Private Dark Waters and Dark Minds

[Kaiah Nihl]

Something stirred beneath the dark waters of Jiedushi.

Kaiah froze, moving only to still the movement of her canoe. She felt something stir deep in the abyss, felt its gaze move upwards towards her vessel. She felt it swim up, drawing nearer to the surface. There was no way to tell how large it was, but in Kaiah’s mind it was nearly as big as the ruined city it inhabited. Her breaths came faster now, her chest heaving as she gasped in and out. The presence drew closer and closer, until it seemed it must be right below her boat. And then-

Nothing. She sensed nothing beneath her canoe. ‘Perhaps it passed on’ she thought.

She had traveled far and seen much, but nothing like what lived here. Bone-white fish darted to the surface, at the edge of the light cast by her lantern. They afforded her a glimpse of milky eyes and razor-sharp teeth; thoroughly convincing her to stay out of the water. Seaweed and algae glowed with a soft, luminous light; the reeds seemed to part before her boat so much as a brushed them.

She picked up her oar and continued paddling slowly, wary of spooking anything more. The thick mist pressed in on all sides, limiting her visibility and making her feel claustrophobic. ‘It might have not existed at all’ she mused. The force was strange here, hanging like a heavy curtain over her senses. In such places, not everything was as it seemed – she needed to approach with skepticism. Such a large creature could not live in such a barren place. Surely?

She shook her head, trying to dislodge the uneasiness that had creeped into her. She was certain there was something to find here, something that could help her. The galaxy was rife with scavengers and tomb raiders, yet Jiedushi had remained nearly untouched. ‘Superstitious fools’ she had thought, yet now she felt like the fool.

She continued on, worried she had been turned around until a large stony spire appeared from the fog, easing her concern. Rising from the murky water was the top of a large temple, or at least what remained of it. Half the structure had collapsed, leaving a large opening in the faded marble.

She gave a small smile, grateful that her destination was in sight. She pressed on, faster now, heedless of the amount of noise she made…

| Junko Ike |​

 

[Junko Ike]

Kaiah Nihl

The sounds of boots was the first thing that came to the edge of her senses... it wasn't the mundane sound that ou normally heard as Junko sat there in the receiving room. Several of the Sansin... the daughters of noble lords who were in a sort of refinement establishment were here. They sat behind silk curtains, sewed and painted.. some were reciting poems and one or two were sleeping.. despite what the instructors wanted this wasn't exactly an amazing thing... more for manners and decorum the daughters learned how to act like royals. The jedi princess was sitting there and next to her under several layers of silk disguised was the empress... wanting to see what went into the lessons that had been brought back.

Her only really visible feature was her eyes, she sat there demurely while one of the ladies spoke critiquing the needlework as the soldier entered the chamber he knelt behind the screens... unable to see specifically any of the women who turned to look upon him as he waited to be acknowledged. "Speak." The voice of the empress came and she removed the covering from her face to small gaps while Junko just sat there letting her kimono slip a little off of her shoulder. The pins in her hair keeping it up and over the bare shoulder while golden skin brushed with her shiroi solari make up gave her a glow almost to herself. Dark pools in her eyes turned to look through the silk curtain.

"A ship followed closely to one of the cargo vessels from the Anshin. they have touched down in the wetlands near Jeidushi but we have lost track of them." He seemed to brace himself and the empress spoke. "Hmmm not the most welcoming news but.. as there are no attacks or ships coming it does at least leave a litle hope we aren't going to be attacked once again. Send a squadron of the Black Guard they can move quickly enough." Junko looked at her surprised and spoke. "Perhaps that will be to much.. they are not known for their restraint and if someone came down to get to the planet the wetlands and ruins there are not an ideal place."

The empress was looking at her for a moment and nodded. "If you have a plan Junko speak plainly." She said it in a more serious tone but below it was the warmth.. she wanted them to be able to speak up with a nod. "I can move faster and get through there.. I can also find people in the force as one fo the more trained instructors at the crystal temple." She said it with a bow of her head as the empress spoke. "Do not go alone.. take a contingent of yovshin with you." Junko shook her head. "It would be faster with a small group... I will be safe Empress... I know those wetlands and I know something that can help track." Might not like all of the water but Xifang was one of the best trackers and few could really stare him down.

