Dark Bargains

[Xevek Nekonis]

Umbra. It was the only name that he had originally known his target by but it had been more than enough. Names were not important when it came to who his target may be, they were simply pieces of useless information sooner discarded than paid any more attention than a brief look over. No, when it came to his targets the information that Xevek Rakama was truly interested in were psyche evaluations, locations, habits and routines; the ledger of beings who had met their end by his hand was long and many of them did not have names written beside their entries. When he had been younger he had been different, unwilling to kill but as a last resort. But now? Now he knew better and cared very little for the act.

The woman he now waited for, Tierre Halibel or Darth Umbra, was simply the next name on his list, the next victim to meet their maker by an assassination performed by himself. Or, at least, she normally would have been if reading her profile had not sparked a seed of interest within the mind of the Iridonian.

Upon reading through the gathered information on her, the reach of the Sith Assassins long and unknown to all outside of the organisation - even if in recent years they had been somewhat neutered by the Sith Empire, although the relationship had also served to bolster the Assassins, so he was not quick to disparage - to the point that it had been easy for him to gather a file on Darth Umbra, Xevek had chosen to approach the Twi'lek personally before moving on to killing her.

Before the Sith Assassins, before the Sith Empire, Xevek Rakama was loyal to himself and that which he called His. The Assassins held no claim on his deepest of loyalties, nor did the Empire. Nor would they ever. His interests, the interests of what was his? They came before all else and in [SIZE=10.5pt]Darth[/SIZE] Umbra Xevek saw something that would be of benefit to him, something that he would be forced to write off as a loss of potential for himself if the meeting he planned fell through. Luminere, a Twi'lek Sith like Umbra - although Luminere had been albino whereas Umbra's skin was a deep crimson - had been the student of a mentor of his during the early days of his time as a Sith and, through it all, a loyal lapdog to that Sith Master. Within Umbra, he saw the same personality traits.

Luminere, and Umbra by default, were the type who, in Xevek's mind, were best utilised when collared, chained and fastened to a leash just loose enough that they could experience the guidance of their Master but not have it so tight that they felt tempted to lash out at said Master. On their own, they could be uncontrolled weapons, lashing out at whoever whenever they please. Useful to an extent but, ultimately, a hindrance. But, with someone to point them where they would be most effective, they could become extraordinary.

It was that exact result that Xevek strove to achieve with Umbra, to bind her to him to him as a loyal lapdog rather than watching that potential reside within the ownership of another, with the meeting he had arranged with her. Not that she knew it was him she was meeting.

​

A cantina on Nar Shaddaa, one that was located in the more richer areas of the Smuggler's Moon, by the name of Yeeloh's Bar was one that was often populated by down-on-their-luck gamblers who money had been taken to line the coffers of those that ran the Smuggler's Moon from behind the shadows. However, it was also often attended by individuals who wished to have a meeting, clandestine in nature, in a place that was not so stereotypically run-down and shabby that their intentions were figured out after stepping one foot over the threshold and not too opulent that they would stand out. It was due to this fact, along with the fact that it was located close to one of his bolt holds on Nar Shaddaa.

The scent of smoke and booze hung heavily in the air, only serving to add to the heady atmosphere and heat that pressed down upon any that chose to sit within Yeenloh's Bar. Temperatures and tempers alike ran high and the sound of the beginning of a small brawl - raised voices and threats - were just growing loud enough that it was overpowering the terrible techno music. Yet, Xevek's sightless eye peered out at nothing as he sat entirely still, ignoring everything but the audio file was currently listening to.

As the recording came to an end, Xevek slowly blinked as if emerging from a deep slumber, subconsciously removing the earphones and resting them a top of the datapad on the table before him. Knowledge was power and if the invitation he had sent to Darth Umbra had been accepted, then he would need as much knowledge as he could.

As Darth Lykos he might have been able to match her in combat, perhaps make her submit to his authority through such means. However, since his death and rebirth as Xevek Rakama thanks to a now discarded phylactery, his strength had been reduced drastically. He still knew what he had known as Darth Lykos, the secrets and knowledge he had uncovered still rattling around within his mind. The issue was that his current body was simply not capable of channelling so much power without its combat efficiency being reduced.

