Fantastic Beasts and Where to [Copyright]

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She felt satisfied enough with that answer, stepping in just behind Jamie. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness around them, her gaze flickering over the half dozen different statues that lined the corridors. The Sith did love their statues.
Especially ones made of marble.

"I doubt anyone's been in here for quite some time."[/color[ Aela told Jamie quietly. "My Grandmother took me here a decade ago, but we never went inside. She said that it was long looted and...boring."

Quietus always had a rather interesting worldview when it came to things like this. To her a long dead Sith Tomb was nothing more than...well a playful little building that a funny little man had built centuries ago. She sighed slightly, and then stepped in front of Jamie. She moved down the long tunnel, watching her step as they began to descend deep into the tomb. The odd pit in her stomach that emanated from the dread of the force only got worse and worse as they went on.

"Nothing." She said more to herself than Jamie.

She had expected...well she had no idea what she had expected.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Perhaps not." She said, holding the lightsaber up against the stone walls of the tomb as she walked. Most of it was smooth and rather plain. There were however a series of small, ancient High Sith hieroglyphs or incantations along each of the statues. Of course Jamie had no clue as to what they meant, or how they were pronounced. She had no idea what the language itself even was, having never seen it before. "These are interesting looking." She said, her voice bouncing from wall to wall as it echoed out of existence somewhere deeper in the tomb. With the light of her saber she used her other hand's index finger to point towards what she'd found. "Not sure what they are, or what they mean, but they're written on each of the statues."

The Padawan pulled away and continued further into the tomb, through a series of corridors and partially collapsed rooms. The pull of the darkside was stronger the deeper the two went. Jamie paused for a moment, closing her eyes and pressing her thumb and index finger against the bridge of her nose to focus her thoughts and get her bearings again. Soft whispers she could hear, though whether that was in her head, or actually in the tomb she couldn't tell. She shifted her eyes to Aela, the elder girl appeared not to notice or hear what she was. It was strange. She forced her eyes shut tightly before opening them again, releasing her right hand that held Aela's weapon back to her side.

Turning, Jamie noticed a long, wide channel, one that likely led to the heart of the tomb. Without so much as a word she began to follow the path. It called to her, as if ushering her in a direction. Perhaps that was where the answer to Aela's question lay.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Her hand extended and caught Jamie's shoulder.

Aela had dealt with enough Sith tombs, had fought enough of their spirits and had seen what they were capable of. Jamie was only an apprentice, and a brand new one at that. She had neither the experience, nor the knowledge to properly deal with any of this yet. Freedon Nadd was gone, his spirit had been destroyed eons ago, that much she knew, but this place was still seeped in the darkside, and that meant they had to be careful. Even here.

So she stopped Jamie.

"Focus." She told her Padawan. "As we get deeper the whispers will get louder, the temptation will get more urgent, and everything about this place will begin to twist and turn in the direction it wants you to go."

Her voice was calm, but stern. "Do not. Lose focus."

This was dangerous, and Jamie needed to be reminded of that. This place wasn't just something fun to explore.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

It was hard to tell what was influence and what was curiosity. Jamie wanted to go that way, to see what was there, to explore every inch of the tomb. But was there really a pull from the darkside telling her to go that way? She honestly couldn't tell. "We should check out everything though, shouldn't we?" It seemed logical, to want to see the entirety of the tomb. At the very least she wanted to see Freedon Nad's sarcophagus. That was about sixty percent of the reason she wanted so badly to come inside. "I can't imagine there is much in the way of physical danger here anymore."

Whatever Aela was afraid of, Jamie didn't quite understand. If the worst they had to worry about is some lingering darkside energy, some residual influence pressing them, she could handle it for sure. Aela sure had her nerves set to ten though. Her hand lifted, resting on top of Aela's on her shoulder. "I'll be fine. We'll be fine." She smiled warmly with the reflection of the yellow saber in her eyes back towards the Jedi Master.

"Let's take a look. What's the worst that we'll find?"

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"We'll go inside." She assured Jamie.

That had been the intent of coming here in the first place, why she had wanted to check out the inside of the tomb. If something was lurking inside of here, then it was bound to be where most of the power emanated from, the sarcophagus. She shifted slightly and looked at her padawan.

"It's not what we'll find that concerns me." Jamie needed to understand this lesson. "The Darkside doesn't always come in the blunt force of a Sith Raider, sometimes it's more subtle, in places like this especially."

Slowly her hand left Jamie's shoulder. "It corrupts, tempts. Remember that. Stay focused."

