Private Hear it Sing

[Darth Ophidia]

The winds blew high on Krayiss Two.

The pilot had taken Alisteri Haxim from one arrid planet to the next. At a glance one could easily mistake Krayiss for Ambria, if not for the distinct sensation of the planet's nature in the Force; where Ambria had all its past darkness locked in a single lake, Krayiss practically radiated with the dark side of the Force. This was one of the old bastions of the Sith, a place of spiritual journeys and high learning, hidden among the sandstone mazes.

Alisteri was not dumped at the typical beginning of the maze, but was brought deeper inside to one of the secret flats just large enough for the shuttle to land. Around them, the canyon walls were like the edges of knives turned against one another. And while they provided protection from the high winds, it did nothing to make one feel safe.

"This is as far as I can take you, Sir."

The Mirialan stood up and clasped her hands behind her back.

"The Master has asked me to provide you with this." She reached into her pocket. "It is supposed to guide you to the temple."

And from her pocket she produced a small disk of metal, featuring three concentric rings surrounding an empty socket with small arms reaching up and toward the centre. The concentric rings had markings, obviously meant to intersect and join, yet never matched perfectly throughout the rings. It appeared old, cold to the touch, and with a weight in the Force. Much like the cave, in the battle with the Jedi, it seemed to whisper inaudibly.

"She said it was powered by the heart of a Jedi."

Even as she said it, her face retained the same impassive though slightly quizzical expression as she had maintained throughout their journey. One could only guess what the mirialan had seen travelling with Sith.

"Good luck, Sir."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Between Krayiss Two, Ambria, and his life on Kessel, Alisteri had nearly had his fill of dirty brown planets. Not to mention the dusty canyons, he didn't know why the Sith seemed fond of them but he didn't care for it.

He nearly shivered at the thought of having to scrub himself clean, again.

"Closer than last time...hopefully..." Was his only reaction to the landing zone, it wasn't as if he could pick a better spot regardless. He looked at the disk in confusion, turning it over in his hand curiously once he had taken it. He could tell an artifact when he saw it by now, he could feel it clearly as well. "Let's hope she meant that metaphorically then, I would rather not have to return to Ambria."

He had his doubts that this supposed heart was even a physical object, let alone an organ. Then again, knowing the Sith anything was possible.

Hopefully he had easy access to whatever it was regardless.

One last look at the small contraption and he set it on his belt, next to the new addition of the Jedi's lightsabre. He gathered the rest of his weapons quickly, knowing that the journey ahead would only take longer with every moment he wasted. He did his best to ignore the small whispers from the disk on his waist, he would listen to them when he needed them.

The darkness was a dangerous tool, and he dared not set it off without some sort of safety net. Such reckless behavior had almost thrown him from a canyon wall once already after all.

"You seem very capable, and even used to this lifestyle." He noted as he prepared to set foot out onto the planet's surface, glancing back at the pilot as he slid his helmet back on. "How many times have you had to shepherd Sith, I wonder?"

He didn't wait for answer, making his way out of the ship with a small sigh. "The heart of a Jedi, let's see how far I get with that..."

Darth Ophidia

 

[Darth Ophidia]

A crooked smile pulled the left corner of her mouth at his quip, but she did not lose her disciplined exterior. His question made her brows furrow somewhat. Perhaps she was counting on the inside? It was hard to tell, her thoughts did not trail off her head like it did with some people, a sign of a disciplined mind.

"I am not at liberty to say, Sir." "The Master's orders."

Then again, she could tell he did not stay to listen. It was rare that the Sith ever did. While they had immense power through the Force, they all had the same weakness: Hubris.

They never looked at the little people beneath them. They always looked to the great powers that be, and sought to collect as much personal power as possible. While amassing personal power was the creed of the Sith, it was the guilty pleasure of the Jedi who trampled the people in their battle against the darkness. As they had on Mirial.

These were the thoughts she mused on as Alisteri walked away.