Humming to himself as he stared out at the Force and Force-Sight created outline of the cantina around him - reading location, emotion and Force potential simultaneously through the new sight the Force had granted him, Xevek reached out slowly with his own influence, encouraging the patrons of the cantina to leave as he ran what he knew about Umbra around his mind, patiently waiting for her arrival and thinking on what words, offers, bargains, truths and lies he would soon need to ensnare the Sith Lady in bonds of his own making. As far as she knew he was a simple client looking to hire her for her abilities and experience in being something of a spy and assassin.

[member="Darth Umbra"]​

 

[Sanguine Nocturnal]

In all her years travelling out the galaxy, Rhaenys always hated the Hutt Space. Controlled by the crime lords of the Kajidics, this was a dangerous place for any girl alone, a place of so beautiful with the stench of decay. A moon so alive in the Force, and yet so dead. Crime was everywhere, and the Hutt always got a piece of everything. She was on the run, and Nar Shadda was the best place to disappear from the decay of the cult she tried to infiltrate.

Sith true believers were the worst. They not only believed in the dark teachings but were fanatical about it in ways that made Rhaenys feel disgusted. The Sith Empire was a complete decay of squabbling warlords, the small orders were fade to die, sooner or later, and she kept going with her search. Searching for knowledge, searching for greatness, searching for power. Few, were interested with her being dead or captured. And she needed a place to start over, to find what she was ordered to seek, once called Tierre by her parents, then Rhaenys as a new name by her former masters, Umbra was the name she always prefered to use. Mistress Umbra she styled herself, but mistress of what? Ship and a few droids. Nothing more.

As she was in the hideout she rent, the twi’lek received a strange message of a potential client that needed her skills. To the criminals, she was Halibel, the lethan twi’lek, assassin and spy, and therefore it wasn’t unusual to receive such invitations. She was all but ready to deny and would not show up, since it was not long since she did her last job, and could be a trap set by them, but, she was bored about doing nothing all day in her hideout and want it to go out. Dressing with a long dark robe, a terentatek leather corsage, with gun and sabers on waist and wrist, Umbra walked to the pub she was invited.

When the girl was outside her place, she chose to hide herself from others, hide her own skill with the Force and Buried her Presence in the force. Making herself invisible to others like her, and going on with her business through the filth streets in Nar Shadda. She saw, with her cold blue eyes, robbery, murderers, rape, slavers and their merchandise (including a few a twi’lek which she winked at them when passing by), gun traders, spice dealers, and worse. Famine, pest, war and death. Those were the four powers that truly reigned those streets.

“I’m looking for this person.”, she said to a guard at the door in the pub, showing the mark of the employer in the com one her left hand, which made him growl and point her to get inside. Having a bad feeling with the face made by the bodyguard, Umbra kept thinking to herself if this was indeed a trap, one that they could not set in place, since they had no idea that she was coming, at least if they were force users. As the twi’lek got inside, she tried her best to blend in the nearly deserted place, choosing a chair in the far corner of the place, sitting all by herself. If the employer want it her, he be best to show himself.

[member="Xevek Rakama"]

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

The sound of someone entering the cantina drew Xevek's focus away from his drink and towards the entrance, his blind eye lifting from where it had been sightlessly staring at the table before him to stare sightlessly at the outline of the person that had just entered the cantina. In the Force, in the world of precognition, the woman - her outline more than proved the fact that she was female - was nothing more than a civilian, weak in the Force and nothing important.

However, as a man who constantly had masks forged within the Force wrapped around him and influencing the Force to think of his as nothing as well as a man that stood alongside others who practised such a skill within the Force, Xevek was more than aware enough to feel at least somewhat suspicious of the fact that he knew that he was to meet someone, a Twi'lek, and here enters a Twi'lek that reeked of normality whilst precognition continued to tell him that the woman he was to meet was here,here,she'shere,nother,nother,here,here.

