Conundrum

[Zef Halo]

UNNAMED CAVERN SYSTEM
DXUN

---

The echo of the two's steps grew louder with each step further down. Their destination becoming closer and closer until a vivid light abruptly lit as the steps finished. It was not blinding, neither soothing. It was odd. Enigmatic.

"Not really." He admitted to her question. A grimace painted Ember's face as he took a brave step forward only to hear a loud expulsion of air. The Jedi's eyes followed the source and at the end of the circular area the light covered, a large shade rested. Breathing.

A drop of sweat made its way down his brow and onto the ground. Its sound vibrantly echoing in the deadly silent area around him.

Sulfuric eyes opened and they found its prey - Ember and Alba.

A freezing roar erupted shaking the walls of the cave's end as the terentatek rose from its slumber eager to feed on the blood of the two force sensitives.

Run. The single word of warning would echo in Alba's mind just at the same time as his blue lightsaber emerged in his hand decisively. Snap-hiss.

Ember had arrived at the destination of his dreams, now he had to survive the encounter or have the cave of his dreams become his final resting place.

The beast infused with the Dark Side charged at the two. Its focus on Ember, the one whose force sensitivity was much clearer to the hunter. Roaring within the Force, the highly sharp senses of Alba would possibly erupt. Meanwhile, the Jedi led the terentatek to the side. Its massive claws slashing the air infront of him while its gaping maw thirsty for the Jedi's blood.


[member="Alba Talatheen"]

 

[Madison M. Maxwell IV]

Dxun, Unknown Cave System, Unknown Time

---

"What in th-"

If Alba had an odometer for the Force in her brain, it cracked at the overwhelming strength and the mere sight alone. Scrambling back to the stairs from whence they came, she watched with a mix of shock and awe as the terentatek began to attack Ember, for the moment, prone and helpless. The dark feeling rolled off the beast in waves, almost paralyzing the lighthearted treasure hunter in her spot as she watched the two clash. Even if she had a weapon, it would do nothing against the monster of that size and strength. Was this what had been drawing her in?

For the first time in her life, the gift truly felt like a curse.

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Ember Farseer"]

 

[Zef Halo]

UNNAMED CAVERN SYSTEM
DXUN

---

Blue blade of plasma met claws slicing them clean off resulting in the screech of the behemoth. Ember braved himself to step in forward and slice through the belly of the beast. As his lightsaber was about to meet the softer part of the terentatek, the other clawed paw came striking in a vicious slap. Agonizing pain rushed through as the claws shredded through skin and clothes alike with ease sending the Jedi away like a sack of vegetables into the wall.

His saber shut off and rolled away under the beast leaving Ember helplessly leaning on the wall trying to recuperate from hitting his whole body brutally into the walls of the cave. Yet, time was against him. Pulling the saber would not save him. He'd be dead by then. The black soul piercing deep eyes of the terentatek met his and the Force rushed through the Jedi Knight as he shoved his arms ahead. Blasting the terentatek with an invisible energy locking the beast in place, tossing him into a near-catatonic state. It stopped right in its tracks, its maw eager to eat him now hung helplessly like that of an electrocuted victim. Senses were deadened but the sheer strength of the dark side of the Force within the beast and its general resistance against Force powers quickly helped its recovery.

Slowly, but surely, it pushed against its phantom chains. One large step at a time.

"A...Alba." His voice came just a bit louder than a whisper but his message was also sent telepathically. "S....s-saber."

The message was clear. While the terentatek was trying to get at Ember with its back facing Alba, midway from the beast to the woman lied the hilt of Ember's blue lightsaber.

What would she do?

[member="Alba Talatheen"]

 

[Madison M. Maxwell IV]

Dxun, Unknown Cave System, Unknown Time

---

In an instant Alba understood what he meant. It was clear that he was barely holding the creature back. This was a two-person job, and she'd been unlucky enough to be his dance partner. Or perhaps it was luck. Pulling together a shred of sanity either way, the Treasure Hunter stumbled to her feet, ducking down to grab the fallen hilt. To the trained eye, it almost looked as though, briefly, the lightsaber had flown to her as opposed to her picking up. But that was semantical, and there was nobody looking that closely anyway.