Aela gave her Padawan a quick once Over, and then stepped forward. The lightsaber would at least shield Jamie a bit more as they entered the central chamber, but even Aela felt a little choked as the doors opened before them. A large pool stood within the central hall, dark waters slowly sloshing about back and forth as they were pushed by an unseen force. On the far side of the pool sat the great stone sarcophagus, and before it lay a massive Terantatek.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Remaining quiet she simply bit her lip and proceeded inside with Aela. Whatever she meant she didn't entirely understand. The subtlety of the darkside somewhat escaped her. She understood it to corrupt, but she always took that to mean more in a physical manifestation such as the amber eyes, paled skin, and the desires to commit atrocities, whether the belief was justified or not. She didn't quite gather that it was subtle enough to sway even the most subconscious of thoughts, or to influence her like she had been doing with the beasts on Dxun. If it had the power to do that, how would she even know she was being tempted? She would think the decision was her own!

Suddenly the darkside got a whole lot more frightening than before.

As the master and student reached the central room her blue eyes fell to the fountain. Where the water should have been calm, devoid of ripples from the lack of circulating air, it was moving of its own accord.

Slightly unnerving.

Her eyes then rose to the form of the creature laying a distance away, slumbering. Her eyes widened in disbelief and fear. If Aela was at all able to sense her Padawans emotion, now would be the time. She could swear in that brief second her heart rate doubled, blood pressure surging to astronomical levels.A very audible gasp escaped despite every bodily signal begging her vocal chords not to make any noise. It echoed. It echoed so loudly. She knew exactly what she was seeing. She'd seen one before. It nearly killed her. These were the things of nightmares, her nightmares.

Taking a step back she tripped on her own feet, falling back onto her butt as the glow of her lightsaber faded, the hilt clanking against the floor. Fear washed over her like never before.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She'd fought these creatures before. They were fierce, quite literally designed to kill Jedi. She and Jacen had encountered a pack of them and had barely made it out alive. A frown pulled at her lips as she inspected the creature, though her gaze quickly fell to her padawan as Jamie fell back and went clattering to the floor.

The lightsaber shut down almost immediately, its ambient light quickly disappearing.

Aela let out a quiet curse as the metal hit the ground, causing a loud clattering echo. She turned and half swept Jamie up and half grabbed her, making sure that her padwan wasn't hurt, and more important, wasn't unconscious. In the darkness she could still see Jamie breathing, practically hearing the heart thunder in her chest as her very real fear seemed to rush over the room. At the opposite end of the pool the Terentatek stirred for a moment, sending a rumble through the chamber.

"Shh." Aela said quietly.

Her hands came to rest on Jamie's shoulders.

"It's alright." Had Jamie seen a Terentatek before? "Just move slowly out of the room."

She pulled Jamie to her feet and gently urged her back, free hand coming up to quickly use the force to scoop up the fallen lightsaber. Aela had no idea where that creature had come from, but she knew exactly what it was doing here, and what it do would do to them if it awoke.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Aela would feel the tremble in Jamie's body as she placed her hands on her shoulder, though her lips were shaking far more, the chatter of her teeth being a struggle to control. With all of her will power she tried holding back the timid squeaks of fear. There was a story there, for later, if she didn't get mauled, or eaten, or pass out, or have a heart attack. One thing was certain though, the very sight of the creature was enough to send her into emotional overload.

It was most certainly not alright. Not after having been chased by one. Not only were those things the actual demons of her dreams, but they were huge, powerful, mean, and deadly. After her brief encounter with one she had learned a bit more about them through researching archived data she could find on the HoloNet, as well as the Jedi Archives. They were nicknamed Jedi Killers. JEDI KILLERS!

Jamie wanted absolutely nothing to do with those blasted things. The tomb was now entirely uninteresting to the Padawan. There could have been the secret to immortality laying right behind that thing, Jamie didn't care.

Out. That's all she wanted. Out. Out. Out!

Several soft steps back she took, body trembling the whole time as she tried to remain silent. If that beast made another move, she would turn and bolt straight for the entrance.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Luckily the creature did not stir.

Aela had no idea if they were lucky or if the Terentatek had just gorged itself on a pack of Malraas, but either way as they slowly moved out of the central chamber and back up the hall the great creature did not even budge an inch. Instead it simply lay in place in front of the sarcophagus, resting, as though ti were waiting for the return of its master.

"Go." She told Jamie more quietly.

The padawan quickly turned on her heels, apparently not being told twice. As soon as they were out of sight of the creature Jamie broke out into a sprint. It seemed that the terentatek had been enough to scare her out of this particular adventure, and as Aela rushed to keep up with her she couldn't help but feel somewhat...puzzled. She had been so interested before, despite all of her warnings, despite her saying that they could find...well anything in those tombs.