In the shadows of the booth pitch, black smoke began to solidify and take shape next to him, the manipulation of the physical form hidden beneath the mask of the Force, Buried beneath the Force. Slowly, a beak and then the head of a raven loomed out of the shadows, crimson eyes glaring out into the cantina as embers and smoke curled around its feathers. Slowly, between one blink of the raven's eyes and the next, an amber haze began to slowly form over its red eyes as Xevek reached out to see through the eyes of his Familiar, to steal the sight of the raven-shaped creature so as to see into the material world once more, as much as it disgusted him to do so. After all, in the mind of the Iridonian, the physical world was intrinsically flawed, ugly with very few hints of beauty within it. True beauty, to him, could only be found in the Force.

Looking over the room from the perspective of a creature who's eye line was barely above the top of the table he was sat at was disorientating to Xevek for a few seconds. However, he soon recovered from the confusion and was able to watch as the newly entered Twi'lek strode over to her chosen booth. By now, the majority of the cantina was emptied due to his influence over the mind of patrons, only those that were near blackout drunk remained, giving the pretence of business to any that would only have a cursory look around but not a proper look. As such, it was easy to pick out the Twi'lek due to the fact that she was the only one moving noticeably, let alone the fact that she was the only Twi'lek and person with red skin in the building.

Watching her move and taking a close look at her appearance, Xevek was fairly certain that this was Darth Umbra, Rhaenys, Tierre, Halibel the woman he had been waiting for. Though she had great skill in hiding her Presence in the Force, enough so that he was certain that if he wasn't of expecting her he wouldn't have noticed anything unusual, the way she moved spoke of training with a weapon and a sense of certainty that matched with the psychological profile he had received. There was little doubt in Xevek's mind that this was the one he had arranged to meet under false pretences, that this was the woman he had been assigned to assassinate and yet had seen some potential that, if shaped correctly, could greatly benefit him.

Pushing himself to his feet, letting the raven-Familiar fade away back into smoke, Xevek reached up to remove the mask he wore, setting it aside on the table and revealing his face (including the empty right eye socket, scars and blind left eye) as he also pulled down the hood of his robes, letting his ashen grey hair be seen. Grabbing his cane from where it lay against the table, Xevek slowly limped across the room, a partially real and largely falsified limp slowing his progress to a crawl, one more than obviously directed towards Umbra. He had, after all, no wish to have her lash out and attempt to strike him down, thus revealing his abilities within the Force. Instead, he made sure to shift the robes he was wearing just enough that they would fall open near his hip and reveal the symbol he had included in the message to Umbra with instructions that the man that bore it was the man who was seeking to hire her.

Stopping but a foot from the booth in which she sat, Xevek cleared his throat before inhaling deeply, as if nervous. In reality, he was subtly scenting the air and making a register of Umbra's own scent, establishing what he hoped to be a baseline scent for her for when she might be under no extreme emotion to the point that it would be revealed through her scent whilst also establishing a scent to track should she run or seek to assassinate him after their meeting.

"Halibel, I believe?" The Iridonian made sure that his gaze was just of to the side of where the Twi'lek actually was. "We have business to discuss, no? Er, do call me..." A purposeful pause to make she knew that it was not his real name that he was about to give. "Praz. It means Strong Willed you know?" A false brag, lessen her opinion of him. "Er, may I sit?"

[member="Darth Umbra"]​

 

[Sanguine Nocturnal]

As the Twi’lek was sitting in that disgusting table, Rhaenys kept her hand in the blaster in her waist. She had to hide herself within the Force, to avoid force users to hunt her down and kill her in revenge for her last job, but she could not keep herself calm about it. The non force users, those were the worst, bounty hunters and mercenaries that were up for trying to kill her for a few credits in their pockets, it was a meaningless thing to do it so, but better safe than dead. That was her motto, one that she always tried to live by, even when she did stupid things, like getting too close with people.

In n her last job, it was the target that became the problem, she got involved. And hates trouble killing him for that, a lesson, a precious lesson that life would make her remember and pay for it in the future.

When she was trained by the Enclave, the twi’lek was thought to reach the perfect balance between light and dark, therefore achieving the glory of the gray. But she failed, a long time ago, now there she was, living with the darkness, and that was it.

