Forests and Friendships and Cultists, Oh My!

[Darth Miseria]

Outer Rim Territories​

Herios System - On Route to Pzob​

0800 Planetary Time​

[member=Scherezade deWinter]​

​

​

A soft rap on the metal sheet of her door woke her from the reverie of deep thought. Dianah had been hunched over the bright blue screen of a data-pad, scrolling through the endless information on the planet and their mission there. The solid knock the pilot had given her as a warning echoed in her head. Slowly but surely she rose up from the comfort of the plush seat. All the muscles in her body cried out from a long night of dull reading. Everything felt stiff and refused to loosen till she stretched up to relieve the ache. The proximity alarm blared for a few short seconds before the pilot shifted himself into gear to land 'Serenity'.

Dianah dressed herself in her usual set of armour. As she dressed she reviewed the information from the data pad in her head. Their target was a group of rogue cultists who had made it their mission to cause trouble on the edges of CIS space. There had been a smattering of disappearances on the Mara Corridor, all leading back to Pzob. Dianah and one other had been chosen to investigate the occurrences and deal with it how they saw fit. She saw fit to watch them die through her own eyes, not through a HUD, which meant she chose to forgo her helmet this time. Her lightsaber was clipped with a flourish to her side, completing her chosen attire.

When her armour was donned and her weapons secured on her belt, Dianah made her way to the cockpit. By the time she reached it the lush green forests of Pzob were directly ahead. A bright glare from the sun peaked out over the horizon and blinded her for a few moments. When her eyes adjusted she could finally make out their target. Even from their current distance the giant domed top of a ruined storm trooper base stood out against the monotone scenery. Despite natures best effort to cover it up with overgrown trees and bushes it was hardly inconspicuous. She took a seat on the copilots chair to watch their slow descent.

The ship shook violently as it entered the atmosphere, it was a feeling she always treasured. Vibrations spread throughout her entire muscles as they came swooping down through the clouds toward the base. 'Serenity' pulled a tight curve upward, bringing them to a smooth pace that was perfect for landing. Her pilot was definitely getting better. He'd struggled to fly the Quill-Class at first but there had been no complaints from Dianah seeing as she couldn't work the thing herself. A slight wobble and a gentle thump told her they had finally touched down.

'Let her know we've arrived.'

Dianah called out to the pilot, though she was half way out of the cockpit by the time she did. The ships ramp touched the ground followed by Dianah. In front of her stood the decrepit stone building that was covered head to toe in thick brown moss. The maze of rooms and corridors that stretched through it all would be their starting point. The call for adventure and excitement filled the air with an electric energy that was so tangible it almost cried out for her attention.

She wasn't going to keep it waiting long.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Wearing: Armor | leather pants | combat boots | The Forgemaster's Ring | Ring of Stasis
Wielding: 10 Czerka knives, Fire and Smoke (lightsabers), 5 Glitter Bullets

"Roger roger," Madalena said to no one in particular as the message was received. Her partner for the mission had arrived, and she began to walk towards where she could see the ship beginning to descend.

She had arrived a few hours earlier to the planet, and had plenty of time to make a face at the crazy amount of Gamorreans that were there. There was no particular reason for her not to like those little pig-lizards, but she didn't anyway. They smelled!

It had been a handful of weeks since she'd been recruited to the Knights Obsidian. It had been easy to slide in, her schedule quickly filling up with various missions. She was meeting a bunch of people as well now, which was absolutely awesome, and on top of that she was receiving decent training, both within the KO and without. With the KO, her physical skills had been amped up to an even crazier level, her love for fighting with knives in the air and lightsabers in the hands becoming stronger. Additionally, she still had the Blood Tome, from which she studied excessively. There were things she could do now that she had not dared dream were possible until a little while ago.

And that was why she had been asked to go on this mission. Her abilities with Blood. She did not know what the reasoning was for the partner she'd been assigned with, but it did not matter. If the woman called [member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"] was part of the KO (and she was), then she had the skills required to complete this mission. Everything else was just a bonus.

Madalena stiffed a yawn and stretched her arms out. The dark marks that had adorned her eyes before she became Madalena were there still. Her memories of a past life that had been broken beyond repair were gone and she never knew they had been there at all, but her sleep was constantly plagued by nightmares she did not understand. At least she was eating, unlike the former girl who inhabited the body but no longer existed. The deathly hue that had marked her skin was gone. For all intents and purposes, aside for the darkness beneath her eyes, Madalena looked like the epitome of health and strength.

She was just leaning against the building's entrance, having already scanned its insides through the Force. It was... Strange. But she'd wait for her partner to arrive before she told her why.

 

[Darth Miseria]

​

Orange and gold leafs crunched under the weight of her armour as she made her slow way around the building. Surrounding the entire thing was a thick forest of tall trees. Their canopy spread a dark shadow over the whole thing, even against the morning sun. The entrance was just to the left of where she had parked her ship. As Dianah walked she marvelled at the structure. It was strange to think that it once housed a massive army of sub-par soldiers. Now here it was, lying in ruins, home to a dark cult that leaked dark energy from the cracks in the walls. The doorway came sliding into view, along with her partner. The sight of her almost made Dianah stop dead in her tracks.