What did she think would happen on Korriban?

She frowned as they neared the exit.

Perhaps before they visited the homeworld of the Sith Aela would have to try and...acclimate Jamie to the dangers one could face in the tombs of the SIth. Though that could be saved for another time. The two girls exited the tomb, a fresh breeze of fresh air roaring into the exit of the massive grave as they passed back into the light of day.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Only when the rays of humid daylight broke over the blonde did her heart rate begin to subside. Her face, blotched with sweat, ran down her neck as she stopped and wiped her arm over her forehead, turning back to double and triple check the entrance, making sure the creature hadn't followed them out in a last minute change of heart. Only when two full minutes had passed and nothing emerged did Jamie turn her attention away from the tomb back to Aela.

"What the KARK?! ANYTHING but a Terentatek could have been in there, and of all things, THAT is what it was!?" Jamie rarely cursed. When she did, it was usually out of fear or extreme duress. It made sense, they were drawn to the darkside. That tomb provided what it was after. Though what exactly one was still doing on Dxun was a mystery to her. Then again, she had no idea how long those things lived for, but however long it was, it was too long for Jamie. "There's your answer! It ate the Malraas! We should go now! Before it decides it wants dessert!"

The Malraas here were a no go, and daylight was thinning as the sun began to fall. They'd have to search elsewhere, but they'd also need to find someplace relatively safe to camp for the evening.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Jamie, Calm down." Aela told her apprentice. "It won't hunt us."

She knew that for certain.

"Terentatek won't go far from their habitats, and it was likely drawn to the tomb because of the darkside presence. We're safe out here." Aela would have bet her life on that. The only reason that Terentatek would leave its tomb was if there was a Sith Lord commanding it. Something she highly doubted since she would have sensed something like that.

"We'll get out of here." She assured Jamie. "But we can't go rushing off into the forest. It's just as dangerous out there."

They wouldn't make it back to camp before nightfall, but they could get far enough away from the tomb that the feeling of dread would disappear. Tomorrow they would have to try and find another place to tame Malraas, hopefully anyway.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The idea of telling someone who was in a fit of terror to calm down generally, and almost always, failed to work. Instead, it typically riled the person up even more, enough so to lash out. Maybe Aela wasn't familiar with that typical response. Her upbringing was considerably different from Jamie's, after all. This was as calm as she could possibly be given the situation. They nearly walked right into the jaws of that Sith abomination. The single saving grace was that it had apparently already eaten too much Malraas to care about two little Jedi wandering about.

"Okay, let's not rush off into the forest. But let's also leave here."

There. A compromise.

The tremble in her face and body would slowly subside, the presence of the darkside coupled with her fear of that creature being distanced enough away now that she could loosen up a little.

"Any idea where we'd find the Malraas now, if not here?"

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Jamie was of course asking the right question. If the terentatek had chased the Malraas away, where were they now? The creatures were anything but dumb, and they had already likely found somewhere nearby to hang around, somewhere that offered them warmth and protection while also remaining relatively free of other predators.

She frowned. ”I’m not sure.”

Aela wasn’t infallible unfortunately. She knew quite a bit about Dxun and its landscapes, but she couldn’t study its ecology at all times and that simply meant there were bound to be gaps in her knowledge.

”We’ll need to be extra careful.” She told Jamie. ”Don’t want to run into...well an army of those things.”

Even she couldn’t control that. ”There’s a river nearby, should be out of reach of the tomb. We’ll camp there.”

That was the most important thing for now, settling in somewhere and creating a safe perimeter so they wouldn’t get eaten in the middle of the night.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I guess we'll have to start up the search again tomorrow then." Jamie had more than enough excitement for one day in those last few minutes anyway. She wasn't in any hurry.

The river might be safe. Then again, this was Dxun, and quite honestly everything wanted to kill you. Jamie could only assume that the river shared similar intent. "Is that safe?" She'd ask, "Nothing in the river is going to come crawling out and drag us underwater?" This world was entirely alien to her, and while she didn't feel too comfortable sleeping in a cave every night, it did provide some semblance of comfort and security. Out in the open, next to a river? Not so much.

"At least we'll be able to refill the bottles."

There. Silver lining for the day.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Oddly enough, Aela was pretty sure that Dxuns lakes and rivers were just about the only thing on the planet that weren’t teeming with deadly and dangerous creatures. She tried to think of one for a few moments before finally answering her padawan. ”Should be okay.”

She confirmed.

