Breaking The Minotaur [Kära Vi'dreya]

[Stephanie Swail]

Above Korriban
Horuset System​

Asterion was cursing himself. The rage flowed through his body, but it wasn't getting him anywhere.

He was shackled to a hard chair in what looked like a small transport, rocking gently as it left Korriban atmosphere and out into deep space, it's destination unknown to their prisoner.

He pulled up as hard as he could against the shackles, but his use of strength didn't work and it just made his head throb in pain more. He winced and growled in agony as he gave up trying to break free, shaking his head softly from the burning sensation on the back of his head.

There was blood over his shoulders, which he presumed was his own, and it was clear he had suffered injury from being captured by an unknown presence, but one that was stronger and more sly than he was.

Leaning back in the chair, the dust and blood on the back of his head matted together in his black hair as he let himself go into trying to relax and remember what led to him being here.

Taking a holopad and a container of Blue Milk from the scavenger ship that he had made his own, Asterion stepped over the decaying bodies of the two young women who had tried to prevent him from commandeering their ship and supplies. He couldn't fly very well, but he could make use of their resources. It's a shame, as they were rather pretty young things, but they were simply in his way.

Throwing his black and gold jacket onto the ship, he wore his white vest and combat trousers and boots only to help with the warmth of the planet he had made his home for the past few years.

Sitting down on the bottom steps leading to the gigantic tomb of Marka Ragnos, the ancient Sith Temple was located to his left. Resting the holopad on his knees, he opened the refreshing drink and began more studying of the Dark Side of the Force and those who currently rest on the planet.

Asterion was a Force user, but he was no way in control of it. He didn't use it tactically, or for progression, it was just a power in him passed on by his birth mother, a Jedi. But that was as far as his Jedi heritage went. At the time the Jedi and his mother abandoned him for being different and confused, he turned his back on salvation and dedicated his later years to study the power he had inside him, and the greater powers that fuelled the Dark Side on the planet where he was born and surrounded by the aura of the Sith.

It was then the unnatural shadow loomed over him. Without hesitating, Asterion vaulted forward and turned to face a large dark shadow, reaching out towards him. He ran at the figure with all his strength in an attempt to tackle him to the ground, but he just impacted against cool, hard armour plates which hurt.

A fist struck down between his shoulder blades which knocked him to his knees. Before he could attempt to move, two heavy hands grabbed his shoulders, dragged him forward and span him around. Asterion couldn't see thanks to the blinding sun, but lashed out with his fists. Hitting nothing, the shadow landed another heavy blow to his stomach, winding him and draining him of his breath.

It was then his body felt weightless as it was flung backwards to the steps of the tomb. Asterion's head hit the stone steps first before the rest of his body, and consciousness gave way to darkness as his body crumpled.

The transport banked to the left and the whine of the engines could be heard as a slight kick forced Asterion back into his seat, sending a little more pain through his body for his untreated wound.

He promised himself to rip the head from the one who did this to him the moment he was free of his shackles.

@[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

 

[Lief]

The Judgement​

Kära had an affinity toward lost, broken and abandoned things. It wasn't obvious to the untrained eye, and the way Kära handled them suggested anything other than care, but it was true all the same. She had freed Thyrian from his torment, forced him to realise that he had a life worth living, and while she had subjugated him to her will he was in a better position now than he ever could have been with Circe. Sin had been a lost and abandoned child, Xavier too... Of course, he was her brother. There had been many over the years.

When the transport ship neared the hulking mass of metal that was the Judgement, Kära, the Lady of the Shadows, did nothing. Instead she remained upon the bridge where she had been for most of that afternoon, staring out at the stars. She had figured it was an innate kinship she held with the Galaxy, especially when she was so immersed in the darkness with the occasional sparkling star to bring her some small amount of peace. "My Lady Kyros" came a voice, and she turned to see the commander of her Bladeborn, "The transport ship has returned."

