Faction Delving into the Great Library. [The Fallen Order]

[Kali'ka]

Tag: T'zarna Khab Phyress Vaelor Braze

Kali'ka forge forward, surmounting the obstacles of a broken, limping structure that panted with flickering power, leaking water and exhaling steam. Her gaze darted often to her companion, how Phryess' mist reached and probed dark corners and unseen high ceilings. The woman herself as well, with the enigmatic pulsing tattoos and cryptic musings. They pursued, or were pursued by, the intruder. They were content with either truth.

As the pair moved higher, Kali'ka's hand would brush the walls, touch the structure as she passed, seeking the buildings memories. Eventually, the structure opened to an expansive space. The Kiffar's eyes lifted to see the glimpse of natural light bleeding in. Her hand brushed over a column.
Kali'ka paused, humming as if pleased. Traces on a pillar offered her a vision. Their prey, certainly a jedi, had passed that way recently. White hair, slight frame, agile, intentional.

"He's been here..." She commented. "My...he's a pretty one. Moves like a little nexu. He was moving upward." Her eyes lifted again.

 

[Braze]

Tags: Beltor "Bell" Cyrus T'zarna Khab Kali'ka Phyress Vaelor ​

Braze could feel the structure shake as the entrance as collapsed trapping him with in... That wasn't good... That left no easy way out for him... Perhaps they had enough of games... He made his way down to the main level to see just how troubled these folks were trying to stick to the shadows and remain as unseen as best he could...

 

[Phyress Vaelor]

The higher they climbed, the quieter Phyress became.

Not because there was less to say.

Because there was more to hear.

The Library still screamed around them—alarms, ruptured pipes, grinding machinery, dying systems clawing themselves awake—but beneath it all ran another rhythm. A subtler one. A pulse hidden beneath the chaos.

Movement.

Intent.

Life.


Phyress followed several paces behind Kali'ka, her attention divided between the physical world and the currents flowing unseen through it. The ichor mist continued its silent exploration, slipping through cracks and along support beams, tasting the edges of the structure.

Then Kali'ka stopped.

Her hand settled against a column.

The Kiffar's expression shifted.

A vision.

A memory.

Phyress waited.


"He's been here..."

A faint smile touched her lips.

Of course he had.


"My...he's a pretty one. Moves like a little nexu. He was moving upward."

That earned a quiet huff of amusement. "Pretty huh?” Phyress hummed pleasantly. Her mists could tell her a lot, what their prey looked like was not one of them. ”Nexu don’t usually put much effort into being hidden."

Her gaze followed Kali'ka's upward. For a moment. Then her expression changed.

The mist had found something. Not a trail. A contradiction.

Her hand tightened around the talisman. The currents she'd been tracking no longer flowed upward. They folded. Bent. Reversed.

A sharp breath escaped her. "No..." The word was soft. Certain.

Her eyes closed briefly. Listening. The Library shifted around them. Steam hissed from broken pipes. Water dripped from fractured ceilings. Somewhere far below, a metal shutter slammed shut. And beneath all of it—

A heartbeat.

Not literally. But close enough.

Phyress' eyes opened. Bright. Focused. Dangerous.

"He's near." The words cut through the noise with absolute certainty. Not above. Not anymore.

The realization settled quickly. Their prey had abandoned elevation. Abandoned distance. Perhaps because the entrance had collapsed. Perhaps because circumstances had changed. It didn't matter. What mattered was that he had stopped shaping the hunt. And started navigating it.

"He’s doubled back." Her gaze swept the shadows ahead. The pathways below. The fractured levels surrounding them. The places someone clever would choose if escape became impossible.

For the first time since entering the Library, Phyress released the talisman. Her fingers slipped away from the worn artifact at her throat. Immediately the mist reacted. The thick tendrils that had prowled through the Library lost cohesion. They unraveled into drifting wisps and dissolved into the stale air, no longer searching. No longer needed.

A different choice now.

Her hand dropped to the hilt at her waist. The weapon she had built herself. The weapon no Order had blessed. The weapon no coven had gifted.

A sharp hiss cut through the corridor. Amber light erupted from the emitter. A brilliant orange blade sprang into existence, illuminating the ruined chamber around them. Its glow danced across stone, steam, and water. Across Kali'ka's features. Across the faint bioluminescent markings beneath Phyress' skin.

The Gorathi rolled her shoulders once. Calm. Centered. Ready.

A faint smile touched her lips as she stepped forward beside her companion. "We're finished following ghosts." The blade lowered slightly at her side. Not threatening. Prepared.

Her gaze swept the darkness ahead. Watching. Waiting. Certain.

"He's close enough to touch the Force around us now." Her eyes narrowed. Not hunting blindly anymore. Sensing. Feeling.

Then she glanced sideways toward Kali'ka. A spark of anticipation flickered there. Not bloodlust. Not quite. Something more focused.

"Let's see if our little nexu still likes the shadows when they're looking back."

Location: Jedi Library Ruins, Ossus • Objective: Artifact Recovery • Company: T'zarna Khab | Elyndrella | Kali'ka • Adversaries: Braze | Aiden Porte