Ahead, one of the paths turned up into a spiralling stair turning right. One dipped down in a fairly straight slope, and one simply curled off to the left, seemingly keeping level, with several layers of canyon outcroppings hanging over the passage.

The Force was everywhere, pulling one way at one moment, another moment it leaned elsewhere, and the shifting winds which brushed through every crevice, like a thousand ghosts teasing him.

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The sight of the paths ahead of him nearly made Alisteri sigh, were it not for the fact that he had already assumed that it wouldn't be easy. He felt the Force around him, although now that he had nearly gotten used to its presence he wasn't too overwhelmed. Still, the way that it moved alongside the wind left him rather startled. This was new, and he already had mixed feelings.

He strode forward, his gaze scanning across the paths before looking off to the left where the path stayed level. He didn't want to descend into the depths of the canyon, and going up wasn't too appealing either. A sigh did leave him this time as he sank down to his knees, closing his eyes and trying to focus.

The left seemed the best option to him, but he doubted that it was the correct path. He probed into the Force that surrounded the area, trying to gauge which way was the correct one.

A sensation wracked his body then, as his mind engulfed itself into the Force. The way it pulled towards and surrounded everything was overwhelming. Finally, after a few minutes of attempting to right himself in it he stood up, his hand curled into a fist in frustration.

He was getting nowhere fast, he couldn't discern anything from the Force. With another sigh he looked off to the left and began walking on the path that lay there.

Going with his gut wasn't the best idea, but it was the only one he had.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

As he took the left path, the force seemingly held its breath. The whispers stilled as the shadows of the overhanging rock overtook him. Light cut through when clouds moved out of the pale sun's path, making crystalline specks in the sandstone glitter up above before being overcast once again.

The path first curled left, then hit a sharp corner that turned right and inclined.

Recessed into the corner was a small, weatherworn statue of a humanoid; Its face was carved with the jutting eyebrows and moustache-like facial tentacles of the Kissai, and its body hewn as if wrapped in a robe and sitting with legs crossed for meditation. The figure held one hand on their knee, and the other cupped by their chest. In the palm of the cupped hand lay a dull crystal, dusted with sand.

Above, the overhanging standstone met in what looked to be a narrow bridge, sand shifted off the edge and fell down like dry rain.

Ahead, the path moved on, winding like a serpent. The two sheer walls framing the path pushed back and forth against each other. In some places they leaned on each other, in others they parted. Here and there, one overtook the other, as if they were locked in eternal combat and simultaneously frozen in time.

The force tugged onward, ever onward, but also up, down, to either side or both sides at once. Trying to follow it was like chasing a figure in one's peripheral vision; every time he thought he had a bead on it, the sensation shifted elsewhere - Like wind and like falling sand.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

The young man winced slightly as the light of the sun hit his face, he was almost thankful for the shade as the clouds once again covered it. He preferred the dark anyway; his cybernetic eye worked far better in the dark, oddly fitting given the circumstances.

He followed the path as it twisted and turned. When he eventually came to the sharp corner, he paused to admire the statue there. His gaze flickered over the features of the stone being; he wasn't sure of how old it was, but it seemed to hold some sort of significance in his mind.

Alisteri's gaze finally landed on the dull crystal in the statue's hand, noting the position the statue was in before he finally turned away.

He continued onward, the winding path ahead proving to make his walk an interesting one. At least not every walkway was a narrow one. It took him a moment or two to notice the walls around him.

Odd, it was almost like they were in some sort of confrontation. Either that or a dance, but he highly doubted one could consider anything a rock did as dancing. He was pulled from his thoughts by the way forward. He had felt the tug in the back of his mind of course, the Force was here.

It urged him forward, further into this strange place. He hadn't been led astray by it before, he wasn't about to doubt it now. He continued onward without hesitation.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

Between the crashing waves of natural rock, the wind whispered softly, and the circular device at his belt seemed to shudder at its touch.

Following the path, Alisteri would walk until time seemingly dissolved before he came to the next statue. This was hewn like the previous, but rather than hold a crystal to its heart, it held out a stump of an arm, broken before its terminus.