With a nod of her head she dismissed the man, yet for now she said nothing. Turning completely from the window she made her way down from the bridge. Everything inside the Judgement ran like clockwork, smooth and without fault. It was perfect, it provided her with the order she craved so dearly. The turbolift swiftly made its way down to the hangar; it would be wrong of her to send another down in her stead. After all, the individual they were bringing was no weak non-Force user. No, he held strength and potential... But she had to unlock it first.

Inside the ship the prisoner was yanked to his feet and practically dragged from confinement down the ramp of the ship. Before Kära he was thrown, and a pressure was held at his neck to keep him knelt in place at her feet. "My Lady" the booming voice of his captor said, before the man inclined his head. "Leave us" was her prompt response, gesturing the man back to his ship. She had nothing else to say, the man knew his next task already. It was unbefitting of him to ever ask for a reminder. That was not how her men learnt.

Stepping toward the body of the beaten man she found herself encircling him. "Do you know who you are?" The question she asked was... An odd one, to say the least. Onward the woman continued to pace, about his body. She was calm and calculated, and while she looked to be slight of frame and fragile she radiated a power like no other. He would be a fool to try and escape.

@[member="Asterion"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

He was angry. Not just angry, he was hurt, and it was eating into him from the vicious pushing, pulling and gripping he was subjected to. Pulled from the transport and seemingly flung out into what looked like a huge hangar of a star-ship, Asterion barley had time to collect his bearings before an iron grip connected with his neck, sending him to his knees and crippling him in almost an instant.

His shout of pain went unheard, he fell to floor, his knees impacting hard on the shiny floor beneath.

The pain went in an instant as the iron grip went. He wasn't sure what the presence was around him, but something helped calm him, be it only for a moment, be he felt in control and free from danger. His heavy breathing pumped the blood around his tense body, his chest rose steadily under his dirty vest, his wounds still untreated and the blood dry on his skin.

A soft, almost sickly adorable voice, asked him a question that made him scoff. Did he know who he was? What was this, a test?

He brought his neck up, using it as an excuse to stretch and unwind the tension he felt, working his head in a slow circle all the while watching the girl walking around him. She was obviously one of those in high power thanks to her connections. She looked somewhat peaceful, but domineering. Fair enough, but she wasn't exactly a force to be reckoned with.

Asterion cocked his head and looked around the hangar. It was eerily quiet, but he could see the planet of Korriban out of the shielded blast doors that were open. How he wished he was back there away from this mess. More imposing guards were dotted around so he'd be an idiot to try anything remotely offensive. At least to them.

Waiting for the girl to pass by his left hand side, he shot out his dirty arm and grabbed her wrist, meeting her gaze.

"I'm someone you don't want to under-estimate, sweetheart."


@[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

 

[Lief]

Silence... Followed by audacity. First came the lifting of his head, which he had not been bid to do. Yet what happened next woke within her a wrath like no other. This Minotaur, no matter how fierce he may think himself, was lucky that Thyrian was not onboard the vessel. The reaction which would have ensued would have been dreadful to say the least. But he was not, and thus Kära was permitted to seethe freely.

Without warning her hand shot out to backhand his cheek, the force behind it substantial for a woman so small. But she did not finish there. Her hand trailed up over the struck cheek and as it did so her fingers left lines of fiery pain in their wake. To the man at her feet it would feel so real, unlike anything he could have been subjected to, all concentrated in one small area upon his face.

She said nothing for a very long time. Instead she let him squirm under her fiery touch. Then her icy blue eyes lowered and her gaze bore into his own. "Remove your hand. Immediately." Her voice, while still soft, held a venomous undertone. "I am no 'Sweetheart', Boy." Stepping back from him the girl continued to pace around him. Perhaps he was more of a fool than she had initially thought; it was almost as if he was welcoming death. "What are you?"

None of the Shadow Guard had even flinched when the man had grasped her, which suggested that she held more power and capability than the man had first expected. She was not a little child who needed the protection of others.

@[member="Asterion"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Sith-spit!