Her blue, sharp, eyes, could turn yellow in a heartbeat, but that did not happen in the moment she set both of them in that man. If you could call it a man. Limping and coughing, like a dying animal, or maybe, if that bad feeling in her stomach was right, those were too much theatricality for her taste. Or even for Umbra to buy that whole act of weak and feeble man.

Slowly she raised her free hand, the skin in her fingers glowing with the light, as the open fingers showed the vacant seat just across the table. Right in front of her, and her aim. The gun underneath the table was set to stun, if she needed to do use that as a last resource, her finger was in the trigger, and she waited, sitting quietly and calm, with a long expression in her beautiful alien face, one that meant she was getting bored with these little game.

“Speak.”, her husky voice was heard, cutting through the air, as the man kept looking at him, waiting to see if he was not a threat. At least to make sure of that, in Nar Shaddaa, one can never be too careful when dealing with scum.

[member="Xevek Rakama"]

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

"Ahem, well, you see my dear, I have a bit of a problem that needs dealing with." Smiling at Umbra with a grim and slightly sickly smile, Xevek's cane tapped around slightly, eventually making contact against the seat opposite to the Twi'lek, within which he slowly lowered himself into with a groan. Shifting and settling into the seat, grumbling beneath his breath in feigned pain, the Iridonian finally settled into his seat, cane gripped between his legs, the tip of it pointed towards Umbra under the table. His unseeing eye stared at some point over her right shoulder, as, meanwhile, his sight through the Force was focussed on the blaster pointed towards him. The Force was everywhere, after all, and through it, he could see everywhere, a simple physical blockade like a table wasn't impossible to see through. Though, if he was being honest, he was somewhat upset at the fact that he could no longer read without stealing his Familiar sight.

"I was once, though as you can guess from my appearance that time is behind me, something of a... well, shall we say I eliminated people's problems, specifically problems of the living variety when plied with the correct.... motivation." Coughing slightly, Xevek shifted in his seat as he reached into his robes to pull out and place a blaster pistol on the table between himself and Umbra, the barrel pointed away from both of them. The action was a cover in case a faint shiver of warning would run down the Twi'lek's spine as he reached out a minute tendril of the Force, his focus reduced to atomic in size, the world around him opening up in a greater manner than normally possible through the Force, just as his Presence finally managed to shrink to a similar level.

The technique that was colloquially known as Art of the Small was a technique that, in his previous life as Darth Lykos, Xevek had made great use of and had greatly appreciated, a manner of appreciated that had been rekindled with the return of his memories. As such, it had been the first technique he had forced himself to relearn from his memories.

The potential for him to hide within the Force to a microscopic level, indistinguishable from the Force around him unless one focussed on finding him - let along if he chose to cloak himself - was something that was invaluable to the Assassin. However, it was not for that reason that he had chosen to utilise the ability when meeting Umbra. Instead, he was after the side effect, one that was a boon rather than a bane. With his focus minuscule, he was able to perceive the world around him through the Force on a similar level, individual atoms revealing themselves before his mind's eye.

Reaching out with the scalpel of the Force, his actions still, hopefully, hidden behind the veneer that whatever shiver of warning was about his own pistol, he severed the wires within the blaster pistol trained on him, ensuring that even if the trigger was pulled the bolt of plasma would not be fired within him through fine application of telekinesis.

Smirking at Umbra as he settled back in his seat, he returned his focus to the conversation at hand after being silent for a few long seconds. "Ah, do forgive me my reminiscence. Fond memories, you understand, of a life that might well be a bit beyond me, what with my blindness. Anyway, I digress, my lack of focus aside, I arranged this meeting for business, not to talk about myself. Anyway, I find myself under contract once more, my dear. But, I find that I cannot kill my prey, not quite yet, at least. A blind man would die against her without any fight being truly put up by said blind man."

Chuckling to himself, Xevek gestured towards Umbra's general location, his 'sight' focused on the blaster pistol she held, ensuring that his actions had neutralised that threat. "You, my dear, well, your profile is indeed a fascinating read. Interesting and valuable. So, I arranged this meeting to ensure that you are, indeed, as dangerous as I had read. That you are, indeed, as skilled, as valuable, as your reputation makes you out to be. So, Miss Umbra," pausing, he sliding the pistol he had placed on the table across to her, "will you try to kill me for what I know, for annoying you or, perhaps, you will think about this offer and accept it. Simply put, I wish to hire you for an indistinguishable amount of time until I decide that the bondage between us is severed and done for. What say you, Miss Umbra."