It couldn't be her? Wasn't her name Madalena Antares? She scanned back through her memories looking for the name. It stood out stark in white writing against a fiery azure background. If that really was her name why then did she look the spit of Scherezade? Gloved hands rubbed at her eyes as if she were trying to make the woman change. Though it had come as a shock to her at first Dianah wasn't about to let her know it had, so she put on her best smile and cleared her throat.

'Madalena?'

As she walked closer the resemblances only got greater. Sure, she was no longer the spindly young girl she was when they had first met. There was meat on her bones now and her face was fuller. It was the shocking green of her eyes that gave it away, they were something Dianah would never forget.

Before she forgot herself, Dianah offered her hand out by way of greeting. She still couldn't help but scan the girl over with her own curious charcoal orbs.

'Dianah. Or Dia if you prefer. Forgive me, but you look the spit of someone I know...'

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She'd been leaning against the wall, one knee folded as foot rested flatly against it as well. One hand had produced one of her Czerka knives from the strap on her thigh, and she was using it to clean her nails out when she felt the presence of another Force User approaching. What caused her to pause though was not the sight of the woman, but something about her asking her name that caused the Sithling to blink.

But just as soon as the blink was over, so was the pause, and she flashed the woman - Dianah - a big warm smile, and nodded.

A hand was held out, and Madalena shook it. Not in the hand to hand clasped way she saw people so often do. No. Both of these women belonged with the Knights Obsidian. It was a forearm to forearm shake that greeted the other woman, with a warm enthusiasm that had seemed to always lack in the previous times that Madalena knew nothing about.

"I seem to be getting that a lot lately," she laughed, "but yes, I'm Madalena. Maddy when you don't have enough time for all the syllables."

Madalena released her arm, and sent forward a small swirl of the Force. There was nothing threatening or intimidating about it, or at least, not as far as she was trying to project. She simply wished to have a better view of the woman.

Memories and information shifted inside the Sith's head. Memories that were not hers, nor of the girl she had been before, but branded harshly in a way that she did not even know about, clicking into place, introducing neuron to neuron.

Madalena blinked again. "It's been a while since I've met a Shi'ido," she remarked pleasantly, and then-

Blood called to blood. Every family, every passing of blood through breeding, had a certain scent to it. Madalena had been learning more and more about working with Blood and the Force. Parts of it had always come naturally to her, knowing when she met siblings, parents, or offspring of people she'd been close to. But recently, with her growth in power, that ability extended to people she gave a "lick" with the Force as well, and the woman standing in front of her, she knew, was an offspring of Darth Metus. The very same man who ran the Confederacy.

But there was no need to put Dia in an uncomfortable situation. Madalena could only imagine that if she'd been a legacy child and not some random nobody from Coruscant, she wouldn't have wanted it flaunted to said for no reason either, so she just turned to the building and waved her arms in annoyance.

"I'm pretty sure you can feel the Darkside practically oozing from this construction," she commented. It was a delicious smell to her, warm and inviting, almost seductive in its nature. No child of Metus would be lacking in the Force, "now I want you to try to reach in and feel for people inside."

Madalena had done it earlier. And had come up empty. It made no sense, not with the information they'd been given, not with the ebbs and flows she could feel. Somehow, whoever and whatever was inside, were concealing themselves, and they were doing it with finesse.

Now how did you prepare when you did not know the numbers you needed to get ready for?


[member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"]

 

[Darth Miseria]

The forearm to forearm grasp was by far the friendliest greeting Dianah had ever received from anyone in the CIS, save for family of course. This alone shook her concrete certainty of this woman being Sceherezade. There was nothing of the social awkward, anxious Scherezade in Madalena. In fact, she seemed rather outgoing. She returned the friendly smile and clasped her other hand over their locked arms.

'I'm not surprised. Honestly, you're the double of her.'

'Maddy it is then! Nobody ever has the time for extra syllables and if you do you're not busy enough.'

Madalena's probing force found her grinning frame. The sensation was similar to being tickled by a feather. Dianah had no idea what she was doing but it wasn't an aggressive move, rather an exploratory one. It was only logical for the two to get to know each other intimately, there was no telling how long this mission would take.

'Oh, really? I've never met one myself, save for my mother. Even then I didn't really know her. If you remember who they are or where they are I'd be interested to know. It's hard trying to figure out all the complexities of it on my own. I can do people... You know, hair changes and skin tones and stuff.'

To back this up Dianah's caramel skin was drained of all color till nothing was left but a pale complexion. Her deep black eyes shifted to a volatile amber which was strikingly similar to leader of the Confederacy himself. From root to tip, her deep brown hair shifted to a ghostly white. This was one her chosen forms, tried and tested so many times changing to it was like taking a breath. It all happened in the space of half a minute.

'It's inanimate objects I struggle with. How the hell are you supposed make all your organs fit into something the size of a can of caf?'

Dianah watched Maddy flick her arms up eccentrically toward the building, just as her skin was returning to it's usual tan. The way she spoke made Dianah assume she had already had a look and that the results were less than pleasing. In all honesty she had been too busy marveling at the architecture to check inside but there was no better time than now.