The path cut at another angle and began to slope upward, winding more aggressively side to side as it did. The road shifted closer to the left wall as a steep slope interposed itself between Alisteri and the right wall. Far, far down there was a dark line of what one might assume to be water. A broken bridge extended across further down, but with no visible entrance on either side nor path to reach it.

Ahead, it seemed the sky was beginning to change colours, coming to mid-day already. It may have felt like only an hour, but much of the day had passed among the stone walls of the labyrinthine canyonscape.

The Force urged him on.

Along the path, at every bent, there was another Kissai carving, each sitting cross legged. One held its left hand cupped with something unrecognisable in its palm; the right hand hovered over the left, pinching another dull crystal between its indistinguishable fingers. Thereafter was one whose both arms were once extended forward, but had since been worn down by the elements, along with its head. And after that, one covering its eyes with both hands.

After the last bend, the walls were no more. Two stone Kissai greeted him, their heads bowed and hands hidden within their robes. Ahead was a small plateau. It seemed too flat to be natural, yet it was certainly weatherworn. There were two more pairs of Kissai marking the two possible paths onward, and deep carvings, half filled with sand, marred the ground. Each groove was deep and wide enough to swallow a hand, but not the wrist. They formed three concentric circles, accented with three sharp, triangular rocks, evenly spaced, in the middle.

Similar to the device he had been handed. The device had fallen eerily silent all of a sudden, as if it was hiding.

The wind picked up, strong

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

He hardly noticed how the device on his belt reacted to the wind, his mind preoccupied with attempting to follow the direction of the Force. He came to a stop in front of the next statue, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the broken stone limb. It was incomplete. After examining it for another moment, he turned his gaze back to the path and continued on.

The young man minded his steps as he followed the path, noting the odd twists and altogether unique way that he walked. For once he missed the rigid, geometric shapes of the mines.

Thankfully, he was used to dealing with stone paths. Alisteri took note of the sky ahead of him as he strode onward, idly wondering if he would see the night sky of this planet the next time he looked up. Although he didn't stop at every carving he came to, he still made sure to examine them. One doesn't make a carving or statue without said work having some sort of significance after all.

Soon he came around the last bend, his eyes running over the two stone figures ahead of him. Well, this was different.

He took a few moments to examine his surroundings. Kneeling down and running his hand over the ground, he looked over the small plateau with interest. His attention soon turned to the various grooves in the ground; although he was careful not to poke into them, he didn't wish to get stuck or lose a hand.

Just in case, of course.

After giving everything a once over, Alisteri stood and stepped back to get a full view of the scene as he felt the wind suddenly whip against him. Had he been any less cautious, he might have stumbled. His hand soon wandered down to his belt to retrieve the strange device he had been given. With a furrowed brow and a small frown, he glanced the device over before shifting his gaze back to the grooves in the ground.

"Well isn't that convenient?" He muttered to himself, his other hand pulling the stolen lightsabre from his side. He wracked his mind as he recalled the statues that he passed, finally moving forward after a moment. He sat down in what he assumed to be the center of the three circles of the room, placing the device flat in front of him.

He closed his eyes and shifted his posture slightly, sitting cross legged as he concentrated on levitating the sabre in front of his face. He hadn't quite gotten the full trick of keeping the sabre afloat, but he could hold it up for a little bit. That was all that he would need.

A sigh left him as he focused on taking the weapon apart, each part sliding and coming loose without him lifting a finger. Finally, the crystal inside was within sight, and just the feel of its energy made the young man shiver for a moment. Under his will, the crystal drifted down as he attempted to fill the empty socket in the strange device.

He didn't know if this was the answer, but it wasn't like he would need the weapon at the moment anyway. At least, that was his assumption.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

As Alisteri inspected the concentric rings, he would find that the crack between them was unnaturally smooth and terminated beyond sight. The rings did not shift with him stepping on them, though that may have been the sheer weight of them. There were scratches running perpendicular to the rings, but it was hard to tell if they were naturally formed or if they were intently carved.

