Fantastically Frozen [Jhoren]

[Teio Konshi]

The Seeker tore its way through the atmosphere of the world of Ziost, its tall targa trees standing triumphantly as terrible totems to the sky. This icy bastion of the ancient Sith was a beautiful planet in its own macabre way. While it felt oppressively like a place twisted by the Dark Side of the Force - or, in the parlance of the Je'daii pilot, Bogan - it was still a picturesque horizon that greeted the passengers and crew of the starship.

With his hands on the controls, Teio deftly guided the crimson streak towards an open field, flaring his repulsorlifts and touching down as softly as the snowfalls on the icy ground beneath his ship's landing struts. He stretched, reclined back from his controls, nodded over at the tiny copilot droid Derp, and then to his friend.

"Well, we're here. Nothing broke," Tei said with a grin.

Enter [member="Jhoren Drenall"]. Tei and Jhor were friends of way back. They had once met on Spacebook, in which they had discussed how cool each other's face tattoos were. Jhor's were, obviously, far more extravagant than the simple clan markings of the Kiffar, but but the fact remained that they had very significant meaning to each other. They bonded over face markings. Ironically enough, their taste in ship was perfectly identical in the Niathal-class, but because the fact that Teio's Master had bought this ship for him - from a company that he had once partly owned - Teio's was just that little more extravagant, with the super-deluxe hyperdrive. Four times faster, Teio's ship was the one to take. Also, Teio's droid Derp had insisted. Yes, insistence from a droid barely a foot tall and about as clumsy as a one year old baby.

So he asked his friend if he wanted to go exploring on Ziost, picked up Jhoren, and here we are.

Collecting his lightsaber from the rack near the door, Teio adjusted his thermal cloak, his utility belt, grabbed a pair of scanner goggles to dangle around his neck just in case he wanted to see some far things, and looked over at his compatriot.

"I think there's an old ruin or two just over the cliff face. Wanna go check that out first?"

At least it was warm in the ship. That wasn't going to last.

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

[member="Teio Konshi"]

Space. Space all around him. The universe. Jhoren had considered himself an explorer, an adventurer who loved seeing new places. But only a few weeks ago had he realised why he actually loved being in the cosmos. That was his love for the stars, galaxies, every single planet. And that's why he had travelled around the galaxy for years before finally finding a place to be. But when there was a chance, Jhoren still went to see awesome new places full of interesting people, mystery, and pure amazing things.

So when his Spacebook friend Teio had asked him whether he'd like to go an adventure to Ziost, he didn't even think before replying positively. For the first time, he got to go to the former Sith world which most likely held artefacts and scrolls of knowledge. Now it was the time to find them.

Jhoren was not too talkative when in space, so for most of the flight, he was as silent as possible, trying to admire what was around him. Only after getting to the icy planet did he start feeling like talking again. There were no stars to look at anymore, that's why.

"Sure. I sense it might be worth a try," the Son of Mars replied to Teio's suggestion to check out the ruins. To him, being on a Sith planet was kind of holy, divine. Though he guessed his adventure companion might have not found it to be such. They had different alignments, the Sith had noted shortly after the two had met in the Net, but as far as he knew, he was not a Jedi, either.

Jhoren set his black coat tighter around him and released a deep breath. He couldn't even imagine going out into the cold of the world and freezing there, but there was no way to avoid it anymore. No way back.

He followed the man to the door and checked if he had everything needed with him. Looking at what he was wearing, it looked like he was warm enough for the world's climate. His lightsaber was with him; he didn't have much else.

 

[Teio Konshi]

[member="Jhoren Drenall"]

Obviously, there was a power difference, even between apprentices. First: Jhoren probably had a Master that was alive. Teio's master Qae was dead. Very, very, very dead, after being destroyed on Manaan. There was nobody left in the Galaxy that could teach him - hence why he had two holocrons very safely locked aboard his ship. Jhoren had all those One Sith teachings that he could draw upon, with a wide bevy of Masters. Chances were he could rely on the Force to get him through this. Tei could not. He was still a poor little newbie in the ways of the Force.

To be fair, not like he minded. He actually enjoyed the learning experience. He probably wouldn't appreciate this little journey the same way, but it was still learning about the Force, and Tei studied both Ashla and Bogan in equal measure. Balance was critical to the life of a Je'daii.

The brown cloak set over his shoulders began waving in the biting wind the second Tei slammed the door controls with the base of his fist. Hissing hydraulics heralded the frozen wave, blowing back aboard the Seeker and proving to the two men that this place was not to be messed with. Running a hand through his short black hair, he looked back to Jhoren.

