleep and messed with their minds and dreams. I submit the report on that with Dianah Vi'Dreya a few weeks ago, but this doesn't look like their work either."


[member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

As the two of them made their way down the path out of town Cardinal could not help but feel a cold chill run down his spine. That chill would also be felt by [member="Scherezade deWinter"] as it was founded in the Dark Side of the Force. The chill would slowly spread over each of them until finally Cardinal's steps slowed to a halt. The daytime light seemed to be slowly fading away as that cold air threatened to freeze them away. He looked to the HUD of his armor and took note of the exterior temperature that had flashed over his screen. Eighty-eight degrees. That was far too warm for what he felt, but it also meant something was wrong.

He turned back to Madalena, taking a step back when he realized the woman was not there. In her place was only darkness, an endless void that replaced the scenery of the lush planet. His hand flew to the hilt of his broadsword as he realized he had been sucked out of reality. Where was he? Had he been transported somewhere by the Force or was it just an illusion?

Looking back to his HUD once again the temperature was now a completely different reading. Seven hundred degrees. Well, it stood to argue that he would not be freezing in a temperature that was hot enough to burn him alive. The path was still before him but he knew better than to walk it, at least he thought he did until he started to take a few shallow steps forward. Something was drawing him deeper into this abyss, deeper into some hellish purgatory. In a flash the abyss was gone.

Cardinal looked around and noticed the halls of The Viceroyalty on Geonosis. What was he- A scream broke him from his thought. A scream he recognized all too well, Madalena's. He rushed down the hall, keeping his hand on the hilt of his sword until he met a pair of doors. With a kick he threw them open and felt his heart sink into his stomach at what he saw.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

The Dark Side of theForce rarely sent a chill down Madalena's spine. There was comfort for her that she could find in the Darkness, almost like the smell of mother baking cookies at the end of a long week at school. Still, she could sense it too, and not simply the Dark Side, but that there was something that was simply… Amiss.

When Madalena glanced towards her left, the sight of the village disappeared entirely. The trees were gone as well. Instead it was as though she was standing on Coruscant again, next to the entrance of the house she had grown up in. The air between her and the entrance door ripples and she wondered what that meant. After all, she could clearly remember where she was only a moment ago.

Was her mind being messed with again? The last time it had happened was when she was on a mission with Dianah Vi'Dreya, by a cult that loathed the Confederacy and was conducting dream experiments. This… Was somewhat familiar because of this, albeit the way it was constructed made it much too easy to notice.

"Dominus?" Madalena asked. Was her inside the same dream sequence as her?

Looking at the door again, Madalena saw as its color changed, from a brown to a red, and the words ENTER ME appeared on it.

"No, we've been in this game before," she noted, "if you guys are from the same cult, we've already killed a Mouse. Are you sure you want me to kill a Cat as well?"


[member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

The Confederacy had fallen.

The skies above were clouded with Star Destroyers, firing on a crowded killzone filled with buildings and fleeing citizens. It was a sobering scene to play out before him. He watched as whole families were vaporized in an instant, hundreds reduced to ash due to the relentless fire that rained down on them. He sucked in a thin line of air, yet it felt as if his chest had not gained a breath. He knew it was fake, he knew it was not true, yet still he watched this massacre with a stunned silence. This was his fear. His greatest fear, to look through his own eyes and see nothing but destruction, where once there was order and some measure of peace.

His eyes dropped to the streets before him as he took paced steps down the large stairway that led to the Viceroyalty building. At the foot of the stairs, what seemed to be a final stand displayed by the Knight's Obsidian was taking place. The scream he heard from earlier had indeed been Madalena, as she laid dead before his feet. Cardinal stared at her lifeless form before looking away, crossing his arms tightly over his chest as he watched the fight. They were fighting Sith, who had clearly outmatched them long before this skirmish began.The Sith cut down the last of the Knight's and Cardinal felt a small twitch come over him. He wanted to join the battle, save his comrades and try to get them away from here.

No. He could feel the sway of the Dark Side, influencing his vision. He knew it was trying to draw him in, coerce him into engaging and pulled deeper into this trap. One of the Sith pulled his lightsaber from the chest of the final Knight, showing an enraged expression. Cardinal's eyes focused on this man and in the next moment his mouth opened in confusion.

It was like staring in the mirror. He saw his own form, massacring the last of the Knight's and throwing their helpless bodies to the floor. Of course, he was not quite himself, his already sunburnt eyes had turned to a deep crimson and blood leaked from his lips. The wild glare in his eyes showed he was as savage as some wild beast, and twice as deadly.

So that was his greatest fear. To lose himself into the savage fury of his youth. Not entirely surprising, yet he knew it was well founded. This "beast" charged for him, letting out an ear piercing scream as his crimson blade flew through the air. Cardinal did no flinch, but every instinct in his body was telling him to destroy it, to stop this madness before it went too far.

The crimson blade flew towards him, threatening to cleave him in two.

A loud slam could be heard as the lightsaber was stopped in it's place. Cardinal had drawn his greatsword, bringing it forward to engage his savage self. Perhaps he was not ready to cast his instincts aside. As his eyes bore into the savage version of himself he knew it had to be destroyed.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"Fine," Madalena rolled her eyes and snorted, and entered the door that said ENTER ME. She'd played this game before. She knew the rules. Go with the stupid fantasy until something woke you up, and then you were in some lab with needles. She could do that again. Easy.

The vision that waited for her through the door was different than last time. There was no Mouse, no Alice in Wonderland clothes. Just she, herself, walking through a place that at the same time was both a jungle and a painting.

She recognized the painting. It was her own, one that she had made on the wall of her ship, depicting one of the stories that she and her brother had told each other in the dead of the night while they still lived together on Coruscant. It took a few deep breaths before she allowed herself to venture in deeper.

Why was she here? What was this manipulation supposed to be about? Madalena only had questions at this point, and none of the answers.

From the distance, she could her something. It was… Fighting? Other people were fighting? Inside her hallucinations? It sounded so dumb. Why would anyone be fighting in the kingdoms he and her brother had made up? Fighting there only happened when invaders tried to come but the kingdom was meant to be at peace for over a millennia now. That was part of the story.

But she never reached the thick of the fighting for. She was only a few steps deeper into the jungle, when another woman stepped in front of her.

Madalena recognized her instantly. It was the woman from her nightmares.

[member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"]