As he sat down in the centre, took out the device and the sabre, the plateau thrummed with quiet power.

When he focused on making the sabre float and slowly disassemble, everything came to a quiet. The cold was gone, and so was the tugging of the wind. Sand still drifted away, but it did not touch him. The statues felt increasingly alive and as if they were watching intently. The Force was strong in this place; it had an old and deep connection to the dark side. The wind and sand was full of ancient knowledge, waiting to be unlocked.

Without its crystal, the weapon appeared like a body without a soul. It housed memory, yes, but no power.

When the crystal approached the device, there was a spark, then another. The dull, silver metal and the clear crystal reacted to each other and pulled toward one another. They were both linked to the Force, and they reverberated with the deep rumble of the planet's ancient, dark fealty. The crystal and metal device clicked together, stuck.

The metal disks began to turn, symbols realigning.

Then the ground shifted beneath him. The two outer circles realigned surprisingly smoothly. The random scratches lined, albeit to a different configuration to those on the device, his compass. The metal disk crackled with energy and the crystal glowed an ominous blue. The whispers were still present, less discordant, as if the crystal gave them a focus.

To a pilot, looking out over the canyon, the lines and scratches would begin to make sense.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

As the crystal and the device connected, he finally realized just how still everything around him was. Alisteri sat there for a moment, listening and feeling how the device's circles shifted and realigned.

That was of course, until the ground itself started moving around him as well.

The young man quickly reformed the lightsabre, without the crystal of course, and grabbed the device from midair before moving back and away from the shifting ground. He watched with awe as the ground soon finished its movements, his gaze returning to the device in his hand shortly after.

He compared the markings on the device with the floor again, and the lack of similarity only served to confuse him. His eyes ran over the ground, taking in the details as some part of his mind began to realise that the whispers that he had been ignoring were far clearer now.

With his focus now on the Force, he reached out and listened to the area around him. The whispers were his main focus, but he also made sure to prod at his device as well.

Ultimately, he got the feeling that he needed a better view of the whole situation.

He kept backing up to try and see the markings on the ground in a way that would make sense, but he just couldn't seem to get a proper angle on it.

Finally, he decided that he needed more height. That was the thought that led him to scaling up the nearest canyon wall that he could find.

Thankfully he had some experience climbing by now.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

When Alisteri focused, the whispers coalesced, but only when he prodded the device did they become truly intelligible. It was, in ways, as if he had tuned into a holoweb recording.

S̘̏ee͎͐ḳ̱̕͞e̖̞̍͘r̘͖͈̽͋͒

Burdened w̖̿ith͚̱̪̔̚͝ ṯ͒ḩ̪̦͒̊̕e̜̓ H̺̻̅͡e̡̫̤̍̑͡ar̰̜̋̚t̤̾ ó͔͓͍̓̓f̳͙͊̈́ t̬͈̿́h̠͗e J̞̄edí̧̮͓̽̕​

S̠͙̈̕͜͝ee̮̳̻͛̓̑ th̝́e signs of̓͟ t̫͚̫̔̔̀ḣ̨͇̕ë͉̝́͂ O̡̿ld͎̱̒̆ O̫͋ně͕̠̣̀̌ś̱̞͋ a̛̠͖͛͝ͅn̦̠͕̋̾̿ḍ̪̲͊̂̈ a̬̾d̠̲̟͂̅͝j̖̊ų͙̑̚s̨̹͒͆t̢͈̱͛̎́.̳̽ ​

Tȟ̦̭̈ȅ̝n͉̿ lő͉̹͡ok̠̲̾̓ t̙͇́̊h͔̅̀͟r̛͉o̓͜u̯͕̰͌́͝g͕̑h͇̘̎͠ my ę̨̗̈̂̕y̻̆é̯͈̣̊̚.̫̎̍͢​

The voice was unfamiliar, eerie, certainly not human. In ways it was as if it had been recorded in reverse. It spoke in other tongues as well, some known, some unfamiliar, all repeating a similar message.

