Private Heart of Darkness

[Arlo Renard]

Sector 943, Coruscant

In a puddle of fluid too cloudy to be called water, Kai caught a fleeting glimpse of his reflection. This far down, they would see this face and know it wasn’t Padawan Dagon Kaze looking back at them. He would have to find a new mask to wear… but what else would he be?

A stomping foot scattered ripples through the puddle, smearing the mirror image. He tore his gaze away, shoving his hands in his pockets and keeping his head down as he resumed walking.

The underworld was dangerous, ridden with crime and strange mutated monsters. Yet Kai didn’t feel afraid of his surroundings—only of the ones hunting him.

The Jedi were hunting him.

“We ought have a place to go we could go ‘n’ not worry about being found out, murdered by our apparent caregivers. Don’tcha think?”

Though he was headed back to the hiding space they had agreed upon, for the moment he was afraid to actually call upon Damsy for help. Afraid he would have to explain how all this happened in the first place.

He reached the rusted elevator she had shown him and began to climb down.

Creuat Xashe Tistya​

 

[Creuat]

K N I G H T
GALACTIC ALLIANCE
NEW JEDI ORDER
CORUSCANT

A Sithspawn?

Here on Coruscant?

He had caught wind of the news in the temple, shocked that the ill-made creature lurked closely to the Temple. How could they have allowed this? Were their senses not sharp? He didn’t want to imagine if Sith infiltrators managed that success and sabotaged the Jedi, though he did when the former Alliance collapsed when a Sith masked herself as a Jedi until Coruscant was sacked by the Sith.

Never again.

And his peers wondered why the Nautolan acted as an extreme Jedi in his quest of purging the Dark.

“Have you ever encountered a Sithspawn before, Xashe?” he asked to his Padawan at his side. Dangerous it was to bring her along, but he always told himself that she would face these dangers at a large scale as she matured and grew in strength. He was only preparing her for that road when she would be knighted.

“I’m surprised this spawn didn’t retreat to the lower levels and sought out to here.”

Xashe Tistya | Arlo Renard​

 

[Xashe Tistya]

Arlo Renard | Creuat

"Only in stories and books." She admitted with a shake of her head.

To be honest, she had thought them mythical creatures until the stygian campaign had pitted her friends and peers among them. Scientists seemed to like to play god with their cloning experiments, but the little she understood about alchemists pegged them as worse. Twisting and perverting life itself with darkness to create instruments of destruction, and no way to stop them from doing it- well, no way but one.

"Perhaps it thought itself safe amongst the masses," Xashe observed thoughtfully. "Like a ship in an asteroid field, no way to find it."

The statement left her a bit queasy as she considered the implications. Running and hiding meant some sort of instinct for survival. It did feel wrong in a way, to end a life that had no choice in its creation simply because it was the way it was. Yet, at its base, the spawn would be a conduit of darkness, a corruption so deep there was no cleansing it.

"Why do you think it came here to begin with?"

 

[Arlo Renard]

He never made it to his destination before he became aware of two presences. Their auras were bright and shining like all Force Users, presenting as a pair of glowing obstacles in his path. Quickly he darted into an alleyway, hiding himself as best he could.

But the recognizability of his face had become a definite problem—he would have to find a new mask now rather than later. Approaching a metal wall, he wiped away the grime smeared across the surface. It would make do as a mirror. He couldn’t hide the dark aura that clung to him like a second skin, but he could change the way he looked, make himself less recognizable before he went out again...

His face began to warp. At first, the changes were slight; different clothes, different hair. He exchanged some of his features with other traits belonging to the people he knew, seeking to make an unrecognizable person from bits and pieces of the familiar—

The two beings were approaching fast. He had to get out of here, his transformation interrupted. At the very least, he was no longer a Dagon Kaze lookalike—more like his distant cousin than his twin. Endeavoring to look casual, he headed down the alleyway in the opposite direction of the luminescent pair, hoping against hope that he hadn't been noticed.

Creuat Xashe Tistya​

 

[Creuat]

K N I G H T
GALACTIC ALLIANCE
NEW JEDI ORDER
CORUSCANT
​

"Why do you think it came here to begin with?"

"To spread its damnation...like a plague. The Alliance before fell to the Sith when a Sith disguised themselves as a Jedi. This is how the Sith operate, Xashe, when they have no empire or kingdoms to hide behind."

"We cannot allow that and we shall not show any mercy to it; otherwise, another Csilla will be doomed to repeat itself."

He pushed and pushed his ideals and beliefs, many categorized it as radical and extreme methods, to his Padawan. Kindness would not save the Galaxy no matter how much Auteme believed that to be, especially when she never held a lightsaber to defend herself. He agreed that a Jedi should preserve peace to the Galaxy and defend it.

This was defending that peace that could be compromised should they not be careful.

"I can sense it, I can sense the fiend."

The aura of the creature was not too far from them. Suddenly his lightsaber was in his hand and ignited it, an emerald blade emerging from it. This would get the commoners' attention.

"Everyone stop! We are in the middle of an investigation, a critical investigation. Cooperate with us and those that are innocent will leave in peace. Do not move until each one of you is dismissed individually."

"Xashe, start with them. I will start here."

Xashe Tistya | Arlo Renard​