Leaning forwards, one hand, his cybernetic hand, rested under his chin as his gaze would finally snap to stare directly into the Twi'lek's blue eyes. Slowly, his lisp curled back into a vicious snarl, sharpened and pointed teeth stained from blood (from raw animal meat he had harvested from the creatures he sometimes hunted, not that he ever revealed this to anyone and, instead, would let them draw their own conclusions). Around the pair, the last of the patrons would get up and stagger out of the cantina, leaving it entirely empty and silent, baring them and the music still playing respectively.

Not once had he uttered a lie, words games, half-truths and carefully constructed sentences ensuring that he would not register as lying to Umbra. But, now that everyone around them was gone, he had stalled long enough and it was time to start playing the game. "So, Tierre, what say you?"

[member="Darth Umbra"]​

 

[Sanguine Nocturnal]

Everything about this deal was strange. Not just that dusty old pub in the middle of Nar Shadda, not the place empty full of liquor, but it was that thing of a man, he looked old and bitter, worn and tired, yet there was something about his eye that made it look like he was hiding his cards for that little game.

When she learned and got even deeper into the dark culture of the Sith, Umbra knew very well not to trust her eyes. They may look frail and pale like baby rats, but they are as deadly as a full grown rancor rushing towards you, so she had to rely in her feelings, that strange feeling rushing through her two lekkus. Cold they were, like the twi’lek was out somewhere in a frozen planet with snowflakes slowly falling down her skin.

With eyes standing over his, blue sharp ones, her face never even moved for a single second. She could feel the life force from the bartender cleaning the glasses, she could feel the Ithorian drinking alone in the other side of the bar and hundreds of thousands other sentient being within her reach to feel anything, but over there, looking the man right in the eye, Umbra could not feel a single thing. And that was all she ever needed to feel, for if your eyes fail you, one tutor said to her long ago, rip them out of your face and trust in your feelings.

As his blaster was over the table, Umbra stayed calm and immovable, like a marble statue, it was only as his speech came to an end and she heard what she needed to hear, that the lethan girl nodded with her head, a delicate and well mannered act, left arm over the table. Slowly raising the right arm, putting her own hand from under the table to make the BlasTech 22 also visible, pointing the barrel not to him, but somewhere else.

“I only have one question.”, her husky voice, bathed in that natural sensual tone of voice as she made herself heard in a menacing tone, “Her, you say?”, immediately she pressed the trigger, shooting a certain shot against the head of the bartender, opening her left hand in a strong gesture to force push to try to push Praz away from her as she jumped off the table, going backwards, dropping the gun and pulling off from her forearm the metallic and dark image of the curved hilt weapon. Clicking the button and making the red colour bright the gloomy air of the pub. “I don’t work for liars.”

His “nothingness” of a presence was something she could accept for him being a force user, but it was only as he referred to the prey that Umbra had her feelings go wild, after all, one can always say “Against him” for “His prey”, and specially not “her”, for it was strange to the lethan for someone that she never heard off when laying low in the Hutt moon would simply show up and find her that easily.

[member="Xevek Rakama"]

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

Rather than react to the Twi'lek's words, Xevek instead took a few moments to merely frown at the smoking blaster that she held in her hands, letting the wall of the Force that she had summoned up against him wash over him and force him further into the booth as she leapt away, worry never once creasing his features. He could have sworn that the wires within the blaster, the ones that were required for the blasted thing to actually function as it should, had been severed before Umbra had even had the chance to pull the blaster from under the table to wave in front of a blind man. Ignoring the fact that the woman was acting as if he was capable of seeing, which either meant that she suspected his true ability or was simply following instinct instead of thinking through everything. Ignoring that fact, he should have disabled the blaster so that it wouldn't have even fired in the first place.