"Well, we both signed up for this," Tei said, a grin plastered across his lips. "Let's do this thing."

And so they ventured out into the cold.

Footsteps marked the trail up the cliffside, hewn into the stone by ancient walkers striding and traversing this venerable landscape. They had a way up the cliff to the ruins of some ancient academy - likely long looted, but still a challenge. They'd have plenty of time to record and document the place, to pick up what they could, and then head back and try something else - if they wanted.

"Think we're gonna have anything to fight out here?" Tei asked. That was another shared love - lightsabers.

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

[member="Teio Konshi"]

As soon as the two stepped on the world of Ziost's cold ground, Jhoren started to feel the extremely cold breezes of wind on him. He had ever been to such a planet before; all he he had been to were warm summery ones. Trying to stand against the frosty wind, he put his hands into his coat's pockets and used what Force powers he had to make himself feel a bit warmer. He was not too trained in the basics of the mystical energy, so it didn't help a lot at keeping him war, but just made him lose energy.

"Probably there's nothing to do with lightsabers. But just to be sure, I thought I'd take my weapon with me," Jhoren spoke with his calm tone, trying to open his mouth as little as possible to avoid getting the freezing air into his mouth. "Did you take yours with you?"

They continued walking and the man used the time to look around, trying to capture all of the landscape in case they lost track of where they were or what way they had come from. His memory was not brilliant, but he sure remembered things like these for at least a while. After that, he used to forget everything, so whenever the boy was on a distant world, he took lots of pictures. Not this time, though. Because he wouldn't have wanted to take his hands out to take some pesky little photos.

Snow and ice everywhere made the world feel so cold. Of course it was cold when it came to weather, but it also had an empty and barren feel to it which just didn't make Jhoren feel better. Yes, he should have not come to that. Naboo, where he had spent the most of his life, had been so warm and easy, and this world was exactly the opposite.

But he had to try new things. This was a new thing.

So it was good.

 

[Teio Konshi]

[member="Jhoren Drenall"]

"Of course I did. Master always told me, never leave home without it. It'll save your life." And any good glowbat wielder knew that to be a very hard truth. It could defuse - or start, or even finish - any given situation just with its mere presence. So he never left without it. Whether it was hidden in a coat pocket or worn openly, Teio was rarely - if ever - without his precious lightsaber. It was just the way he was taught.

As it turned out, Teio was a little more worldly. From the harsh deserts of Tatooine, to the vicious jungles of Zonama Sekot, to the quiet and beautiful edges of the landscapes of Teth, the seeker had seen plenty of different places in his training with Qae. This kind of thing wasn't too far a departure from his harsh survival training. Well, mostly. Snow was new. It was cold and harsh; warmth was harsh but in a different way. Tatooine had not been particularly fun. This was also not entirely fun. However, it would get better soon, or so he hoped.

Instead, they came to the base of the cliff. It offered mild protection from the elements, with the worn path winding its way up the rocky cliff-face. There were no rails, of course, and the whole thing seemed to have been carved into the rock by those who wished to walk their way up the cliff. No doubt a great way of weeding out the Sith candidates who were too weak to stomach the rigours of a harsh world.

"Welp. This is happening," Tei said off-handedly. "I'll go first."

Fearless as usual, he was quick on his feet, finding his balance as he nimbly ascended the stairs, being particularly careful not to look down.

"Question time, Jhor," Tei said, not looking back, raising his voice over the wind - howling as it was starting to be, picking up in intensity. There was only some rock to shield them now - but it was something at least. "What do you hope to find up here?"

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

[member="Teio Konshi"]

It was, indeed, good to hear he was not the only one with a lightsaber. At least to his knowledge, Teio was a balanced user of both the Force and lightsaber while Jhoren was trained only in lightsaber combat. Looked like a good combo if there was a deadly situation about to arise that day.

When the two got to the cliff, the boy grinned a bit. It seemed like the only way to go on was on these stairs, and Jhoren thought he was quite good at such things. Climbing was something his father had raised him with. "Every lesson in life prepares you for something that will happen in your future. You shall take every lesson as a gift and be thankful for them. Don't underestimate their power," Mars, the man's father, had told the boy when he was about ten years old.

"Yeah, you should go first," Jhoren said without telling the man he was a good climber. Some secrets were to be kept. Maybe he could reveal it whenever climbing was really the matter of life or death.

