An Explorer's First Steps

[Vaylin]

Once again they resumed their nipping at her skin, like tiny little pincers digging into flesh. Vaylin winced each time, but mostly tried to ignore it as she slashed and stabbed at the creatures. It was a repeated process, she killed a number of them and they'd stop their assault and flee. It gave the Zabrak another window of time to return to the levers.

However after the first one had been activated, the water had begun to drain. There was an initial rush that hit Vaylin, feeling as though she was succeeding, but that quickly faded as she realized the source of it was also trying to pull her along with it. Vaylin was forced to swim twice as hard now, pulling against the next lever. The moment it clicked in though, the swarm returned and immediately attacked her.

This time Vaylin didn't bother to fight back, she focused on dealing with the final lever. A sacrifice of further pain to achieve her goals. As it clicked into place finally, a platform suddenly blinked into existance above. The problem was, it was very moving out of reach. At first the Zabrak thought the platform itself was moving, but realized it was because the water was gradually lowering.

So she began kicking her feet, swimming as fast as she could to the surface. The creatures continued nipping though gradually they began getting sucked down to the depths, all the while Vaylin could feel her lungs burn as she tried to hold her breath even longer. As she neared the top however, that control slipped and immediately began taking in water. A moment later though she shot out of the water and reached up, her fingers just barely gripping the platform's edge.

Pushing as much strength she had left, Vaylin pulled herself up onto it, immediately coughing up the water she had swallowed.

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]​

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Vaylin"]


Young Vaylin had faced many trials over the past few days, both in the real, material world and in the sphere of illusions. She had faced real and monsters, a malevolent spirit, her own fears and illusions that alternated between being menacing and just plain annoying. Her trials were coming to an end, but she had one last hurdle to overcome before she could escape.


Time was running short. As soon Vaylin had reached the platform, a door would open. Once she stepped inside the room, she would find herself locked inside a chamber of mirrors. It was a maze in the truest sense of the word and the glass would resist the touch of a lightsabre. But somewhere, there was an exit, an escape from the maze of illusions.


Doubtless all the lessons Vaylin had learned would come in handy when it came to finding said exit. The clock was ticking. This was not a metaphor, for there was an hourglass. In a short span of time, all the sand inside it would have trickled down from the upper bulb to the lower one. Should Vaylin still be inside the hall of mirrors when this occured, there would be no exit.

 

[Vaylin]

The lesson Sumiko had thrown her into was filled with various trials, each testing and probing at the Zabrak for weaknesses that could be exploited. They had been tests designed to teach Vaylin how to go about defending herself against mental attacks. It provided some bolster to it too, but would not immediately give the Zabrak the knowledge of how to successfully defend herself all the time. The invisible scars would remain for a long while, hidden beneath her skin as a reminder.

Vaylin immediately slipped through the doorway that appeared, finding herself surrounded by mirrors in every possible direction. It even took her a moment for her eyes to focus and realize there were in fact a few hallways she could go down.

Another maze...

There was a perfect and clear view of herself, and if the Zabrak had any cemented concept of vanity, certain thoughts might've slipped to the forefront of her mind. Instead, Vaylin was focused on trying to find an escape. She walked over to one of the mirrors and placed her hand against it. Her fist curled up and she went to strike it, but stopped before she even moved an inch.

Something told her that it would be pointless, that nothing she could conjure would shatter the mirrors. It would've been too easy after all. The other option was to proceed, follow the maze's treacherous hallways and potentially get lost. Or...

Vaylin closed her eyes and exhaled. She recalled something [member="Aria Vale"] had talked about, back when the Zabrak had asked about what she could do to improve. The fierce nature, the impulsive tendencies. All useful tools, but shouldn't necessarily be applied to absolutely everything she was confronted with. That much was true, Vaylin couldn't rely on what thrived when in the middle of a fight; her bloodlust.

So instead, she sat down.

She would not go running aimlessly through a maze, Vaylin recognized it as a pointless endeavour especially with time running short. Instead she focused on the Force, drawing it to her before stretching it out towards all the mirrors that surrounded her.

If she could not find the exit, or bring it to her. She would make her own.

Vaylin latched onto the pain she had experience during the lesson, both physical and emotional. Fuel to the inferno that was burning within. Gradually, the mirrors began to shake to the point of shattering; like dominos, falling down one by one.

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]​

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Vaylin"]


Good girl. There was one thing Vaylin might have observed during her time with Sumiko. The Atrisian Sith Lady cheated. Face a horde of minions? Turn their minds into clay and make them devour each other.


Encounter a terentatek when you're not great at melee? Skip the epic duel by siccing your minion on it and recycle all the dead bodies by raising zombies. Then shoot the damn beast in the eye...and watch others do the actual work. An annoying spirit wants to bore you to death with talking and keeps regenerating? Kill the horcruxes. Bring a sword that eats souls.


Honour was a fool's price. When the rules of the game are to your disadvantage, play by different ones. Through victory, your chains are broken. A true Sith followed no rules other than her own. One by one, the mirrors fell like dominoes. Free of all these obstructions, Vaylin would see an exit. She would have to run to get there, but that should be easy for her. Once she passed through the door, she would once again emerge on Athiss.