In the end, rather than worrying about Umbra's aggressive actions, Xevek was more frustrated and angry at himself than anything. He had failed and that rankled him more than Umbra seeing through his actions and words. Besides, her eventually figuring out what was really going on had been an expected occurrence, something he had assumed would happen eventually considering the fact that she showed enough talent that he had chosen to recruit her. Scowling, Xevek slowly pushed himself to his feet, gripping his cane tightly so as to maintain the illusion of his blindness. After all, if she had not seen through that particular ruse, yet, it would be to his advantage.

A low rumbling growl emerged from the depths of his throat, filling the silence between the pair as he began to slowly limp towards her. "Where did I fail? Did I not aim correctly, did I not focus enough, or miscalculate in my evaluation of the precise target?" Huffing slightly, he waved his hand sharply through the air, as if striking the thoughts from his mind even as his actions led to the neck of the Ithorian to snap loudly as their head twisted sharply and deadly, leaving the newly-made corpse to slump across the bar as the last witness to Xevek's and Umbra's confrontation was removed from the equation, leaving only them. "No matter, a failure to be investigated at a later date. No, now, you are of a greater importance, Halibel."

Chuckling lowly, Xevek leaned back against the table he and the Twi'lek had just been sitting at, his unseeing gaze locked upon her eyes with unnerving accuracy considering he shouldn't be able to see, a feat that he was accomplishing through the Force. "You say you do not work for liars? Yet you live within a reality where all lie? How remarkable a statement if you meant it literally. If, however, you meant it as a way to state that you think I'm lying, how very astute of you my dear, to recognise that a man who might wish to hire you for nefarious actions may, too, be nefarious in nature. A remarkable sense of empathy." The sarcasm that curled around his words would be almost thick enough to see if that were possible, however, the leer that he levelled at the Twi'lek was by nowhere close to sarcastic and something altogether more feral - like a predator staring at some particularly intriguing prey.

Above the Zabrak's head, a cloud of smoke began to slowly form, twisting and folding over itself in a display as unnatural as its impossible appearance, a vicious cloud that continued to darken naturally. Within the cloud, embers seemed to spark and dance, swirling dangerously in place as an oppressive feeling of Darkness began to slowly seep forth into the cantina, curling along the ground and dancing seductively up Umbra's body, bathing her in a sudden shock coldness that speared into exposed, red flesh.

When Xevek spoke again, his voice was devoid of all emotion, icy and threatening. "Put away your lightsaber, Tierre, Umbra, or whatever lie of a name you have chosen to embrace. You are acting rash, bold and without caution, thought or deception. I honestly expect better of you, better than this at least. For now, I am Praz Ip; Assassin. Yes, you are whom my contract is on, but, eliminating you would be a waste of a resource, a waste of potential, a needless sacrifice, bloody stupid - whatever phrase you choose to be most flattering. So, you have the answer to your question, what will you do know, my dear? Prove me wrong or correct, act brashly or actually giving some thought to what your next action will be and be putting away that bloody weapon." He gestured lacklustrely towards her lightsaber even as the feeling of ice and shadows would begin to seep out into the Force from him, personally, and not just the gathering mass of viscous shadows above him.

[member="Darth Umbra"]​

 

[Sanguine Nocturnal]

Slowly Ursula pressed the trigger of her blaster again, this time in his direction. A moment of silence took place and she watched slowly to the gun, not understanding why it did not fired again. Looking back at the man in front of her, Umbra had the feel that this was his doing and his alone, for never she knew one could do that using the Force. Quietly she listened to what he had to say.

None of his words were a ‘lie’, after all, they all lied and lived surrounded by lies. Her own life was a life, three different names, was she a Twi’lek like Halibel suggested? Or was she a Sith called Darth Umbra? A petty noble called lady Rhaenys from Kaikielius? She had no idea, those were but masks she wore when it suit her. So how could she blame the zabrak for lying about his name? That was how one survived, how she taught how to do it so, long ago by the Enclave.

Probably they were all dead by now. Archmage Roman Cadriaan, the High Judge Gabranth, the Grandwarden Hawkeye, all probably dead, with the exception of the Primarch Iedolas, that demon with the face of a holy man, or elf. She missed her home, but she had a job to do before being allowed to return to Kaikielius, to her Farnheim in the northern side of Stampa.