As they walked on the stairs, which was rather uncomfortable, the Sith felt even colder than he had felt before, but it was important to forget these little feelings and get out of the comfort zone. Though talking while climbing the cliff was a bit more difficult.

"I am sure people have raided the planet so much that finding something notable is nigh impossible. But I am guessing we could get some knowledge of the place and write a book," he spoke, his uplifted and joyful hinting to the fact that the last sentence was a joke. "I think if we keep our eyes wide open, we could actually find something others have not noticed."

 

[Teio Konshi]

[member="Jhoren Drenall"]

"Hey, you know I can't write a book. I can't spell!" Teio grinned.

Let's pretend that when Teio is on spacebook, he types like a valley girl sounds. You know, omg lyk rly???? That's Teio's idea of spelling. Mostly because he didn't have spacebook back on Kiffu, so he had to learn all of that by reading other peoples' comments. And pretty much everyone else is a moron, so that's all he had to go on. Tei accidentally caught a case of the stupids.

Well, at least it's not the clap?

Anyway.

Up the stairs, bounding up like a crazy man, taking one at a time with a strange alacrity that could only be described as a hunter's keen eye coupled with his feet over soft grass. Teio glanced back every so often to make sure Jhoren was doing okay, knowing that not everyone was gifted with what he more or less considered his only actual physical talent. Not everyone could hunt wild beasts for a living. Backwards tribals and all.

"Well," the Kiffar grunted, getting up onto a flat plane and waiting for his Sith ally. "Scribed walls should still be around. We might find... well, we probably won't find an artifact out here. A cool fresco or two wouldn't be out of the question. I've seen some frescoes with Force techniques on them before."

Once. Ages ago. And it was some silly meditation trick. While it had been transcribed into Teio's leatherbound journal, it had been promptly ignored.

"Anything you're hoping to find?" Tei asked. There was that grin again. Probing his friend for information was going to be half the fun of the trip up the cliff.

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

[member="Teio Konshi"]

Jhoren nearly laughed at Teio's comment. Yes, he had to admit when they had talked in Spacebook, the Son of Mars had used proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, while his friend really looked like a kid who knew nothing about Galactic Basic Standard. He wouldn't have even imagined the person behind the Spacebook account was actually just as old as he was. Even profile pictures and user names told lies these days.

Time to get serious again.

"I would actually like to find any kind of information about Sith history. I would like to get a bit more knowledge of that matter, but to be honest, I think the best way to actually learn that is via exploring Sith worlds and seeing what stories they want to tell us," the man answered Teio's question. He looked around and noticed they were still not even close enough to where they were headed

"What about you? What would you like to find there?"

While waiting for the reply, he shook himself because of the cold. It was the shaking people forced, not the shiver which made its way to everybody's body when they felt like they were freezing. It was even worse on the cliff due to the height difference. They were higher above the ground, meaning it was actually a lot chillier there. He hoped they'd get down soon.

 

[Teio Konshi]

[member="Jhoren Drenall"]

"I don't know," Tei mused truthfully, unsure of the actual answer. For him, it was the thrill of the adventure and the chance to learn what it was like to be a Force-user; he had little experience to teachings other than that of his master Qae (and, by extension, Qae's master Spencer). "I wouldn't mind finding something like the history too, I guess. Training techniques? Maybe some cool pictures of battles. A Jedi and Sith fighting with lightsabers left in ancient relief. Now that'd be really cool." He sounded like a little kid in a Mirai Cookies store.

His hands wrapped around the thermal cloak, drawing it tighter to his body; these cloaks were wonderful on both hot and cold worlds, drawing out the right amount of temperature and protecting from extremes. Naturally heavy, but certainly worth it, it was keeping Teio from freezing his ass off out here. Ziost was not a hospitable world by any means... which made it perfect for a Sith citadel.

Hand and foot, one after the other, clambered to the top of the cliff-face. Once they'd finally reached the top, the cliff levelled out into a plateau, where the ruins of an ancient Sith temple rested. Half-buried in the snow, obelisks and spires sticking out of the snow like obsidian testaments to the power of the Dark Side, the temple still remained for those brave enough to challenge its depths. Perhaps it was filled with traps and tests for those wise and cunning enough to brave it, to test those wishing to breach the inner sanctum and claim prizes. One entrance remained, a tunnel dug into the snow and held up by duraplast shoring. Obviously, someone had been here and taken something already.

Knowing their luck, it was totally trashed.

