Echoes

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"STOP!" Aela's call was sudden an immediate, dropping just a few seconds after Jamie told her to. The statues seemed to linger for just a moment, then continued their assault. The great stone blade pulled away from her lightsaber, reaching back and then suddenly flicking forward.

She ducked beneath the sword, half shifting and dragging her lightsaber forward. She stabbed the weapon against the stone figures stomach, dragging it across and attempting to slice through. It seemed to halt for a moment, recoiling and then suddenly lurching forward. It's hand smacked against Aela's side, throwing her a few feet back and down the stairs. She tumbled, striking hard against the stone as the statue began to leap after her.

"Stop!" She repeated. "I am Aela Talith, daughter of Soliael Talith and blood of Moridin!"

She tried desperately to call out to the thing, and suddenly as she spat blood to the floor the statue stopped.

With a colliding and jarring stop it placed a foot down onto the ground, freezing in place along with its twin.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

With no other alternative Jamie was forced to raise her weapon to block the following strike from the second of the statues, a massive stone blade colliding against the rather old lightsaber. The heated plasma hissed, yet held steady as Jamie was pushed back from the force of the collision several feet and nearly off balance. Her feet shuffled to maintain her position, though as she saw Aela roll down the stairs and hit the ground she retreated from her own engagement to race down after her.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs just as Aela ordered it to stop again Jamie stood between her and the stone warrior. Unsure whether or not it would remain idle Jamie kept the lightsaber active and ready, though knelt down beside the other girl. A quick look over at Aela and the notice of blood on the ground prompted a notably nervous look on the blonde's face.

"Are you okay?" Her eyes shifted quickly back to the two statues as they stood looming over both she and Aela.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She frowned as she slowly scrambled back to her feet. Aela wiped away the blood on her lip and then slowly used her off hand to pull up her shirt. There was already a very large purple mark from where the statue had struck her, the imprint of a hand settling across her ribs. She frowned for a moment and then let the cloth drop. "I'll be alright."

The Jedi Master looked up at the statue.

"Good call." She said quietly, referring to the statues. In truth she had been so panicked and focused on getting away that she hadn't even thought of asking the statues to stop. Of course it had needed a reminder that she was of the Dreadlords blood, but...she glanced down at the small puddle of spit and crimson. "Let's get through that door."

She said as she skirted around the statue. "I don't want these things waking up again."

Aela had no idea if she could control them again, or if they would suddenly decide she wasn't who she said she was.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie took a quick glance at the welt on Aela's side, a look of remorse pulled at her lips even as Aela asserted that she would be alright. That was sure to ache later. Still, it looked like she was fit enough to continue, and neither were too keen on lingering around while the seemingly now docile statues hovered over head. "I didn't know it would work. In fact I expected it wouldn't."

Not that she was disappointed in the quick thinking solution, as those stonework warriors could have posed a very dangerous fight for the two of them.

"Agreed. Let's not hang around. These things are frightening."

The blonde followed in tow behind Aela, casting several looks back every few feet to ensure they remained in place. "That sure is one way to welcome visitors."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She frowned for a moment. "I'm not even sure thats the worst of what we'll find here."

Slowly the Jedi Master wandered past the statues and headed towards the great stone doors. They seemed to loom over her, watching in an eerie sort of silence. They were decorated with a mosiac of a face, now half broken and worn away by the storms that loomed within this area. Behind them a crack of lightning jumped through the sky, her head swiveling back for a moment to glance at the approaching stormclouds. For a moment she did nothing, then slowly her hand reached out.

Her palm moved to press against the stone, but before she could touch the doors they slowly began to fall open. "Well..."

She began quietly as the stone creaked open.

"That's creepy." As the gate fell before them, a veritable jungle appeared before them. Plants, Yuuzhan Vong Biots, and chirping insects buzzed behind the walls. Vines seemed to move and squirm, the path ahead of them all but obscured with a mix of purple, green and brown.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie watched as the doors fell inwards, greeting them to an eerie tune and a display of saturated colors and ambience reminiscent of a tomb. Jamie craned her neck and strained her eyes to focus on what lay just beyond the entrance. Aela's words fell on deaf ears as she drew her attention to the overgrowth and vermin that had reclaimed the fortress. For a moment her limbs refused to act, cementing her in place where she stood until finally her senses returned enough to mobilize her body once again.

A single step forward and into the ruin was all she took before the tiny hairs on her arms and neck rose, sending a wave of chills down her spine. There was something terrible and foreboding about this place. Immediately her nerves and mind went on alert, deep azure eyes casting rapid glances towards anything and everything in the area for signs of danger.

"Is it too late to say I've got a bad feeling about this?"

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She frowned. "No."

Mostly because she had the same feeling.