That was what led her here as the skiff came into the wetlands and the large Atrisian tiger towered over her as it climbed off of the skiff where he had been laying around. The kimono wrapped around her with white tufts of fur that were for the coldness here but Junko knew it was less the air but it was the feeling in the bones that sank into you... that coldness of the soul and she was moving with him. Her hair like a curtain down her back and she held her katana on her hip with a secondary jar'kai sword mostly for show. The lightsaber in her sleeve served well enough in most cases to deter conflicts when they arose. The squelching of the her boots in the mud though got a small look from her.

"Great these were just made." She said it but it was more a feigned outrage or annoyance... in truth she didn't worry about messing them up but they needed to be cleaned she knew... to look like they were the most presentable and beautiful. She was walking and the tiger was there covering her back and side while she looked around and tested the footholds on the ground. She was moving to the ruins and the stone that was still wight as she activated one of the glowrods they had developed. The fireglass within able to produce a lot of light without a lot of heat so it wouldn't burn her hand as she looked through the thick fog.

 

[Kaiah Nihl]

She was eager to step off the canoe, away from the murky water and whatever lay beneath. The stone of the temple spire had not fared well – the once pristine white marble had now faded to an ash grey. She stepped tentatively onto the broken masonry and proceeded into the temple interior. It wasn’t entirely clear what had caused the breakage. However, there was no rubble within the structure, so whatever caused the destruction came from within.

She passed under the shadow of the wall and was surprised to find spongy grass underfoot. Scraggly brush was starting to reclaim the temple, thickening into a wild bush further in. The flora grew up right to the walls, making it impossible to avoid. With the absence of light, the growth of the thicket was strange and unnerving.

She hesitated. She had planned an extensive expedition, even going to pack a large satchel with plenty of survival gear. But Jiedushi was not what she expected, and the thought of venturing on further seemed unwise. Kaiah glanced behind her and jumped slightly, startled. She fancied she saw an orange glow in the mist behind her. “Is that you, Demon?” she whispered. Her powers had been getting worse lately and she feared she was slowly losing control. The light faded, and she turned away. Drawing in a deep breath, she pushed her way into the undergrowth.

- - - - -​

The flora closed in around her, quicker than she expected. The brush grew higher, blocking her view left and right. Soon she was forced to ignite her saber to cut a path through.

There were long snaking vines along ground, radiating outwards, their pattern suggesting that they had surged up from below. They were a pale red and spread throughout the thicket. ‘This will lead down, hopefully’ she thought. Down was the only way to progress she figured; she only hoped the lower levels weren’t completely flooded.

The bushes and brambles pressed in closer, again making her feel claustrophobic. They were worse than the mist, Kaiah decided. At least the mist didn’t hinder her. It was almost as if the plant life was actively trying to stop her.

A noise.

She stopped, turning off her lightsaber, and crouched low in the scrub. She swore she heard movement to her left yet now, as she paused, she could hear nothing. Was the assailant simply being silent as well? Or was it all her imagination? As knelt down she came to a far worse realization. The plants she had cut behind her had miraculously grown back and, with dawning horror, she realized she was lost in the thicket.

| Junko Ike |​

 

[Junko Ike]

Kaiah Nihl

She slowed in her movements, there was something happening up ahead or was she imagining it. The sounds in the swamp were muted in many ways and there was always an unnerving sense as you walked through it. Her neck and face flet like they were covered in a sheen of something sticky as the moisture clung to her. The scents in the air was overly sweet as Xifang silets growled and the paws dug into the stone. Junko paused looking towards the mist and buildings as they were coming in. "You smell something or hear it." She said it lower as the tger crouched low.. which was still taller then the short statured jedi and climbed over some of the thicker collections of plants fluidly before perching on a building.

"Yeah make it look easy." She said it wanting to cock her hip to the side and put her hand son them as she was moving and clearing the gap she climbed up onto the building carefully but she was able to get there quickly and then down towards one of the holes. The tiger following after her with a look on her face while she had the glow rod ready to look around for anything inside. Thick reeds and gnarled roots of the plants that were slick with moisture and thicker in most areas. "Hmm well when in the wilderness the best way is to explore." She said it with a nod of her head though as she was going forward with the tiger to follow behind her.