It took a bit of walking away to approach the nearest wall, but it was surprisingly easy to scale. As soon as Alisteri left the plateau, the wind tugged on him, the sand clawed at his clothes and scoured his mask. Unlike the plateau this peak did not flatten out, but he would be able to reach a ledge where he could find a moment of respite, a vantage point over the plateau of concentric circles.

Comparing it to the disk, it was like seeing two of the same puzzle, but with the pieces placed differently.

Though the stone rings would perhaps be difficult to move, the rings of the metal on the disk would perhaps be easier to shift. If he placed his fingers on the circles of the metal disk, he would find that they rotated quite easily.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

The voice that spoke to him only served to unnerve Alisteri even more than the whispers had. He hadn't intended to make hearing voices a habit, yet here he was. At least the voice had some sort of instructions.

He sighed in relief as he pulled himself onto the ledge and stood, idly dusting himself off before pulling the device from his belt again. The wind that rolled over him proved to make his movements a tad more difficult, but he was thankful for the bit of coolness that it brought. It didn't take him long to see the similarity between the disk in his hand and the stone down below, and opening his mind to the repeating message made his next step obvious.

His mind idly drifted back to a time when he used to manage machinery as his fingers shifted the circles on the disk; his gaze flickering between the stone and the device as he attempted to maneuver the circles on the disk to match those in the stone.

As he lined up the circles, his thoughts were focused on trying to decode what the voice had said to him. "Heart of the Jedi, that's the crystal. Signs of the old ones, that would be those down there. Now...what could this eye be?" He muttered under his breath as he glanced back at the stone again for reference. He could only hope that this supposed 'eye' would show itself in due time.

With a triumphant smirk, the young man finally finished lining up the patterns. He reached out again to feel around for any new signs or whispers in the Force as his eyes surveyed both the land before him and the disk in his hands.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

Alisteri lined the circles up to what he saw beneath.

The device seemed to heat up, then become extremely cold, but nothing happened. It answered the prodding readily, but showed no further path. It did not abate, but waited eagerly for him to figure out the next step.

While Alisteri fiddled with the device, the shadows of the canyon were becoming long, and far in the distance there was a rumble of thunder amongst dark skies. A flash of blue illuminated the dark clouds for a moment as a lightning strike struck a peak. The storm was not coming his way, not for many hours yet at least.

As he looked at the device again, there was a glint in the crystal, as if it was struck by some source of light beneath him. But when he moved it, the light did not correspond. If he moved it left, the light twisted right- Up; down- Right; left. At a certain point, the light intensified, and at another it was almost gone.

Lő͉̹͡ok̠̲̾̓

A voice within whispered.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

A puzzled look settled on his face as the device failed to yield any new information. The temperature change had been rather odd, but ultimately didn't clarify anything in his mind.

Alisteri's gaze quickly shifted up to see the distant storm, his eyes narrowing for a moment as he silently watched it brewing. With any luck, he would be long gone before the weather decided that it wanted to rear its head at him. Another confused look crossed his features as he noticed the light. Said confused look only intensified as he attempted to interact with the light. Just as frustration was slightly setting in, he heard a voice speak to him.

He blinked in surprise, steadying his thoughts and keeping focus as he maneuvered the crystal. He finally settled on trying to get the light as bright as he could, closing his cybernetic eye and using only his natural sight to get the crystal to his desired position.

Once the light was at its brightest that he could manage, a feat which caused him to wince slightly, he gazed into it. As his eye looked on, his mind continued to prod and poke at both the crystal and the area around him.

If there was another voice or whisper, he would attempt to feel it.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

ṯ͒ḩ̪̦͒̊̕e̜̓re

As he honed in, Alisteri would find that the light was strongest in the distance where two peaks intersected. It was far, but not so far that he would not reach it if he could find the right path.