Ropes of force lashed out from her soul and burst through the door, its spectral form twisted and turned through the stone corridor. Three minutes passed by in complete silence. All the while her tendrils of force kept searching. Searching and searching... but there was nothing. No sign of life, no matter which winding path she picked. It confused her to the point that it showed on her face, in the form of her brows knitting together gently.

'There's nothing there?'

Without another word she shifted from her position beside Maddy. Nimble fingers flicked her now dark curls away from her ear so she could lean against the thick wooden door that guarded the entrance. Of course, there was nothing to hear but the creaks and groans of a building centuries old. That left them with only a few options. They could dive in head first without a care in the world, brutal weapons in tow. Or they could sneak it out. If this woman was anything like Scherezade, Dianah already knew her preference. But it seemed the more they talked the more the differences between Sceherezade and Maddy screamed out.

'Well... I can't hear anything and neither of us can feel anything. That means they're either really good at covering their tracks or someone else has gotten to them first. I guess we have two choices. All guns blazing or sneaky and stealthy.'

[member=Scherezade deWinter]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"I should really meet her sooner or later then," Madalena laughed, and then nodded at the next statement, "so I'm Maddy, and you're Dia."

Looking over at Dia, she was actually surprised. From what was stored inside her mind, Shi'ido often flocked to each other, grouping up, splitting up, grouping up again. That Dia had never met another one aside for her mother seemed strange. "They were on Coruscant," a memory that Scherezade had beginning to bubble, but the bubble burst much before it was completed.

Dia had changed in front of her. Partial memories wanted Madalena to jump back and to beware, events that were no longer in her active memory wanting needing to warn her what happened when she was with shifters who claimed to love her, but the excitement inside of Madalena herself at seeing this happening was too strong. She wanted to bounce and ask Dia to do it again, do it again, but there were more important matters to handle and discuss right now. Silly grown up brain.

"Well," she offered her completely non-expert advice, "a can of caf also has an indefinitely smaller mass amount than you do as a human. Did you try changing into a tree? The Shi'ido history is ripe with that particular morph."

Oh, she wanted to sit down with Dia now. To ask for a drop of her blood so she could try to see through it. She was going to have to remember to do this later on.

When Dia asked if there was nothing there, Madalena didn't respond. She knew her partner in crime needed a few more moments.

"I'm willing to bet my shiny new ship that they're really good and no one else did our work for us before we got here," she said with a shrug. There were limitations to how lucky one could get in these situations. But whatever the option was, there was still a choice to be made - guns blazing or stealthy.

Frankly, Madalena would always prefer guns and knives blazing. But she also preferred to come out of situations alive. Guns and knives were great when you knew you could handle the numbers. Stealth was great when you knew there was somewhere to hide. They needed... Something in between.

"Stand back," she told Dia as she took a few steps as well.

Once both of them opened a few feet away from the door, Madalena licked her finger and held it in the air, making sure the wind was favorable. Since it was, the next thing she did was raise her gun and shoot it at the door.

The bullet that flew out of her gun was not an ordinary one; for one, the sound it made was much more modest compared to a regular slugpistol.

And second, the bullet went SPLAT against the door, covering it in a beautiful stain of very pink and very sparkly glitter.

Madalena held her hand out, motioning for Dia to stay back, and motioned to the door with her chin.

It was just wood. The glitter was eating through it, digested it like a cucumber inside a sarclaac's mouth.

"Let it eat for two more minutes, then we should be safe enough," she said quietly, "a single flake of this stuff on your armor can make sure it'll break next time you need it."


[member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"]

 

[Darth Miseria]

'Coruscant...'

Dianah tucked the information away for a later date. She wasn't necessarily dying to learn more about being a shi'ido right now but it had been niggling at her. There was so much more she could do, so much more to learn. It was just a matter of finding the right teacher or any teacher come to think of it. Madalena offered her advice, which may not have come from a place of intricate knowledge but Dianah was grateful all the same. A bright spark of realization lit up her face.

'A tree... That's a brilliant idea! I've never thought about that before. For once I was trying to go small when I should have gone big. It would have to be a tree my size though...'

For once she allowed herself to ramble a little about her heritage. People rarely ever wanted to talk about it, they were often more interested in the tricks that came with it. Dianah didn't mind that at all though, she lived for the chance to show off, but it did make a nice change to get stuck into the complexities of it.

'I could get stuck that way if I tried to go too big, I tried it once... I heard it gets easier with age but in Shi'ido terms I'm practically a toddler.'

Once when she was a little girl she had attempted such a thing. It wasn't a tree back then though, it was her older brother Ivum. The change in size and weight was so dramatic that she had been stuck like that for a good three months. Laughs and jokes were had all around, even by Dianah herself, but it took her a long time to get over the shame. For a split second the memory of it brought a grimace to her face.

When she finally moved away from the aged wood a nod of her head was all she gave in agreement to Madalena's bet.

​Her armor clad feet took five measured steps backward. The space between the door and her body stretched further with each one. She had no clue what her partner in chaos was going to do next but there was no denying she was intrigued by the mystery.