 

[Vaylin]

For the longest while Vaylin remained focused on breaking the mirrors, the sound of them shattering was oddly therapeutic. However as this continued on, the Zabrak could feel something slowly creeping up on her.

Darkness; oblivion, something that desired to gobble her up within her own mind and keep her there.

With time running down to a hair's width, Vaylin lashed out with one last concussive Force blast to take out as many mirrors as she could. It was enough that a light suddenly burst through the void around her. A doorway was now visible some distance away.

Vaylin did not hesitate jumping to her feet, immediately breaking into a run towards it. She could feel something chasing her, nipping at her heels as she ran. But just as it was about to dig its claws into her, the Zabrak dived into the blinding light.

Back in reality Vaylin awoke gasping for air, as though she had been submerged into a body of water for lengthy time. It took her several moments to realized this, and she let out relieved sigh. She was currently knelt before Sumiko, leaning back onto her haunch as she caught her breath.

She had achieved victory, surviving the Atrisian's lesson in mental defence.

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]​

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Vaylin"]


"'Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Though passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.' Simple words. Quoted by many, yet understood by few." Sumiko spoke when Vaylin awoke in the forest.


Quite how much time had passed in the real world was indeterminate. Probably a lot. "Your anger is your strength. Your methods were often crude, but they brought you success. Today you passed my lesson, girl. It is a small victory, but it shall give you strength for the future." She had learned a great many things about Vaylin, such as her strong attachment to Aria. It was something she filed away.


"Fury and hatred are useful tools...as long as they are just that. Take the hatred you feel for the Jedi and for your mother and transform it into power - the power to overcome, to forbid anything from standing between you and what you want, to surmount whatever obstacle the Darkness schemes to test you with."

 

[Vaylin]

Vaylin felt as though she was on a high, and why wouldn't she? After all she had just succeeded in something she had previous thought she'd succumb too. But Sumiko's words lingered in her ears, and it worked to stifle it down. The Zabrak exhaled, knowing well enough she was being cocky and overconfident.

But she knew the Atrisian spoke truthfully. This was ultimately a small victory in comparison to whatever could potentially be thrown at her in the future. Although today would go a ways in aiding Vaylin should she ever wind up in a similiar situation.

"Thank you, for the lesson." She said, still knelt and bowed her head in gratitude. Moments later she slowly stood up, legs shaking a bit but pushed forwards and managed to stand up competely.

That's when she looked up at the sky and realized several hours had passed. While it had been morning when they had stepped off the ship, it was now quite far into the afternoon now.

"I think I should be heading off now..." Vaylin's voice trailed off into silence, only to be interrupted by her stomach rumbling. "Perhaps, after something to eat?" She asked, a sheepish expression as she looked at Sumiko. Either way, she needed to pick up her cleaned clothes and the artifact she had picked up in the tomb.

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]​

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Vaylin"]


Sumiko liked it when people knelt and bowed to her. She enjoyed the sight of minions at her feet. Her lips curled into a thin, sort of smile. "In time, you'll be able to keep an opponent from penetrating your mind and warping your perception of reality. The Oculus will be of great use to you," she spoke. Did Sumiko know about the device's side-effects? If she did, she saw no reason to tell Vaylin about them. That was something for the dark acolyte to find out on her own! Sith Masters were so nice and caring.


She chuckled slightly in response to the sheepish expression on Vaylin's face. "Of course, you can have a meal, and then be off on your way. I look forward to seeing you again. You've served me well," she reached out with her hand to stroke the Zabrak's dark hair and horns. "I shall call upon you when I have need of your services."

 

[Vaylin]

The Zabrak had almost let out a content purr when Sumiko hand stroked through her hair and horns. It was reminiscent of their night before, something Vaylin was sure there would be repeats of should she ever cross paths with the Atrisian again - which in itself was likely a given.

With that the duo returned to Sumiko's ship, her slaves split between preparing the meal and getting Vaylin her cleaned clothes.

Once the meal was happily consumed, the Zabrak had gotten changed out of the clothes Sumiko had lent her, and into her own. She picked up the Oculus, and with one final farewell she parted ways with Sumiko.

The trek back to her ship was filled with silence, leaving Vaylin with thoughts of what had transpired the past couple days. That high was still there, lingering beneath the surface but overall she was pleased with how it had turned out. Well, except maybe the Sith Spirit and just what Sumiko had put her through during her lesson.

Little did she know, just how much that would hit her in the coming days.

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]​

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Vaylin"]


Two weeks after her departure from Althiss, Vaylin would receive a holomail from her new 'benefactor'. Hopefully the Zabrak had recovered from her trials by then!


Dearest Vaylin,

I hope you fare well, my sweet. Attached you will find the coordinates of a Jedi enclave. It appears that it was established during the Sith-Republic War to serve as a sanctuary. I have reasonable cause to believe that you will encounter old acquaintances there. Assurdly they are dying to meet the new you. Do what comes natural to you. Consecrate the enclave with their blood. If there are any Jedi worthy of enlightenment, break and convert them. You will probably require aid, but there are many who would kill Jedi for coin or simply out of hatred.


Yours,

Lady Tanaka