Another crash of thunder in the distance.

S̠͙̈̕͜͝ee̮̳̻͛̓̑ th̝́e signs

As Alisteri focused again, the scratches on the disks began to line up against the canyonscape. What had until now been unintelligible sigils became paths and markers, forming a map of sorts through the labyrinthine landscape.

The crystal at its centre gleamed like a compass-needle set on what one may presume to be the goal.

There was something ominous about those twin peaks, not unlike his descent on Ambria. It beckoned and warned him all at the same time.

By the disk's indication, Alisteri would have to climb down, cross the plateau and take the path to the right. Then follow it and not divert until the third marker. From there, take the left path that curls around and returns. Where the other paths go, the disk did not say- Not in this configuration anyway. It was possible the disk could tell him much about this canyon, or other places, perhaps.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

Alisteri looked off in the distance, the two peaks that the light seemed to lead to causing a mixed feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had felt such a feeling before, and the last time that he had he nearly died once or twice. Still, he wasn't about to back down.

His gaze swept over the canyon ahead with recognition flashing across his face as he realized what he held in his hand. The pilot hadn't been leading him on after all, nor had his master in that case. Good, he didn't intend to be lost on this planet anyway. He was quick to clip his compass back on his belt before climbing down the wall that he had scaled up only a small while ago.

Once he had made it to the ground he wasted little time crossing to the path that veered right, the compass held in his left hand as he continued on. The young man made sure to watch his footing as he went along, just in case a gap sneaked up on him while he was looking at the compass for guidance.

A broken or sprained ankle would be less than desirable after all.

He remembered the path that the compass had revealed to him fairly well, so he didn't have to rely on the device at first. He also ensured to keep his senses up while at the same time being sure to prod whatever grabbed his attention in his immediate vicinity. The last thing that he wanted was to be surprised while the lightsabre that he had wasn't operational.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

The path was rough, but with caution not beyond traversing. There were some areas where Alisteri would have to slow down, where the path became narrow from a rockslide, or where a now dried up stream had chipped away most of the path. There were also numerous branching paths that could easily have led him on a wild goose-chase had he not found the directions.

It was enough to make one wonder how many detours he had been lead on already, and if there had been paths all along that would have saved him time and effort.

Behind him, the thunderstorm had begun to turn and follow his path. It brought a colder and harsher wind to his back, but there was only one way to safety: Forward.

If he listened closely, there were sounds of beasts of the desert, but they stayed away from the path. In some ways, it seemed as if it was hidden from them or imbued with some power that made them shun the footprints of the Kissai. And along the path, there were more of the little carvings; they popped up intermittently with new poses and directions. Some seeming to suggest he take a different path, others huddling down or looking up at the sky. There was some lost meaning to them, or so one would assume.

When the time came for him to look at the compass anew, it pointed to a bend which appeared to double back and descend with a weatherworn set of stairs coming eerily close to a cliffside, while another path kept a seemingly straight path ahead toward the mountains.

Ahead, the two peaks had grown taller and darker in his approach. Their presence became all the more oppressive.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

The troubling path slowed Alisteri down of course, but his careful movements and watchful eye kept him from slipping or stumbling to some sort of injury or demise. This didn't mean that his stride had no hiccups of course, he couldn't see everything.

The compass proved to be quite worth the effort that he had gone through to unlock its usage, as the many branching and different paths probably didn't lead to his destination. Where they could lead, other than a potential death, he had no inkling of knowing. He did keep his curiosity at bay however, he did not have the time nor the means to wander off and get lost somewhere in the canyonscape.

As the storm seemed to cut off a safe passage back the way that he had came, he could only hope that the compass was right.

Alisteri paid little attention to the carvings that he passed, usually only stopping long enough to not the position and direction of the carving before continuing on his journey. Most of them seemed to not make sense at all anyway, but he still mentally noted their details regardless. The only carvings which held his attentions for long were those that seemed to be huddling down or looking up, as they weren't leading him astray.