The blow took him by surprise, jolting his face back. Asterion had endured worse however. It was the burning sensation that bore into him. He wasn't surprised this brat had lashed out, fair enough. If he wasn't on his knees in an unknown hangar, he wouldn't have given her the chance to.

Partly due to her command, which was ice cold, and partly due to the pain, he let go of her thin wrist and touched his wound. It was sore to touch, but felt far worse than it must be.

"Little touchy aren't we?" he snarled almost to himself.

Wincing, he looked up as she continued to talk and walk. He didn't like being spoken down to. He pushed down on his sore knees and rose to his full height, happily far taller than the small kid in front of him.

"I'm no 'boy' either, you brat. And it doesn't matter who I am. You should know. You brought me here didn't you?"

He stepped over her, frowning down at her full, cold eyes that bore into his dark pupils.

"Now why the hell AM I here, and why shouldn't I just snap your neck right now?"


@[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

 

[Lief]

Kära said nothing. She was quite happy remaining silent while discomfort settled over the man. When he rose, however, in a threatening manner, the young lady raised a brow in questioning. She gave no warnings, no threats, there was no sense in saying what might have seemed a hollow threat after all. Instead she made a gesture with her hand. A heavy force pressed against his chest, applying enough pressure that it should send him flying back away from her.

"Fool" she hissed in Umbarese, taking a step toward him. "You would not have a chance to lay a finger on me without my allowing it." It felt cathartic for her to speak in her base language for once, so much so that she soon calmed down. "I did not give you leave to stand, nor to speak of anything other than what you are." This time her words were in Galactic Basic Standard, the language he knew.

Asterion was on his last warning, although he would not know it. He was lucky Ashborn was nowhere in sight with the way he had touched and spoken to her. He may not have been a fiery inferno any longer but he could still do brute damage.

@[member="Asterion"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

The force impacted on his chest immediately, before he knew what was happening. It felt like his insides has suddenly collapsed and an unknown weight was pulling him backwards and good two or three steps.

Reaching up instinctively to prise away what ever had him, he just met his own vest, there was nothing there. She was more powerful than he had anticipated. His ego was killing him at the hands of a young girl.

Asterion gritted his teeth, fighting the pain and using what he could of his darkness to repel the girl, but nothing was happening. He couldn't last much longer. His dark eyes bore into her.

"I AM ASTERION...SON OF TOTAL...DARKNESS...!"

That was all he could muster to shout; a garbled, confusing shout. He felt the anger swelling inside him, he wanted to kill her, but he couldn't.

She was too powerful.

His breath started to become shallow, she was killing him without breaking a sweat.

She was his salvation.


@[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

 

[Lief]

Her footsteps took her to where he had landed, the pain obvious in his expression, the strain clear in his voice. "Wrong" she said, as she leant down to whisper in his ear. Her breath was, again, hot against his skin, travelling down and spreading like fire. Yet it set deep into his flesh, like an icy breeze. "You are nothing" and he would remain such until he proved his worth.

One hand reached up to trail against his chest, before she physically pushed against him.

"Get up" she finally asserted as she turned from him to walk further into her Star Destroyer. All around stood her men, an army she had grown of her own accord: each man was here because she subjugated them, because she had raised and trained them. Asterion would learn the folly of his judgements soon enough. Kära was not just a weak little girl, as much as looks could deceive.

"Find me the Ashborn, have him brought to the bridge." With that she walked off, fully expecting Asterion to follow suit. From around the hangar bay her Shadow Guard stepped, closing in on Asterion. "With Lady Kyros" they said, nudging him to follow after her as she made her way through the hangar and towards the turbo-lift.

It did not take long for them to reach the bridge. Now all Kära wanted to do was wait... To wait for @[member='Thyrian Ashborn'], to begin her training with @[member="Asterion"] ... but the latter had so much to learn before then.