She watched with curious eyes as the green eyed woman drew her gun out and aimed it at the door. For a second she thought the blast was meant to blow the complicated lock to dust but nothing of the sort happened. The thing that surprised her the most was, instead of the familiar sight of a bullet piercing wood, it was splurge of shimmering glitter. Pink glitter. Not only that but it seemed to be eating away the thick barricade that stood in their way.

A child like smile was thrown toward Madalena, coupled with eyes wide with wonder. She couldn't hide the excitement in her voice as she watched the glitter sink through the material like a hot knife through butter.

'Wow... You've got to tell me where I can get some of those.'

After a few minutes, just as she had said, the hissing and fizzing of the acid came to a stop. What was left of the door was now a gaping hole in the middle of two crumbling panels of wood. A stiff breeze caught them, swinging them open dramatically on a set of rusty hinges. They revealed little of the inner workings of the building. All they could see was a dark tunnel that got darker the deeper it went.

Dianah flicked her fingers out toward the murky depths of the base.

'I always seem to find myself in pitch black tunnels of some kind. But I find that's where the best adventure is.'

With no time to lose, and no doubt that Madalena would be following suit, Dianah marched forward and disappeared into the shadows. The last thing to go was the heel of her glimmering silver armor.

[member=Scherezade deWinter]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Where to get some of those? Madalena was smiling one moment, but the smile vanished as memories and connections inside her mind began to shift and alter. No, Madalena had not been given the secret to making these bullets on her own as the girl who had been there before had made them. An excuse was needed. One that would stick and remain firm for as long as Madalena existed. "I had a friend that made them on her ship," she said, her voice somewhat detached, "she's gone now though. Only four bullets left and then it's gone forever."

She sighed and shook her head, getting rid of the residue of feelings that belonged to a girl who no longer existed.

Dia took the lead and went into the darkness. Madalena paused, a fear of the same girl who no longer existed, the girl who was terrified of the dark, trying to push through her body and maker her stop, make her turn around.

But by the Force, Madalena was not backing away.

"Give me a sound and give me the night, let me see it all tonight," came the words out of her mouth as the Force around her rose up in response to her casting the spell. The soft ding was heard in her mind only, and when she blinked, she could see inside the darkness, the shadows becoming less threatening, everything that was to be find inside taking soft hues of pinks and purples.

It certainly beat night vision tech that made everything green.

The two made their way deeper into the building. Madalena kept looking around, trying to find a hint of people in there, a hint of life inside. But there was nothing. It was as if the Darkside was oozing out of the cracks in the walls, but other than that the place looked almost dead.

"This is krakking creepy," she commented, a hand curling around the hilt of one of her knives for comfort, "no people. No sign of life. Just... Abandoned building with noth-"

The floor beneath Dianah and Madalena opened wide.

Unless the girls did something, they would find themselves falling close to fifty feet downwards. What was at the bottom? Spiked? A pool of acid? Fluffy pillows? Let's find out.


[member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"]

 

[Darth Miseria]

It was sort of heart breaking to hear there was no chance of getting her hands on some of those bullets, but as Dianah disappeared into the tunnels she called out to Maddy.

'You should keep one, maybe you can figure out how to make them one day.'

The soft mumble of her companions voice made Dianah pause in her steps to listen. It had been a long, long time since she had heard the utterance of a spell. All at once her mind was cast back to the lessons she had been permitted to sit in, though she never did quite get the hang of it all.

They pressed on into the never ending darkness.

Nothing about the dark scared Dianah. It was never really the dark that scared people anyway, just what was living in it. Again the thought of Scherezade came to Dianah's mind. The two of them together made a pretty brutal team and there was no doubt Maddy would be the same. So, there was nothing to be afraid of in the winding tunnels.

Except for giant holes in the middle of the floor.

​The absence of ground underfoot can be the most horrible feeling. When you fall it feels like your stomach forgot to tag along for the ride. It was safe to say Dianah fell for about three stories. The whole way down was spent battling with a scream that was clawing to get out of her throat.

​Fortunately she wasn't so lost in the sensation of falling that she remembered they had no idea what was at the bottom. A cushion of force surrounded her as she fell, luckily just in time to reach the ground. Some part of her had expected to see it made of stone like it was above but what met her vision was very different indeed.

Thick white bones were strewn all around the floor. If it weren't for the human skulls dotted around her Dianah couldn't have guessed what animal they were from but as it was...

Her feet touched down against the littered ground, weighty armor causing a slightly macabre crunching noise under her boots.

'Well... I think we found those missing people.'

[member=Scherezade deWinter]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She'd had night vision, but she hadn't seen the ground opening, mostly because she wasn't looking at the ground. That had been a mistake. The only thing keeping Madalena from screaming as she and Dianah fell down was the sheer panic of it, her voice caught in her throat, too frozen to be used at all.

Fifty feet wasn't a horrible big fall. People have been known to survive it. But Madalena hadn't known that would be the length of the fall, nor what lay at the bottom. Fifty feet took a precious few seconds to reach when you were falling, and not more than that.

It was exactly at the last moment that she managed to grab herself with the Force. Not enough to bring her descent to a full stop, but just enough to slow it down so that when she fell flat on the ground, it was more annoying than dangerous.