During her brief stint with the last Jedi she had run with-- And indeed, even the Sith --Alba had come to learn two things about lightsabers.

They looked cool, and they had buttons.

She wasn't as familiar with Ember's design, but it wasn't difficult to figure out. In a split second, the blue blade was ignited again but this time in the hands of an utter novice. She spared a second to test the weight, to feel the weapon in her hand, before her focus snapped to the fact that if she didn't do something, and do it soon, Ember would be chowder.

It was surprisingly easy. It was lighter than a traditional melee weapon, and that only helped Alba with her assault. With a strong sweeping motion, she swiped at the terentarek's back, snapping in an irritable tone, "Hey! If anyone's gonna beat up on him, it'll be me." Hopefully her taunting would be enough to offer brief distraction, just enough for the lightsaber to connect... The blue blade cleaved into flesh, sinew, and even bone, cutting deeply at the creature's spine. Such an attack would, in theory, down the creature enough to offer it's would-be prey some relief.

If it didn't, Alba had just poked the bear, and her only defense was someone else's glorified glow stick.

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Ember Farseer"]

 

[Zef Halo]

UNNAMED CAVERN SYSTEM
DXUN

---

The beast was certainly not known for immense intellectual capabilities. It kept its stubborn drive towards the Jedi slowly due to the ethereal holding it with as much strength as Ember could muster. The Jedi's complete concentration over the terentatek trying to kill him had him completely oblivious to anything Alba might've said. He saw her mouth opening but the words he could not comprehend.

Blue blade of plasma scorched through the back side of the terentatek surprising it and rending anything it came in touch with. A horrendous screech pierced the air around them while sending tremors through the Force. The blade had severely damaged the beast and its resistance to Ember's debilitating force powers dropped significantly to the point where it crumbled down on the ground completely useless.

Ember dropped on his backside while anticipating Alba to deliver the final blow and end the completely disabled monster. When, if, she did that, the Jedi would utter through gritted teeth and panting:

"That...sure was...unexpected." He said through shortage of breath. Stamina pools were draining while the wounds from the beast's claw clearly made their mark on his torso. "You did...good."

[member="Alba Talatheen"]

 

[Madison M. Maxwell IV]

Dxun, Unknown Cave System, Unknown Time | Drunk Texting

---

Shoving the lightsaber's lethal blade into the creature's neck with a reversed grip, she thought would be more difficult. Expected resistance from the muscle and ligaments, sort of like trying to force through a sword through stone; that just didn't work, most of the time, unless you had the strength of a jacked-up rancor.

Alba was pleasantly surprised to find that not only the weapon easily impaled through the teratatek's throat in a rather violent manner, but it did it with almost grace. Thumbing the button on the hilt the azure blade extinguished while still plunged deep into the back of its head. Awkwardly managing to get over the body to Ember, she raised an amused eyebrow as he implied she would do anything but perfect, setting the lightsaber next to him, "Give me some credit. I've seen it in action, didn't look too hard."

There was no time to elaborate on what she meant. Scowling a little, she set her backpack down next to him, beginning to root through it, in search of something, "How bad do you feel?"

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Ember Farseer"]

 

[Zef Halo]

UNNAMED CAVERN SYSTEM
DXUN

---

​

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Ember let loose a painful soft chuckle at her comment. He closed his eyes for a moment calling onto the light side of the Force to embrace him. A wave of relief washed over him as he opened his eyes. The Jedi still needed some medical attention but the Force truly had revitalized him to an extent. The panting slowed down but did not stop.

He looked at Alba as she shuffled through her backpack. "I need...bacta pads? For the...wounds." His hand pointed at the marks and then raised his head abruptly when the thought of what their initial goal here was. Ember's eyes shifted away from Alba and behind her shoulder where two dozen feet away in the center of the place.

After the death of the terentatek, the cave's darkness seemed to wash away as a gaping hole magically revealed itself sending light into the once barely lit from the artefact space.