”As far as i remember.” Probably but the best way to assure someone. ”The lakes and rivers are monster free.”

Maybe Evolution had decided enough was enough. ”Besides, we can defend ourselves.”

She made a note to herself to ask Jamie why she had been so afraid of the Terentatek, or rather...why her reaction had been so severe. It was natural to fear the creatures, but Jamie had been almost terrified.

Aela wanted to know why.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I think maybe I will go for a swim, just to be sure."

After seeing that Terentatek, she wasn't about to take any chances. Besides, it would be the first opportunity for something resembling a shower thus far, so passing on the opportunity would be silly. That, and it was still quite muggy out. She could stand to get some of the slick residue off of her body before going to sleep. Of course she still wasn't all that enthused to be spending the evening completely exposed to whatever predators might happen by, but she would trust Aela's judgement.

"I guess." She admitted. Jamie would pass Aela's weapon back to her, remembering she still had it while Aela had picked up her Cambylictus hilt. "Here. I don't think I'll need this anymore."

Turning back once more to the tomb the Padawan shook her head in disappointment. She had really wanted to see more of the tomb, but wasn't about to risk her life to do it. "Let's head out. The longer we stick around the more daylight we'll waste."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela nodded in agreement. It would be best if they made it to the river before dark. She at least wanted to have a fire going before the sun set on the horizon. Without another word she lead the way, heading down the rest of the stairs and moving across the empty field that sprawled in front of the tomb.

She glanced back only once.

A part of her still wondered where the Terentatek had come from. Those creatures generally didn’t breed naturally, they were Sith spawn, and if it hadn’t been here the last time she had visited this world then it shouldn’t have been here now. She frowned for a few moments and shook her head, deciding not to dwell on it.

”It’s this way, to the west.” Aela told her padawan as they once again passed into the muggy heat of the jungle, the branches and canopy overhead entrapping all the warmth air

An hour passed, the sounds of rushing water starting to sound out nearby .

”You’ve seen a Terentatek before.” It wasn’t a question.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

There was a heavy sigh. The blonde pulled free the frizzy mess of hair locked in the ponytail that she had going, letting what would have been curly hair free to fall over her neck and cheeks.

She gave a nod to the elder Jedi. "Yes." It was far more than just seeing though. "I was traveling with someone a while back. Our ship crash landed on Belsavis." Jamie couldn't think of a worse planet to crash on. A frozen wasteland with little in terms of civilization. "Turns out where we found ourselves was by coincidence occupied by some kind of Sith Alchemist." Even now it seemed like such an odd place to find a Sith, and a Terentatek. "The Sith had created some kind of hideaway in the side of a mountain, and used the Terentatek as a kind of guard dog I guess you could say." She shivered at the memory. "The thing chased us, nearly killed us both. I didn't think I'd ever have to see another one."

That was before she had gained any real training in the Force, back when she was still doing things mostly on her own, with a little bit of guidance from her first mentor.

"I'm surprised we managed to escape, quite frankly."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Belsavis was a prison world, or it had been once. The planet held all manner of ancient ruins, some that were better left forgotten. She and Micah had once thought about exploring one of the more revered ruins in the planet’s southern pole...but ultimately had decided against it. Aela wasn’t too surprised that Jamie had apparently managed to find a Sith base of some sort.

”I see.” She said to her apprentice as they wandered through the foliage, The Jedi Marshall igniting her lightsaber to cut through some of the denser thicket of vines and branches.

”Unfortunately.” She began as the sound of rushing water became louder and louder. ”The creatures are fairly common when it comes to Sith Tombs.”

Would she still want to go to Korriban? ”The Sith made them as...well as you aptly put it, attack dogs, but even without Sith controlling them they stay around. Sometimes for thousand of years they simply linger, guarding their masters tombs.”

By all accounts they were rare enough, but the Tombs of Sith were often haunted by those creatures.

Something Aela experienced first hand.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"That was the first time I saw one. I had hoped it would be the last. I didn't sleep well for almost two weeks after that day."

Add in another two weeks for this trip.

"How do they manage to find their way to so many planets? Do the Sith transport them?" That seemed like a rather dangerous endeavor, given their aggressive disposition. "How long do they live? Can they be tamed?"

Not that Jamie had any interest whatsoever, she was more curious than anything. "By someone not a Sith, I mean." A non-psychopath is what she was really inferring. Anyone crazy enough to create or have one of those was clearly out of their mind. And why in the Force would anyone make something like that!? She shook her head as they neared the river, the steady flow of water catching her ears. A smile donned her face at the sound, making the girl pick up her pace a bit.

[member="Aela Talith"]