She sat up, moving her hair out of her face, searching around first for Dianah, noting that her partner had survived the fall as well. That was good.

With a sigh, Madalena rose, dusting herself off, the sound of the crunch all too audible to her ears now.

"Are you sure?" she asked, crouching down now. She could see the bones, the whiteness of them covered in a soft hue of purple thanks to her night vision. No, she needed to see better than that. "Do you have a light?" she asked. Madalena knew how to control existing fire, but not how to create it. Not yet, anyway.

Carefully, she picked a bone up. "I don't think these are the missing people," she mumbled, "these bones feel too old. There's not a trace of dry blood on them. Look - they're entirely clean, like in really cheap holofilms. But I need more light to be sure." Sure, she could... Lick them, to check. But she really really didn't want to do that. At all.

[member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"]

 

[Darth Miseria]

A light... a light? Her gloved hands patted down the silver set of armor she was wearing in the hopes of finding something that would help them. For the amount of times that Dianah had been stuck in a deep, dark cave she had never once brought a light with her. Luckily, she remembered she had her saber clipped to her side.

She brought it out with a flourish. The violent pink hue of the blade burst forth from its hilt, casting the two in a strange glow. It did light up the room, just not in the color they were both expecting.

As Maddy talked Dianah took a moment to take in the details of their current situation.

The room they were standing in was a decent size, bigger and wider than the corridor they had just been walking down. Dianah guessed it must have been added after the storm troopers left, the walls were roughly carved into the layer of bedrock underneath the earth. There was no sign of any way out. No door way, no corridor, no pockets in the stone that they could use to scale the walls again.

The streak of fuchsia hummed and fizzed as she moved it through the air to hover over the bone Mandalena held in her hands.

'It seems a little weird that there's nothing but bones here. If these people died when they fell shouldn't there be clothes, shoes.. that kind of thing? It almost like they've been put here for a reason.'

[member=Scherezade deWinter]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

The area they were in flooded with the pink hue of Dianah's lightsaber. Madalena nodded, giving the woman a little smile in appreciation of her chosen beam color. Truth be told, if Madalena had gotten to pick her own beam color, she would have gone for pink as well. But her own lightsabers were a gift from her Jedi friend, who added folklore protections against werewolves to the hilt, and then made the beam the color of Madalena's eyes; a shining green. She wouldn't have traded it for the world, though she did intend on adding more to it in the future.

Looking over the bones again, the Sithling sighed. Perfectly clean bones. Not a hint or a clue about them that could tip off why they were there, who had placed them there, or anything else.

"Unless they've been here long enough for that to rot away too," she nodded, agreeing with Dianah's assessment of it being a little weird.

Pushing herself up, Madalena looked around. The area was a room, circular. There was a door. No, not a door. An opening that had been barred, this time with sturdier stuff than the door above.

She sighed, not really wanting to waste another bullet. "What are the odds you know how to raise a protection bubble?" she asked, turning to Dianah. If her partner in crime knew how to, she could use the Force to slam her into the door without hurting her, until the door broke.

It was a shot in the dark though. Most Force Users Madalena knew, didn't actually know how to use the bubble. She herself didn't. Her forte was on being aggressive and dealing damage out, not all the protective stuff.

"Or..." she grinned from ear to ear, "I could toss you upwards, out of here. Whichever you prefer."


[member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"]

 

[Darth Miseria]

An uncontrollable shiver ran down Dianah's spine, something about the possibility of them being here for so long even their clothing had rotted away was creepy.

'I can but it's not a very good one. Probably not good enough for whatever you have in mind.'

Dianah craned her neck back to get a good look at the way they had come. From where they stood it was impossible to see where the hole ended and the corridor began, especially through the thick blanket of darkness.

Madalena's follow up idea cause her to laugh, the sound of it reverberated off the stone walls.

It was a great idea and normally her eccentric personality would have jumped at the chance, but she had a few reservations. First of all, though Dianah trusted Maddy, she wasn't entirely sure she could throw her over the edge of the hole and not slap bang into the invisible roof above them. Secondly, the opening was too tempting to pass up on.

'You can try I guess, but I'd much prefer to try and get in there. If I were a cult that's where I'd hide.'

Dianah stepped toward the opening whilst carefully trying to avoid crushing anymore bones. Upon inspecting the wood further it seemed to be rotting, she could only see it externally but there was a slim chance it had spread through to the core already. A wild idea jumped into her mind and she turned to let Mandalena see it in the form of a Cheshire cat grin.

'I think now is as good a time as any to practice being a tree. You can use me as a battering ram. It won't hurt me... I don't think?'

She took a step back from the door and turned in the center of the circle to figure out some mathematics. As she turned she mumbled idly to herself.

'Let's see. I can't go any wider than this room but that doesn't matter regardless because it's weight I need. How did weight go again? Taking it away is one thing but adding it... Got it! Sorry for this.'

That last part was thrown in the direction of her partner as she lent across to hand her their glowing pink lightsource. With both hands free Dianah began to unclip the weighty armor that surrounded her frame. When every piece had been slipped off and put to the side all that remained was the skin tight armourweave underneath. She shook her arms and legs a little to get the blood flowing and once she was ready her deep brown eyes fluttered to a close.

