Crescent Moon

[Duma Shallotte]

The apparently young woman was an old, lost and wandering soul. Lakura looked like she was eighteen, but in reality, she was a century. Even though she was an old woman by human standards, she was not human. Just a single look at her and that would be known.

It was also clear she was not a confident person. She skulked in the shadows with her hood pulled up to cover her hair. Her eyes glowed intelligently out from the cowl that hung over her head.

Her wandering feet had led her from Sith territory and into the Core of the Galaxy. Her life was empty and meaningless. There was no beacon of hope for her and now she just wished for death to take her.

There were strangers around her and her mood spread to them. Some moved away from the shrouded form but others gathered behind her. Weapons gleamed in their hands as they sensed her weakness. Like a lamb at a slaughter, the woman did not notice this attention...

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Placeholder 0128]

His travels had grown chaotic, but his spirit remained becalmed. The constant warring with pirates and other criminal factions had honed Cedric's senses to a knife's edge, and those senses were on full alert now.

He'd come to Balmoraa in search of weapons, as most beings did. The arms deal had gone over without any trouble: credits were exchanged and an assortment of ordnance was provided to the Jedi Master's legion. He had intended to take his leave then, and he had incidentally been on a walk toward the spaceport when he felt the waves of chaos crashing down upon his psyche. There was danger afoot, though its source Cedric could not be sure.

The Jedi Master reached out into the empyrean and felt a presence not entirely unlike his own, though it lacked the radiance of the Light. Even still, it had little of the shadow to it, though the dangers around it certainly did.

The masked knight took a sharp turn off of the main street, and found himself in a dank, rain soaked alleyway. In the center of the alley stood several individuals that had circled a woman, though she did not seem to have noticed as of yet. Upon seeing the girl, Cedric confirmed that she was indeed the presence he had felt.

Standing tall, the masked warrior strode down the alley. He stopped a few paces away from the gathering, arms folding about his chest as he silently judged those that stood before him.

"That would be unwise," he finally spoke, his voice like a river running over gravel. A steel bound hand gestured toward the weapons. "Very unwise." He repeated.

[member="Lakura Salim"]

 

[Duma Shallotte]

At the arrival of Cedric, the woman turned around and finally noticed the group behind her. They had followed her with the thought of harm and Lakura sensed this intention from them. She looked between the now stopped men and Cedric. Reaching into a pouch at her side, she muttered a few words under her breath and threw something to the ground at the feet of her surprised attackers. Even if she craved death, a part of her wanted to fight.

"Why do we fight what is inevitable? Everything dies. I think tonight it will be your turns."

When she finished speaking, whatever it was she had thrown on the ground lit up in a burst of flame at the flick of her hand. The thugs scattered before any real damage could be done, but Cedric blocked them from escaping. The wildfire started to spread and its flames reached out to them again.

"Do they live or do they die tonight?"

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Placeholder 0128]

A momentary confusion forced Cedric to hesitate as the wall of flames rose to consume the lowly thugs. Cedric watched the flames with indifference, the harsh orange light of the fire dancing along the reflective plates of his mask.

A deep breath was slowly expelled from his lungs as he took a step closer, his brow raised curiously as the woman asked him a seemingly simple question that was far from easily answered. This woman had the Force about her - the empyrean had responded to her call, and for one reason or another, Cedric had not sensed that about her right at the start. He almost found it amusing, though the reality of the situation kept such amusement in the corners of his mind.

"A good question," he looked at the woman, regarding her directly. "Allow me to assist."

The Jedi Master called upon the power of the empyrean. He felt its presence flow into his limbs and extend to his fingertips. With an exertion of will, he forced that energy into his words, and into the minds of the brigands arrayed before them.

"Death will find you should you follow this path. Yours is one that leads to damnation. We offer you a choice," a hand was held outstretched to the men, "Repent for your sins, and dedicate yourselves to a life of integrity. Learn to build, forget how you've learned to destroy, and you may live. Should you go back on this opportunity and fall into your old ways, I will find you, and I will execute you."

The power of the empyrean left Cedric upon the final word spoken. He gestured toward the lone woman. "Let them live."

[member="Lakura Salim"]

 

[Duma Shallotte]

Two different people with different views on life faced off with the fire and thugs between them. Lakura did nothing to enhance the flame she had produced, just allowed it to burn naturally. She was not as connected to the Force as this man and sensed nothing from him.