 

[Thyrian Hearthfire]

Having just recently completed a training session with the brash and young Xavier, the Ashborn could use some time apart from the youngling. He was a good lad - he knew this - but by the fires of the underworld did he get on his nerves, sometimes. Being patient was something he considered himself a master at, but even he could not shrug off the constant angst and hostility shown towards him. No matter. His mistress had summoned him, and once more he would answer her calling. It was within every fiber of his being, the reason for his continued existence to be by her side, through whatever endeavour. He was hers, fully and willingly. Since his rebirth, Kära had not re-subjugated his will to hers; it was not necessary - he would rather follow her out of loyalty and love than out of her demanding it of him by tearing apart his mind. His body and soul was hers, and so now was his heart.

Stepping onto the bridge, the Ashborn searched for his Queen and found her standing before the great void of the galaxy, staring out into the vast emptiness. He knew she relished gazing out into space, like she would do so often even when only a 10-year-old girl. Without a word he walked up from behind and quietly stood beside her, dwarfing her in comparison. The last time they'd stand like this watching the stars, he was trapped within his former self - the walking inferno fueled by rage. How long they had come since their humble beginnings. Looking down at her as she stared straight ahead, Thyrian had to fight the urge to touch her hand with his. Instead he crossed his arms to avoid any such distractions. They were unbecoming of him... at least in public, for his master's sake.

@[member="Kära Vi'dreya"] @[member="Asterion"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

He crouched down, holding his chest as the pressure vanished in an instant. This girl knew true power; she oozed darkness, and it impressed him. THIS was the sort of power he had studied and read about on Korriban all the years since arriving there.

His breathing started to come under control, and he was a litle out of sorts by the severe lesson he had been taught. He felt embarrased, and still angry. Seething in fact, but there was nothing he could do. He was un-armed, out-gunned, and out-powered. The girl was teasing him with fire and ice, so it felt, and her final push sent him backwards on his elbows; deflated and humiliated.
Well, just wait and see, he thought to himself as she turned to leave.

As he rose steadily showing no sign of agression, the burly guard uttered her name - Lady Kyros? So she was pretty important then.

The shove knocked his feet forward, but he didn't react, just rubbed his chest still and followed the elegant Lady moving ahead of him, already on the move. Asterion stood at the turbo-lift inside the hangar, waiting for it to return.

He did feel pretty stupid, and pretty worthless. Knocked to his knees by a young girl with superior power, watched by faceless guards, isolated with no way out and nursing a painful torso and ego. So much had happened in such a short space of painful time.

The turbo-life chimed open as it arrived for him. Stepping inside, he waited and it rose upwards. Seconds later, the doors whooshed open, and he was stood on the bridge of the ship. A mighty ship to say the least going by the vast amount of crew and consoles around.

Stepping out, eyes sweeping around him, Asterion found the girl stood directly ahead looking out into space, and beside her stood a giant. From behind, he looked like...well, Asterion wasn't sure, but his clothing was something he hadn't seen before, and his stature was imposing, tall and dominating next to the Lady.

Asterion didn't rush ahead, taking in his surroundings and impressed with the technology around him until he stood behind the two star gazers.

Waiting for someone to acknowledge him, it didn't come. He wasn't in the mood for dramatics anymore.

"Who's this. Your Dad?"


@[member="Thyrian Ashborn"] @[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

 

[Lief]

The silence was very much a welcome feature as she gazed out across the innumerable stars. A smile crept upon her expression as she felt the presence of her oldest companion at her side. Yet she was loathed to break the silence, and thus she remained stood that way. That is, until she heard the turbolift. A barely audible sigh escaped the young woman, who turned her gaze up towards Ashborn. "Whatever you do, keep your patience." Her voice was a whisper intended for @[member='Thyrian Ashborn'] alone. There would be no place for error where seeing to the Minotaur was concerned.

Turning around to the sound of his voice, the words of which were crass and unrequired, she narrowed her eyes. "Asterion..." Her head tilted softly to the side for just a moment. "Wrong, my Father is a man of irrefutable power; this is Thyrian, the Ashborn." Her eyes lit up when she said this; as much influence as Dranok Lussk had on the Galaxy, Kära placed far more worth in the being at her side, and her words hinted subtly at such. "Thyrian, meet Asterion: my newest Apprentice." Oh, the Minotaur would not be escaping her clutches any time soon; in time he would learn to love or loathe her, and either made for a brilliant source of emotion to be funnelled into the Force.