Compared to the last change this one took a long time. At first her skin turned a darker brown and the patterned cracks of bark began to appear. Starting from her torso everything seemed to expand quickly, each bit swallowing the next as her circumference grew wider and wider. It probably wasn't very pretty to watch but it wasn't painful for her at all, just slightly weird. When the change was complete the hard wood tree trunk she had shifted into was four width she had been, even with her armor on.

Dianah hoped Madalena wasn't in too much shock to get it over with quickly. Being a tree wasn't quite to her liking.

[member=Scherezade deWinter]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

So the bubble wasn't going to happen. Bummer. Scherezade sighed, staring up at the ceiling alongside Dia. She couldn't see the ceiling either, but she was pretty sure she could more or less get Dia up high enough without splatting her head open against where the roof probably was. Maybe. Okay, it had been a terrible idea, and than the Force Dia was very polite about rejecting it, saving Madalena the need to apologize for even suggesting it in the first place.

Besides, Dia was right. The cult was more likely to hide behind the door than up above. It was so creepy, this whole no people around thing. And it didn't make any sort of sense at all. Surely by now the would have at least managed to sense at least one?

She was scratching her brain to try and come up with something new and more plausible when-

Okay, wait, Dia was going to turn into a tree?! BATTERING RAM! Why hadn't she thought about that herself?! Emerald green eyes glowed with excitement at the mere thought of it. She almost asked her if she could have a drop of her blood now and another one later to compare the differences, but she didn't. Dia needed her concentration, and if it worked, Maddy could just ask her about it later.

As Dia undressed, Madalena worked quickly on moving bones aside. Stepping on them didn't really other her, but she imagined her partner in crime wouldn't want to turn back into a human later only to find her clothes totally covered in icky bone remains.

And then there was waiting.

And more waiting.

Madalena had to busy herself somehow without distracting Dia. She pulled her knives out and stood behind her to make sure she was out of eyesight, and started juggling. Two knives, three knives, blue knife, fish. Well no, but she reached nine knives that she was juggling with just her hands and not the Force when... There was a tree.

"Oh my Force!" Madalena gasped, her knives falling to the floor, "you're a tree! You did it!"

Wait, hold on. Did trees have ears? "I SAID OH MY FORCE DIA, YOU'RE A TREE!" Madalena screamed loudly. "NEXT TIME I WANNA SEE YOU DO IT IN SUNLIGHT! I COULD GET MORE DETAIL THAT WAY! THIS IS SO AWESOME!"

Madalena coughed, snapping back to her senses. She didn't know if Dia was comfortable being a tree, which meant she had to err on the side of error, and work as quickly as she could.

Using the Force, Madalena grabbed Dia!tree and turned her horizontal.

BAM! Dia went head first into the door. Or what Maddy thought was the door. The door started to give away easily, but more hit were needed.

BAM! Whoooooooo Madalena was having too much fun, waving her hands around as she controlled the movements of Dia!tree with the Force like she would with her knives, but with a slightly more maniacal giggle to it.

BAM! The door was entirely gone by now. Splinters everywhere. Would Dia!tree get splinters? Did trees get splinters? She was absolutely going to have to ask.

"OKAY DIA THE DOOR IS GONE YOU CAN TURN BACK INTO YOURSELF NOW!" Madalena screamed into... Well, it was probably not the ear, but she hoped it was't where Dia's nose or eyes were, an she carefully set her back down, vertically.

Once she was sure Dia wouldn't topple over (if a tree falls in a darkside building with missing cultist and only Madalena is around, does anyone hear the sound it makes?), she bounced over to the now open door, calling her knives back to her.

Now that was interesting.

The door gave way to a hallway that was... Well, badly lit, but lit nonetheless. It appeared to go on for a few feet before turning into stairs that led down into the belly of the planet.

These cultists certainly weren't trying to make their jobs any easier.

Turning back to Dia, Madalena grinned. "So did you get splinters from that?"

[member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"]

 

[Darth Miseria]

It was so weird being a tree. Some part of her thought that maybe when she turned she would lose her ability to think and literally... become a tree. But what sense did that make? Had she lost her ability to think freely how on earth would she turned back into herself? If trees had the ability to laugh Dianah would have been cracking up at herself. Not only because of her not so sound logic but because of the simple fact that she was a kriffing tree.

The next strange thing to happen in this whole series of events was the fact that Dianah could actually hear Mandalena. Not clearly though, but she could hear her muffled voice coming through the bark and into whatever part of the tree her brain was being kept. From what she could tell it sounded like she was excited, which pleased Dianah greatly.

Mandalena's booming voice would have made her jump, but instead the tree rocked slightly in it's place. At least she knew now that the appropriate volume to speak to a her in this form was somewhere between a normal talking voice and a deafening scream. It seemed she was more excited than Dianah was, which was practically unheard of. It was safe to say she was sarting to like Mandalena very much.

A loud booming noise caused by her body hitting the door reverberated her consciousness inside its wooden prison. Two more followed after and though she hadn't expected to feel anything but there was a dull pain spreading through her mass.