Lies, he was right she thought, enough to make her start to lose her courage and think about putting her lightsaber away. But there was the whole assassination involved, such things could ruin everything for a girl, especially when her date could stab you in the back and take your lekkus as a trophy. Raising her lightsaber at his direction, slowly watching that mist around her, doing something to her will.

Allowing herself to be sensed in the Force again, Umbra allowed her anger and all her dark feeling to take hold of her, so that her aura would be one filled with rage. Her hand putting the blaster back in her waist, as she held the lightsaber with both hands, putting her feet in the proper position to strike, choosing a calm tone of voice.

“Why should i trust you?”, she asked with both hands gripping tightly over the saber, “If you are not going to kill me, then what?”, she had zero trust in him. He was weird and was paid, or was going to get paid for killing her, and money was everything in that galaxy they lived. Be it for Sith, Jedi, Mandalorian, Hutts, elzeris, republican bastards and nobles, and the thought of her hand being cut from her shoulders to be delivered to someone's feet was not something that pleased her that much.

[member="Xevek Rakama"]​

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

Slowly, the intent of a predator cornering his prey colouring his actions, Xevek prowled a few steps closer to the Twi'lek, a husky chuckle falling into the silence that had formed in the wake of her accusatory questions. Above him, the writhing mass of shadows began to can a more consolidated form, the cloud compressing in on itself even as the embers continued to dace within its dark depths. An eye, shockingly crimson - as if it were crystalised blood - would be the first thing to form, followed by its pair, as the first step was closer. Wings comprised of smokey feathers would erupt from the cloud next as its mass grew tighter and tighter, until, as the Assassin drew to a stop just outside of the reach of Umbra's lightsaber, a raven would take shape with a piercing shriek, diving to settle upon the Iridonian's shoulder, light chuffs being made from the back of its throat as its head twitched unnaturally, piercing red eyes peering at Umbra intently.

The sudden rage that coloured Umbra's own aura as she too shed the layers of obscuration that they had both arrived at the meeting with was matched in turn by the malicious feeling of shadows and eyes crawling throughout the room - passionate fire against unfeeling ice. Where Umbra was presented as a creature of untethered anger within the Force, all bright colours of violence, Xevek was much more muted and controlled. Equal in strength though they may have been, the space between them rolled with the clashing ideals and personalities intrinsic to who they were at their core, fierce wrath and cold and predatory ice.

Where Umbra would feel the sensation of creeping shadows crawling along her flesh, curling along the creases and crevices of her body intrusively and without consideration; as if she was not even worthy of privacy before one who was perceived by himself and his presence within the Force her better, Xevek felt as if his body was consumed and surrounded by rage at it purest. The sensation of a beast breathing down his neck, of eyes hunger to devour him as if he was nothing but prey for the woman before him struck at Xevek's hearts.

However, it was a sensation that he shrugged off by force of will alone, ignoring it as he blindly stared at the Lethan Twi'lek and ice and fire continued to wage war between the two Sith - their Presence carefully measured so as to be felt only by the other, only to permeate the air of the cantina, in a private clash.

"You should not." The quiet of their battle of the Force was deafening in the wake of his words, two people simply facing each other in the material world while much more occurred within the metaphysical. "You should not trust me. You should not trust anyone. Not even yourself until you are sure that the self-delusions so many suffer from have been torn from your mind's eyes. But, I am happy to see you are not so brash as your actions might've suggested since you seem to be displaying some restraint by posing a question to my intent here - foolish as your question is - even if you have yet to sheathe your sabre like an uncivilised brute."

The leer on his lips only deepened as he took another step forwards, bringing himself in range of Umbra should she choose to strike out at him. The challenge in his actions was clear and obvious, the bait poised on the end of the hook just waiting to be taken.

"I digress, though. What I want is simple. What I want..." Xevek's Presence within the Force would suddenly flare with a single emotion, a single thought that would echo loudly within the tendrils of metaphysical shadows encircling Umbra. Primal in its nature, the emotion would press down on the Twi'lek's shoulders as a flare of darkness was kindle within the Iridonian's single eye and the shadow-born raven cawed out a single note. "Is you." His possessiveness would creep along Umbra's spine.

[member="Darth Umbra"]​