Tei glanced back to Jhoren, then gave a sheepish grin. "Well, this is your area of expertise, not mine. After you, good sir."

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

[member="Teio Konshi"]

Jhoren looked at Teio at first, then at the entrance, and then at the man again. He raised his right eyebrow. "If you think so." With careful slow steps, he started moving to the dark entrance so gently that it looked as if he had floated there. The only sign of his legs actually moving was the fact that his robe moved around his legs whenever he took a step. A bit before reaching the menacing darkness, he took his saber from his brown belt and strictly held it in his hands, ready to react as soon as anything threatened them.

"Could you use Force Sense to gather any information of what could be around us?" Jhoren whispered. He didn't know much about how the Force power worked, but he hoped Teio could help him at least a bit.

They stepped into the tunnel and Jhoren could already feel how the place was full of traps. He was a strategist; his father had raised him in a way that he could understand what is good for keeping people away from something or what could make them come nearby. In this case, it was the former. They had gone through different kinds of traps among other things and now Jhoren could tell what the creators of that citadel could have thought of. The only problem was that there was no light and igniting his blade would have been too risky.

 

[Teio Konshi]

[member="Jhoren Drenall"]

Teio took up the rear. Let the Sith take care of the Sith temple first - it made sense. Sith language, runes, symbology; all these things were far closer to Jhoren's knowledge than Teio's. The downside to straddling both sides of the Force was diminished knowledge of both; ultimately, it wasn't an easy task, but Teio was going to have to learn and accede to the knowledge that Jhor had brought with him. He wasn't an expert. He was just here to learn cool things.

So while Jhor moved through the darkness, Tei nodded his head. Force Sense, the most basic of powers - one that Tei could do. Hell, he'd learned it in an hour on his first day of training with Master Qae. It was the basics - the bare basics - and for Teio whose knowledge was general, a good start.

Tei reached his hand out, focusing the Force through his body. Whereas most Force-users didn't need hand gestures for basic things, Tei preferred them mostly because it allowed him to concentrate a little better and keep his mind where it belonged.

The world went dark. Teio's senses were overtaken by the Force as he saw everything - the ice caves, the tunnels, the darkness beyond and below.

"I don't sense anything so far - just... ice, echoes, dust," Tei said, his voice oddly dark. Obviously he was focusing very hard now. "But I can't see any traps or anything. Hell... I can't even detect a speck of life in here. Not even lichen, moss... anything."

That was a bad sign, if anything. No life... nothing could survive here. Even them, perhaps? Teio's hand lowered and he looked to his companion. "Sorry, Jhor. I know it's not helpful."

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

"Why do you think so?" Jhoren asked. "Why do you think it wasn't helpful?" There were no people around, no other living beings than just the two of them. It was the time the ignite his saber which was his only light source in this abandoned Sith temple. As soon as the red blade came out of the hilt, the maroonish light revealed the walls around them -- they were in a narrow corridor right now, it might have been full of traps which were impossible to sense. His father had told him something about them, but... how could force sense not see these things?

The walls were decorated with texts in the old Sith language. Looked like a typical temple. "Peace is a lie..." Jhoren read from one of the texts. He had learned a bit of the language from his father who had worked quite closely with the historians at studying the Sith.

But then the man took another step. And nearly fell down on the ground as a part of the floor started moving. It was a trap. An undetecable one, it seemed.

[ [member="Teio Konshi"] ]​

 

[Teio Konshi]

[member="Jhoren Drenall"]

While Jhoren was moving forward, murmuring to himself the sacred words of the Code of the Sith like a protective mantra, Teio was following behind. The orange glow of his own blade cast its own dazzling light, illuminating the relief of text all across the walls. Etched perfectly like a beautiful testament to the power of the Dark Side, the words here were in an ancient language that Tei could not read. It was something that he simply could not understand. The Sith tongue was something that Teio had never study and, truth be told, probably would never study. Just one of those things.

Then Jhoren accidentally triggered a trap he hadn't sensed before. Kark. If only his senses were better.

"Because of that," Teio said quickly in extremely delayed response as the environment shifted about them. Holding still, Teio raised his free hand, shutting his eyes and letting the Force do the talking for him, taking it into his body and trying to steady his friend. Grasping his body with invisible tendrils of energy, trying desperately jsut to move him even a few inches, Teio wanted to stop Jhoren from, say, falling into a pit.

On some level, he blamed himself. If he had've sensed this earlier, this problem could have been avoided.