Such carvings only increased the mixed feelings in him however, so he didn't linger for long.

When he came to the bend and the straight path, he felt his eye twitch in annoyance. The straight path seemed the obvious choice, but the compass pointed to the bend that led to stairs. After looking over his two options, and hearing another clap of thunder in the distance, he decided to follow the bend and descend down the stairs. He put his faith in the compass; he knew better than to take the easy way out when dealing with the Dark Side regardless.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

As Alisteri looked a little closer on one of the huddled statues, he would find that it held a small umbrella, not hewn from stone, but constructed from foreign materials and brought there, probably, within the last month. One would assume it was some sort of offering. One of the statues standing up had a knife laying at it's feet, rusted beyond recognition an covered in dust.

As Alisteri took the bent path, the landscape opened up on his side. He would be able to see much of the path he had taken until that point, and the slow incline it had brought him to. It also showed him the sprawling labyrinth of corners stretching far, far into the distance.

His path was somewhat secured as there ran a chain along the side wall, bolted to the wall at regular intervals. Above, something watched: A huddle of avian creatures with piercing eyes followed his footsteps. They waited for any sign of weakness, of lost balance as he went around the curved cliff. Even here, there was a figure recessed into the wall, and this one was surprisingly well preserved. It held one hand up, two fingers pointing to the sky, while the other formed a clenched fist in front of its lower abdomen. Red pigment still stained parts of him, and a bracelet of brass links dangled from the lower wrist.

The path then evened out, widening and dipping further down with weatherworn steps hewn into the rock, before curving toward a bridge at the sand-covered base of the twin peaks. Up above, Alisteri could perhaps even see where the other path might have taken him as the hill clearly veered to the right and curved back on itself. If he had taken the straight path, he would have found himself up there, looking down at the path he now took.

As Alisteri arrived at the bridge, there were two Kissai figures on either side of the bridge. Or rather, there were two on one side, one and a half on the other. One of the statues appeared to have been sheared off. The other three held a pose of prayer with their hands in front of their faces. Down, beneath the bridge, there was the subtle sound of coursing water, and a barely visible black line of a river rapid below. It did not look like a safe fall.

The bridge itself seemed rickety at best. Parts of the stonework had fallen away from wear and tear. Some parts had been reinforced, but it left a narrow and dangerous crossing.

Yet now, he was so close. On the other side were merely steps curling around the leftmost peak, as they rose like pillars into the now brightly orange sky.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

The offerings that he passed gave Alisteri a small feeling of dread. Would he have to leave something behind in order to survive? He supposed he would just have to go on and find out.

He glanced over the path that he had walked not too long ago, recognizing several places right off the bat. Thankfully, he had the chain to help steady himself as he went along. He couldn't help but send a small glare up to the strange creatures above him as they watched him. At least they served as some sort of extra motivation to keep him going, he didn't intend to be a meal for anything.

The figure that was here caused him to pause in his stride for a moment of two. He noted the statue's positioning again, but he also took a moment to admire how well the figure was preserved. Evidently the harsh winds and sand hadn't completely weathered down all the details yet. 'Yet' being the key word there.

As he went along, he of course noticed where the other path probably led; and promptly had a small moment of celebration in his mind. Force compass for the win. That moment didn't last too long however, as he came to the bridge.

Alisteri glanced over the three figures, sparing a small wince at the fourth, his eyes narrowing for a moment as he took in the scene in front of him. The water down below certainly didn't fill him with any sort of relief or confidence, he doubted that it would break any sort of fall. He stepped closer to the bridge, his gaze flickering over the missing stonework before finally settling on the mountains ahead. This seemed to be the only way forward, and he did not like the look of it at all.

He placed the compass securely on his belt as he stopped just short of the bridge, about to take a step onto one of the more reinforced portions of it. A deep breath and a moment of cracking his neck steeled his nerves right before he took his first step.

His eyes closed, relying on his limited sense of the Force to help guide him on the proper path as he slowly made his way across the bridge.