His words were not those she would have picked and with her beliefs, she would rather have seen these men die. Listening to what was said, when he more or less commanded her to let them go, she closed her fist and the fire went out.

The men were no longer hindered from leaving and quickly dispersed into the night.

"For what purpose were they given the chance to live?"

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Placeholder 0128]

A solid question.

Cedric watched silently as the thugs dispersed off into the night. It was likely that the majority of them would not heed his warning, but he believed that at least one or two might make the decision to listen. If not, then they could only hope that he did not catch them up to more trouble before he left the planet. Once they had all taken their leave, he doused the lightsaber in his hand, and regarded the lone woman curiously.

"Redemption," Cedric replied plainly, "All beings deserve a second chance, so long as they haven't done something too heinous. To kill them now would only continue the cycle of destruction people like them live in. Introducing another way of thinking might change one of their minds on things, and that man might spread his newfound beliefs to others." He paused, head tilting slightly as he measured the woman. "It's rather effective in communities such as this."

He paused, stepping closer, though not close enough for the woman to do him any real. "You held your own fairly well there. What's your name?"

[member="Lakura Salim"]

 

[Warchief Waddles]

Balmorra, the world that Aten had chosen to enter his exile, where he'd lost track of time working out of a simple cantina. It had become the Knights new favorite planet to frequent, at one point in his history it had been Taris. Yet that world was quickly soured for him after his encounter with Koda Fett and Julian Valentine. There was no shortage of people who would wish to see the Jedi fall, especially after the role he played in defending Commenor from the Sith. It was in part due to his failure to halt Mythos' plan that the planet had fallen to the Sith and every day it wore on the Jedi's heart. Every time he slept he could still hear the screams, he remembered the destruction, the frightful rush as he escaped into the night on the verge of exhaustion from his battle with Mythos.

Many would find Balmorra an odd place to pick for an exile instead of a world near a nexus but in truth, it was a planet where people would overlook the Jedi. This was a planet of business, and so long as Aten minded his own there was no trouble. At times there was the faint wish of the Jedi to return to the galaxy as a whole and defend it from the forces of darkness, yet that fear of failure ate at his very being.

Partially through his shift, a force had called out to him. Not intentionally, but one he sensed. One strong in the force so he made his way through the streets drabbed in a worn cloak the right side completely loose due to Aten choosing to not dawn his cybernetic in many months. As Aten neared those within the force would feel the dual presence of him and his saber, a saber that held a special connection to the Jedi and was on the verge of sentience its presence mingling with Aten's and amplifying it many times over.

Coming upon the two figures in the alley, Aten's blue eyes glanced between them. A slight flick of his fingers pulled back the hood to reveal the stark white hair, the chiseled chin covered in stubble. No longer was Aten the small blonde-haired boy with an eye for adventure. He was a hardened warrior that had seen the pits of despair and experienced it himself. "Sometimes destruction is the only way to deal with scum. Not complete destruction but bringing them to the very verge where they'll forever remember the lesson you chose to bring upon them." Voice harsh and detached the exile looked across the two sizing them up in case they were here to forcefully take him in.

"You two shouldn't be here."

[member="Cedric Grayson"], [member="Lakura Salim"]

 

[Duma Shallotte]

"Some people are beyond redemption, stranger."

Even though Lakura called him a stranger, there was still a sense of trust that came off her. One of her weaknesses was the woman trusted people far too easily. When he extinguished his lightsaber, her eyes glowed brighter in the darkness between them.

It was not the corrupted glow of the Dark, but a natural one brought about by her race.

"These men do not know the meaning of that and will just return to the ways they know."

He asked her name and to prove her honesty, she lifted a hand to hover over her heart and bowed her head slightly.

"Lakura Salim."

Not asking what his name was, she took one step close to him, but made no further movement and only lowered her hand. At that moment another person walked up from the shadows and joined them. This man pulled his hood back to reveal hair that matched hers through a freak of nature and she too lowered her hood to show this.

"Why shouldn't we be here?"

Deciding not to address anything he spoke of, she agreed with pretty much all of it.

[member="Aten Ramses"] [member="Cedric Grayson"]