It was over before she knew it, Mandalena's voice filled her with relief beyond compare. Changing back to a human was immensely harder than changing to a tree had been. There were all sorts of complicated organs that had to go back in the right place. But eventually, a full twenty minutes later, Dianah returned to her usual self. When her vision faded in the world was spinning slightly due to the throbbing sensation in her head, it too her a few moments to come to her senses. At one point she was scared she was going to topple over but the dizzying sensation passed quickly. She could also feel the familiar tug of some pretty nasty bruises each time she moved.

'Woah... DID YOU SEE THAT? I WAS A KARKING TREE.'

Somehow the world seemed different now she was human again. Dianah had a new found appreciation for arms, legs, eyes... all the things people took for granted. She shook each appendage out in some disbelief that she had managed to bring them all back exactly the way they were before. After a quick check that she still had ten fingers and ten toes she flashed a smile in Madalena's direction.

'Nope, no splinters, but I have a splitting headache and...'

She rolled up her sleeves and flashed off some neat looking blemishes that were already turning a deep purple. Despite the fact that there was more purple than brown on her arms Dianah seemed to be very excited. Discovering something about yourself didn't happen everyday and as far as learning new things went this was more exciting than figuring out what your favorite color is.

'It must translate somehow. Next time I do that we should try breaking off a bit of bark and seeing what happens then.'

It was slightly morbid but her curiosity overtook her fear of injury. After securing her armor again she finally turned to face the broken door. Though the stretch of space in front of them only seemed to get darker the longer you looked it was very promising. There was no where to go now but forward and the pink glow of Dianah's lightsaber would guide their way.

'After you!'

[member=Scherezade deWinter]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

During the twenty minutes that Dia needed to turn back from a tree into herself, Madalea started by peering into the hallway. She didn’t actually go too much forward, figuring that if there was a trap or some new unpleasant surprise there, she wouldn’t want to experience it alone. Still, there wasn’t that much to do other than stare at her surroundings. At one point her vision went entirely black and she had to re-cast her spell, bringing everything into pink and purple hues again.

And all of that took a grand total of about three minutes.

The rest of the time was spent juggling with her knives again, though this time she also looked at Dia closer as she shifted, seeing the tree turn human, the bark turn to skin… She wished she had a holocamera on her, to record the process. What other things could Dia change into? Madalena wanted to know! Maybe next time they could try something with wings, like a bird or a chicken or – A DIA DRAGON! Definitely, she was going to have to remember to tell Dia to try a dragon!

The smile on her face stretched from ear to ear once Dia was herself again, and she put the knives away.

“YOU WERE A KARKING TREE!” she totally fangirled with her, before remembering that she didn’t need to scream anymore, “I’m sorry about the headache though. I thought it’d be better to ram into the door from that end and-” Madalena noticed the bruises, raising an eyebrow.

Okay, so there were limitations to what the shifting offered. Dia had been an actual tree, but trees didn’t actually bruise. Back in her own form though (was it her original form?), the damage was visible, the color of plums decorating Dia on larger skin surfaces than Madalena was comfortable with considering they hadn’t even met their enemy yet.

“We’ll do all the experimentations after we’ve finished here,” she nodded, “I wanna see you turn into a Dia-Dragon.”

That, though, as well as the rest, was going to have to wait. The two were going down. Nodding, Madalena took the lead, and began to descend the stairs. She worked slow, first putting her foot down very gently on each step below her before putting her entire weight on it, waiting a few seconds, then going on to the next step, and so on.

It was taking a forever. And even though they had screamed like schoolgirls when they were upstairs, something in the air down here caused Madalena to feel like it wouldn’t be a wise idea to repeat it while-

“Do you feel it?” Madalena asked, her voice just barely above a whisper. The strength of the Darkside still oozed from everywhere around them, but now that they had gone deeper into the belly of the earth, she was finally picking life signatures out. “Humans, or mostly humans,” she added, though she was not sure about their numbers, nor if the numbers that she could feel were true, considering how many of them had been masked earlier.

A few more steps, and now she couldn’t just feel it, she could hear it to. Were they… Singing?!


[member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"]

 

[Darth Miseria]

In the few moments the two were fangirling, Dianah almost felt her actual age. It was nice to be on a mission with another woman for once, especially if that woman was as eccentric and hyper as she was.

She shook her head quickly at Maddy's apology and brought her lips up into the biggest smile she could manage.

'Seriously, do not apologize. It was my plan to begin with and I've gotten further as a shi'ido with you than I ever have trying on my own. For that alone you can give me a million headaches.'

Her eyes sparkled at the mention of a dragon and for a few moments all she could do was look at Maddy in awe. How is it that in all her years of being a shi'ido Dianah never thought of trying out something so epic?

'You come up with the best ideas.'

Dianah was close on Madalena's heels as they made their way down the steep steps, though she couldn't tell exactly how close. Even the bright hue of her saber wasn't illuminating the stairwell much. It was lucky neither of them had claustrophobia otherwise it would have been an awkward situation. The corridor upstairs was wide enough for the two of them side by side with room to spare, but this was barely big enough for one.