Her lightsaber was still thrumming loudly, the bright pink blade floating just ahead of her as she slowly stepped onto the cobblestone path. A few vines had overgrown it, but it seemed as though the area remained mostly clear. She frowned at the oddity of that. "Careful."

She said quietly.

"A few of these are Vong." Her eyes faded over some of the oddly shaped tentacle like vines, spiked thorns reaching from them. "Don't tend to like Jedi."

Without realizing it Aela began to hold her breath.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie had no idea what to make of that. She had never seen these Vong creatures. Were they overly dangerous? What about them made them so? Now wasn't exactly the time for a chit chat about things that might be dangerous. Aela was moving forward, so she followed, careful not to touch anything, shifting her head to avoid that which was in her path.

"Okay." Her voice was no louder than a whisper, response as brief as a single word.

Blue eyes danced from wall to wall, observing the path before them. The air surrounding them was oppressive and musty, stale even. Hardly pleasant to breathe in, the deeper they ventured into the darkened and decrepit corridors of her ancestor's ruins. The quicker they left the better she would feel. Whatever answers laid within the confines of this place Jamie hoped would reveal themselves in short order.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Her fingers tightened around her lightsaber, her eyes slowly wandering over the path. She watched for any hanging vines, odd creatures, anything that might attack them. Her heart sank slightly the further they ventured in, noticing the dark and decrepit plants that seemed to have overgrown almost anything. She looked up once, barely seeing the cloudy sky above. In the distance she heard the crack of thunder, a boom rushing over the landscape that seemed to cause the jungle around them to shrink for just a moment.

"Stop." She said, slowly holding up a hand. "Do you hear that?"

An odd sort of slithering hiss seemed to ring out within the air. it moved behind them at first, causing Aela to turn her head. She saw the tail end of something move across the cobblestone path, her lips thinning as he gaze drifted back to Jamie.

"Let's...move a little faster." Her pace picked up as the hiss sounded out once more behind them.

This time it seemed to echo slightly.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie pushed against Aela's back to move her along forward. Stopping with something pursuing them wasn't in the cards. Stopping just let whatever it might have been draw nearer, be it a snake or some other larger predator. Whatever it was, she didn't care much. Getting out of there as quickly as humanly possible was already her goal. Now she just had more motivation.

Fingers wrapped around the old saber she carried tightly. In a breath she could defend herself if the need arose, her ears on full alert. A crawling of her skin crept over, making the girl cringe as they shuffled along the path.

"Yeah, let's go. Faster."

Free hand was still pressed against Aela's back, urging her forward while she cast a look back towards where they had come from.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela began to rush.

She didn't exactly run, but more broke out into a light jog. As she did the hissing seemed to get louder and louder, surrounding them and darting within the trees. Her lips thinned slightly, and then suddenly something flicked out towards her.

The hissing maw of an Amphistaff jumped out at her, lashing out with a fierce bite. A curse escaped Aela and she flicked up her lightsaber. The super heated plasma darted forward and struck the creature, batting it away and sending it flying to the ground. "FRAK!"

She cursed, then another of the creatures jumped from the jungle.

Aela batted the next away, then broke out into a spring, glancing back only to make sure Jamie was following.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A cold shrill roared out as Jamie laid eyes on the Amphistaff as it lurched towards Aela just before being cast down to the ground in a reflexive swat of lightsaber. Bearing resemblance to snakes and similar creatures was more than enough to creep her out. These things though? They were snakes one saw in their worst nightmares. Hallucinations of the mind somehow brought to life.

Why does Aela always choose to explore places that breed the most horrid images the galaxy has to offer?!

Better yet, why does she always bring me!?

With a sharp hiss the creature slithered back in another attempt to strike, this time towards Jamie. Instead of opting for the logical course of action the blonde instead leaped forward and past the creature, hoping to instead outrun it, and any friends it may have tagging along. She wouldn't know, as her head faced forward in her full sprint.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

The Amphistaff leaped passed Jamie, missing her by just a hair as the two girls went sprinting towards the end of the jungle.

The Hissing grew louder and louder, one of the creatures slithering across open ground as they rushed forward. Aela let out a curse, kicking the creature and sending it flying back into the jungle as her lightsaber swept forward and cut through a thick vine. "There!"

She pointed to the left and then turned in the same breath.

The Jedi Master sprinted alongside her apprentice, turning on her heel and heading towards a massive pair of double doors. A huge tower ascended above them, though Aela hardly had the time to even glance at it. Instead she continued to sprint, the hissing growing louder until they finally passed through the half fallen doors. She bounded over a pile of rubble, turning and landing with a quiet thud inside of a blackened hallway. Her lightsaber swept up, preparing to bat away anymore of the creature.