@[member="Asterion"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

As both figures in front of him turned, he couldn't help feel a chill run up his spine. A warning. He had to tread carefully, because this giant looked like he could kill him in a heartbeat. He looked mean and dangerous, but then again, why should Asterion think anything of him already? He looked like someone you wouldn't want to cross, but that could be where the danger ends.

Asterion raised his chin to elevate his head to take in Thyrian. "A pleasure. THE Ashborn? What's that about."

He thought about extending his hand, but why should he? He wasn't here to make friends to allies.

"I'm Asterion. THE Minotaur."

Taking his eyes from the rugged features of the dark eyes of Thyrian, he looked at the pale, beautiful Lady Kyros in comparison to her accomplice. What a pair. It was almost laughable that these two seemed to command so much power. They were obviously dangerous.

"So what do I call you sweetheart? Lady Kyros? Or just THE Kyros?"

He turned his head slightly, looking out past them to the hypnotic view of deep space behind them.

"And apprentice? Since when did I become your "apprentice"? And apprentice of what? You haven't told me what I'm doing here."

Asterion's eyes flicked back to the imposing from of Thyrian, just for a second, his internal guard ready to pounce.


@[member="Kära Vi'dreya"] @[member="Thyrian Ashborn"]

 

[Thyrian Hearthfire]

So, this was the 'Minotaur' his master had told him of. The rage within this one was impressive, but he had seen better; once, his very being was made of the raging fires themselves. This one would be nothing against him should he somehow find a way to attack them. At the bidding of his master, Thyrian kept his composure albeit with a stern look upon his face as he lumbered towards the Minotaur. The name-calling of his Queen brought him fury like no other, which he made the best effort of hiding as possible by clenching his fists at his sides. Stopping merely inches away from the man, the Ashborn looked down at him with a menacing snarl. "She's no 'sweetheart' of yours, filth! You will address her as your Master, and nothing else!" His words were echoing through the bridge of the Judgement, with some of the crew turning their heads towards the source of it, looking terrified at the sight of Master Kyros' enforcer roaring down at the defenseless man brought before the two. Bringing his face down opposite to that of the Minotaur, Thyrian snarled again: "Kneel." He would keep his eyes dead-set on his until the man would do as he'd been commanded, and should he dare touch the Ashborn, he'd find that his skin was burning to the touch from all the rage hidden within him.

@[member="Kära Vi'dreya"] @[member="Asterion"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

He swore there was a ripple in the Force when Thyrian spoke, or rather hissed. His voice was obviously tainted with the darkness and it hit Asterion as soon as he spoke, and it felt powerful. Very powerful.

Sensing the looks of others around him, he suddenly felt very minute in a large galaxy, waiting for a cavern to open up and swallow him. Call it embarrassment or anger, he didn't like being the centre of attention in front of others. He wasn't a child, and he wasn't going to just "kneel" on the basis he was now someone else's property because this ogre said so.

But...he actually feared for his life the second he rebelled against what was asked as the eyes bore into his.

He figured that the Dark Side he had been studying for the past few years had caught up with him, and it had him by the throat and wasn't going to let him go.

Asterion wanted to learn the darkness that he had in him and control it in a way he would be greater than any other being out there; a Sith Lord, a warrior and a conqueror. He looked over at the young girl; he figured she was probably all three and more.

Returning his gaze to Thyrian, he stared back at him, feeling time pass slowly. His eyes dropped to the blood stained vest he wore, dropping down as he right knee steadily dropped, taking him to the floor.

"I better not regret this, or else you both will." Asterion growled to himself, exhaling softly.

It was time to submit to his destiny.


@[member="Kära Vi'dreya"] @[member="Thyrian Ashborn"]