Maddy's voice cut through the silence and though it was barely a whisper it made Dianah jump slightly. She could indeed feel it, though how Madalena could tell they were humans or otherwise was something she'd have to ask about later. She could feel every life force and her estimated guess at how many only seemed to grow the deeper they went. If she was honest, Dianah was getting a little nervous about their prospects once they finally found this cult. Even two deadly Sith can be defeated if they're severely overwhelmed.

The eerie tune that followed did nothing to ease her nerves. It was filled with so many voices, all merging into one deep, rumbling chant. It made Dianah's ear drums rattle and her heart thump with every low note they sounded out.

'Seriously?! This is something straight out of a horror film.'

Her voice was the same low tone as Maddy had used, but the words were hissed out. As they turned a particularly sharp corner in the winding staircase a dim orange glow caught the edge of Dianah's eye. It seemed they were reaching the end of their descent. The pink blade dis-ignited and plunged them into darkness, save for the soft hue of the light just ahead. When she brought herself to a halt and focused all her attention on her force sight things didn't look too promising for the pair.

'I can't get a read on how many. Either we're severely outnumbered or they're trying to trick us into thinking they are. Hell, they could even be keeping the missing people down there for all I can feel out.'

[member=Scherezade deWinter]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena had never actually seen any horror movies, but she assumed that if she had, she’d have agreed with Dia. The levels of creep were over nine thousand, and her own heart beat as wildly as Dia’s. Walking in to storm the area was obviously out of the question, not without knowing how many people were there. And where Dia sensed overwhelming numbers, Madalena herself could sense only a few at this point, despite the voices indicating that there were more.

It didn’t make Dia wrong. It made the level of their enemies’ krakkery extreme.

“Do you know how to hide your presence in the Force?” she whispered to her, not walking forward anymore. They hadn’t done this earlier; Madalena supposed that presence was already known. If not through the Force, then by the screaming and fangirling and tree ramming. They… They hadn’t been overly careful about remaining stealthy. But if they could cover themselves up now, maybe they could avoid-

“We know you are there, little girls,” a voice boomed overhead. Not just overhead; she could feel it vibrating through her body, sending tendrils that tried to penetrate her mind. It took every ounce of Madalena’s self-control not to jump with a yelp as she quickly threw her mental shields up, cursing herself for not doing this earlier, “Why don’t you come in? You’re just in time for tea.”

Tea… Madalena hated tea!


[member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"]

 

[Darth Miseria]

Dianah nodded in reply to Maddy's request, though she knew for a fact she couldn't see it. The force wrapped around her like a heavy cloak covering up any inkling of her presence and shielding her mind from any invading forces, but it was a little too late. The rumbling voice sliced through the tense atmosphere and made Dianah's heart jump to her throat. She could feel it in the very core of her being and she couldn't deny it made her angry to think someone could penetrate her defenses, but the words themselves were more vexing than anything.

'Who the kriff is he calling little?!'

There was no point in keeping their voices low now. Whoever or whatever was out there had already figured out where they were and that they had a connection to the force. Dianah still couldn't figure out the number of life forms she could feel so the situation still felt slightly dire. She did like the sound of tea though, even if the offer was coming from a creepy voice tucked away in the very center of the planet.

'Well, we're not exactly dressed for it but shall we go to a tea party?'

[member=Scherezade deWinter]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“What have we here?” the same voice asked through the darkness. Madalena could feel it vibrate through her body again, even if the words were not aimed for her. “One little shi’ido and one girl who does not exist. How interesting!”

Madalena blinked, looking at Dia in confusing. It was simple enough to deduct that the later was supposed to describe her, but she was here, blood and flesh. She existed. So it didn’t make sense.

“They’re probably trying to krak with our heads,” she said, her eyes squinting. It didn’t matter that she knew they were trying to play mind games, she still hated it.

“Krak and flark and lark and ho!” the voice laughed, “step into my parlor, little frogs!”

Madalena moved close to Dia as the two of them step forward. A few feet, and they passed through veils. Madalena shuddered as they realized what they were made of; the red was not fabric, but muscles, sliced paper thin to give the illusion of soft moving chiffon or silk. The smell was harsh in her nose and she was sure that Dia could smell it too.

The moment the two Knights emerged on the other sides, their clothes had been taken away, each of them now standing in a frilly pink dress that was more or less suitable for just breathing in and little else. Madalena would have focused on how horrible it was for the body, were it not for the fact that she realized her weapons were suddenly gone too.

She ran her hands over the layers of fabric in panic, trying to find at least a knife, and then noticed that her combat boots had been replaced with little high heeled shoes as well. She never wore anything but combat boots, even when she was clad in slinky dresses!

Were these illusions? Just strong illusions?

“Great web-” the words began to form in her mouth, “ts ts, naughty little blood hound. None of that for now. Come and sit, come and sit, the tea is warm!”

Madalena’s legs began to move of their own accord. A few feet away was a table decked out, like a scene from a holofilm, with cakes and tea pots, tea mugs, and biscuits, and probably more.

It took all of her self control to manage to move her head so she could look at Dia, her eyes pleading.


[member="Dianah Vi'Dreya"]