She couldn't sense anything as the feeling of the ruined city came as a weight on her shoulders... it was what kept her senses from expanding outwards while she stood there and looked at the ancient statues. The Jei followers were not always terrible... okay they could be but they were originallly just after love and lust and that evolved into something cruel. One of the tenets was that love was part of desire and desire is always cruel... it fit as they were just as cruel as they were beautiful.... but they had been drowned and destroyed... the only temple that remained on an island far away that few wirshipped it was just a novelty that it was intact and remained.

Her thoughts were drifting as she walked and paused just long enough to sense something as the tiger was near her and growled low without attacking. Junko adjusted the light and held it out to illuminate the white marble and cast a brighter orange light all around her.

 

[Kaiah Nihl]

A tension was steadily rising within her, a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach getting stronger as she whirled around. There was something else here, on the very edge of her senses, almost imperceptible. She kept very still, withdrawing into herself and trying to mask her presence in the force.

She heard a low growl.

And she was off, sprinting away from the source of noise – making no attempts to conceal her own ruckus. Fully panicked now, she desperately pushed her way through the scrub and followed the nearest vine. She wasn’t certain if enemy was pursuing, but her frenzied mind conjured up visions of a shadowy monster right on her heels.

‘I’ve had enough of this thicket’ she thought, a strange anger rising in her. The adrenaline of danger mixed with the frustration of the maze stirred a passion within her. She focused on that rage, channeling her power to her arms. Her fingers tingled as she spread each hand wide - pointing them left and right. The pins and needles increased, as did a temperature of her body, until a burst of light emitted from each hand. A jet of flame leaped from each finger and into the surrounding environment. They greedily consumed the surrounding shrub and climbed high toward the roof. She continued pushing through, the flames trailing behind her. Until she almost fell into a large opening in the ground.

The exit.

She turned around; toward the destruction she had wrought. More of the bush was catching fire now, and the room had started to fill with smoke. “No turning back now” she muttered. The flames would not hurt her, not if she focused enough. But she still needed oxygen, a vital commodity which was steadily decreasing in the temple.

She glanced down at the opening, a large section of the temple floor that had cracked from the vines spilling out. The vines here were darker, the colour of blood, and were much larger than those of the periphery. There was no light below, yet Kaiah could sense the stillness of water not far below.

She took a deep breath, a single step, and plunged into the icy blackness below.

| Junko Ike |​

 

[Junko Ike]

Kaiah Nihl

Something was happening... the scents changed for a moment and was strong as she suddenly felt it in the air. Like a ripple of power and then there was fire as the jedi master crouched lower pushing back so she could move quickly and away from the brush. Xifang moved with her and stayed there as her hand came up to make a shimmering shield of force energy that was set in front of herself. She remained there and was looking as a hole in the floor was visible in the distance and Junko moved as Xifangg moved after her. She dropped to the floor and reached one hand out as she wrapped the force around Xifang and both of them went into the hold with the jedi master moving him to a ledge while he grabbed with his mouth the neck of her kimono and it could hold enough for her to be there as she looked down towards the waters below.

They were looking and the stone work was there as she started to lower herself and the tiger moved along on the ridges. Junko reached out as she had felt someone or something here for the moment but she lowered herself into the water looking around and focusing o the force. Pulling it into herself... alowly enhancing her body and mind when she wanted to dins who or what had set the fire. "Hello." her voice came out calm and controlled. fear wasn't the problem.. she had traveled from one side of Atrisia to another... been in some of the most strange and dangerous locations... fear was not something she would jump to but she wasn't going to claim being fearless... she just knew a great deal of the dangers that could be here on the world as she pulled herself out of the water as much as she could to move more quietly.

She didn't know if there was going to be an answer but staying there she knew the dangers of the waters here and could feel them. A sort of inky blackness that seeped into he body and the small fish with their pale skin and eyes, malformed bodies were attracted to the movement when she got out of the water and was moving with Xifang above as she could feel him able to move with well a cat like balance on the smaller ledges. She had the glow rod and it revealed more of the temple as sections were filled with the water but it was different here as some cascaded down to fill a few of the rooms. She knew pumps were used for things like this.. they had them at several sites around the world which drained and pumped it somewhere else... it didn't clear the water out but was strong enough to create an open area.