Yet as soon as they entered the corridor the Amphistaffs seemed to immediately stop their chase, a few outright lurching away from the doorway.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Not needing to be told twice Jamie zipped around the corner on the heels of Aela, eyes forward so that she wouldn't trip up on her own feet by looking back. Hands reached outwards as the two bounded through the doors, touching for just a hair of a moment atop the pile of rock and debris in front of her, legs springing upwards to catapult herself up and over the small improvised wall. The girl slid down the other side, hitting the ground with her rear, hands coming up over her head in case one of the serpents darted up and over as well.

Her breath was held tight in her chest for a long moment, though the hissing and slithering seemed to have immediately dispersed.

Tightly closed eyes opened, peering up and over the wall to see that they had ceased chasing the pair. "That's strange..." Jamie remarked. "Usually when creatures do that, it's because they're afraid of something." That much she had learned as a child, typical behaviors of most animals were generally the same.

"So, what's in here then?"

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela gripped her lightsaber a bit more tightly, her lips thinning as she glanced towards the end of the darkened hallway.

There was no light, no torches, nothing that actually lit the tunnel. She frowned for a moment, not answering Jamie's question. There was a slight pit that had formed in her stomach, as if it was just striking her that all of this might have been a very bad idea. "I'm not sure."

She finally admitted to her padawan.

"Could be anything." Slowly she took a step forward. "My grandfather lived on Byss for four hundred years. He built this fortress as his last hide away."

That much information she had managed to gather form her father, everything else? Well that was pretty much a blank. Exactly what Moridin had kept here or why was a mystery even to her father, and there was no telling what they would find until they actually ventured deeper into the keep itself. "The tower seems to be destroyed though...so...I guess we head down."

Seemed like the best option.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The expression on Jamie's face at the suggestion of going further in was one of deadpan. In her head she was rattling off the hundreds of reasons this was a bad idea, to go further into a place that was desperately trying to kill them was beyond foolish. Aela didn't even know what she was after here. There very well could be nothing of value, either sentimental or material, to find in the depths of this hellish prison.

"I'm just going to state for the record that I think this is a bad idea." Her nose wiggled before adding an addendum. "And I'm going to say now before it happens, I told you so."

Whatever was down there, she was certain it was no better than the things they'd come across thus far.

If there isn't some ancient boon, or key to some mystical secret about her family that was mind boggling, this trip was just a dance with death and nothing more. Aela wouldn't hear the end of it from Jamie, that much she was certain of.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She made a face at her padawan but gave no other response.

In truth she couldnt help but agree just a little bit with Jamie. So far this trip seemed to be little bit more than a simple brush with something that neither of them would understand. She frowned for a moment, glancing ahead of them before slowly turning back towards Jamie. A thought struck her.

"Weren't you the one that wanted to visit Korriban so badly?" She asked simply. "Those tombs are not any better than this you know, in fact theyre probably worse.

At least here the statues were friendly to her, as silly as that was to say. "How will you explore those if you cant even pole around here?"

She joked, but it was serious in a way. Korriban was no walk in the park, though neither was this place.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie scoffed, "I'll figure that out when I get there." She had no plan. Obviously.

"Right now your grandfathers ancient house of horrors is preoccupying my thoughts."

The girl scrunched her nose and shook her head violently at Aela.

Down they went, Jamie's voice carrying, quiet as she spoke, through the narrow corridors, into the darkened abyss beyond. The Force, notably the Dark Side was heavy here, like a smothering fog with every breath. Fingers looped through the straps of her pack to secure it in place on her back. The air was humid, a sticky heat that began to cling to the woman's face and neck, forming small droplets of sweat.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

The further they went the more difficult it became to breath.

It not only became hotter but there was an odd sort of crackling power to the way the air moved and breathed. Aela found herself unconsciously grasping her chest, finding that her lungs werent working as well as they should have been. She frowned, glancing back at Jamie who seemed to be having the same trouble.

“The darkside?” She questioned, though knowing her padawan likely didnt have the answer.

They pressed on, moving quickly through the hall and down a few steps until finally she spotted a crackling light just ahead. Her lips thinned, and slowly she moved forward. Her eyes widened slightly as they stepped into a small room, at the end of it a looming flame.

She frowned. “What the..”

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The younger blonde shrugged with bulging eyes, her nerves very clearly strained the further they went. To Jamie it sounded feasible. What else would be so oppressive that it would become difficult for the most basic of human functions in a place like this? A place built by a Sith Lord, shrouded in darkness and teeming with the darkside.

From behind Aela it was a bit difficult to make out what she was seeing, but as she stepped down the stairs she lingered behind and just far enough overhead to see the light, before reaching the room itself. The light itself was clearly unnatural, perhaps some creation of Sith magic? This wasn't her specialty in the slightest, but it didn't give her a warm, family welcome.

"Aela?"

[member="Aela Talith"]