The red, corrupted glow of the octahedron changed into a light, faint glow of white.

Through the Force, the light side of the Force clearly twirled around it. Ember turned his view to Alba and cautiously said:

"I will need to take it."

He wondered what her reaction would be, after which he remembered that her force sensitivity was still unaligned while his identity as Jedi was clear as the day. The Jedi knew he could not make decisions for the treasure seeker but there was much to be resolved here.


[member="Alba Talatheen"]

 

[Madison M. Maxwell IV]

Dxun, Unknown Cave System, Unknown Time | Drunk Texting

---

Alba couldn't hold back a bit of a bubbly laugh either. It must have been the adrenaline, leaving her loopy, still riding that delicious combat high for all it was worth. With slightly trembling hands she offered him the bacta pads once she produced them from her almost magical bag of tricks, before realizing that more than likely he'd need her help to apply them.

"It feels better in here. Lighter. Or is that the wonderful feeling I have, I dunno. Man, am I talking fast or what..." Working the pads out of their wonky package, it was easy to set them against Ember's wounds, the adhesive bacta bonding the bandages to the skin and gashes like adhesive glue. Surprisingly her touch was what one might call 'gentle', but then again, she didn't exactly seem like herself at the moment, so it could have been a mere fluke. Once she was certain he was in better shape than before Alba stood, turning her attention to the mystical locale they had revealed.

For a few moments, it looked as though she might be stunned into silence by the view, eyebrows raising, "Well, that's the treasure." Something mentally perched on Alba's shoulder laughed, like a little devil, already whispering to her how they could take it and run now that he was disabled. She found herself suppressing that urge. But it'd be so easy...

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Ember Farseer"]

 

[Zef Halo]

UNNAMED CAVERN SYSTEM
DXUN

---

When she started working the pads and literally rambling senselessly, his serious demeanor changed. A soft smile and light chuckle escaped his mouth as he observed her. There was a magnetic reach from her, intentional or not. Both in her physical touch and her amicable attitude. Something positive emanating from her affected his spirit. He was unsure what exactly it was. Nor did he have much strength to tap and dig through the Force if his answer lied there.

Instead, Ember relaxed back on the cold wall of the cave. Waves of pleasant heat emanated from the object and the treasure seeker.

Not a moment later and it was all gone. Replaced with the soothing feeling of the bacta doing their magic and the attentive figure of Alba facing her back towards him and watching the mysterious object.

"That is a treasure, indeed, Alba." He said as he very cautiously made his way up, standing a feet away from her and putting his lightsaber hilt clipped on his belt. His eyes glancing from the back of her head to the object in the short distance away. "If my knowledge is correct. This is a treasure different to the treasure you seek."

He stepped one step forward and the pain increased stopping him in his tracks. The concussion from earlier was amplified when he got slammed into the cave's wall by the beast.

"Have you ever wanted to learn more about the Force and the Jedi?" Ember finally said after a moment of silence and dilemma. He had been in conflict with his inner self about this. Perhaps, she would make it easier for him if she rejected and Ember was not a man to push forth.

Only the Force could tell what would happen.


[member="Alba Talatheen"]

 

[Madison M. Maxwell IV]

Dxun, Unknown Cave System, Unknown Time | Drunk Texting

---

Another, longer bout of laughter left the Hunter as she watched Ember step up to the treasure, shrugging in response to the question that amused her so. She might have adventured alongside and fought shoulder-to-shoulder with both sides, Jedi and Sith, but she wasn't going to pretend she understood anything beyond that, "What would I know? I'm just here for credits, Ember."

"And, also, why is it always that when I go traveling with Jedi, we end up with knowledge being the treasure all along? Can't we recover a trove of gold or something..." She sighed, putting her hands on her hips, but it seemed that she was relenting in letting him take the reward. Chewing on her bottom lip in thought, something seemed to force Alba to speak again, chin raised a bit as she looked at her wounded companion.

"Okay... Say I was mildly interested. Then what?"

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Ember Farseer"]