Private Into a Dark Dawn

[Aren D'Shade]

With a rather sudden surprise, her life had changed drastically. Aren had needed to flee her hideout on Denon and find a new path. Just when she had gotten too comfortable, too confident, and maybe reckless, she had been caught. Luckily, she had escaped, but without a consistent roof over her head, she had reached out to a stranger. A man she had been following for several years, and somebody who might be able to help her regain some of her footing.

He was as much of an outcast as she was, and she hoped to use that as a connection to him. Rather, it is a way to connect the two of them. She had been lacking a support system since her old master had died, and with her recent fall, she realised she needed one.

After proving to him she could find ways to contact him, he had invited her to Tund. Extending an olive branch and offering her a place to hide. More, she hoped to learn from him. So far, she had been as open with him as she was comfortable being. Time would tell just how much more she would reveal about herself.

Arriving on the designated world, she needed to find the location he had given her. This would allow him to observe her before she ever laid eyes on him. Taking a seat on a bench, she closed her eyes for a moment and waited for the Sith to appear.

Stedvar Eldrakadia

 

[Stedvar Eldrakadia]

Aren D'Shade

"You stick out like a wampa on Mustafar." A voice, cold as stone... yet gentle as cloth, spoke within the vastness of her mind.

As her eyes opened, she saw a shadow looming over her from behind. The figure of a person.

Stedvar stood atop a spire of petrified jungle wood, he vaulted down, landing with surprising grace.

He approached, his dusty robes billowing as the dry ground of Tund whispered and sighed with each step.

He was silent at first, before speaking again:

"I won't promise you an easy way forward, but... I can show you more than you ever would've known otherwise, and I can help you become something you never thought possible. I promise to walk alongside the path with you, from beginning to end."

He paused briefly, allowing for his words to sink in.

"The question is: Are you willing to take the first step?"

The look in her eyes was enough to tell him the answer. Not many would spend as long as she had tracking him, if she weren't intent on being tutored.

He nodded, a soft smirk forming on his face.

"Good. Now, let's get you a blade. It'll be much more... fair, that way." He teased, yet he was still surprisingly... warm.
Perhaps, even nostalgic?

Even upon a deeper inspection, his thoughts were genuine, he wanted this connection just as much as she did.

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Opening her eyes when his voice penetrated her mind, she sat up quickly and noticed a shadow in front of her. This meant he was behind her, and she turned to look back at him. Watching as he jumped down. She remained seated as he walked over to the bench she was sitting on.

Crossing her legs, she leaned back as he spoke. Guaging his words, what he offered, and her reason for reaching out to him. So far, things had aligned, and she smiled just slightly when he asked his question. He got the answer he wanted from her gaze. Lifting her chin to meet his look, she stood up and furrowed her eyebrows when he mentioned getting her a blade.

"For what purpose? I haven't needed one yet. Besides, life is never fair."

Clutching her bag to her side, she did stand up and wasn't entirely refusing to learn from him. Already having asked her question, she was looking forward to her first lesson with this man.

Stedvar Eldrakadia

 

[Stedvar Eldrakadia]

Tags: Aren D'Shade
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- In the blink of an eye, Stedvar's offhand saber was ignited, and to her neck.

- His gaze was now... cold, before disigniting the blade.
"That's why." he stated, putting the golden hilt back onto his belt.

- The warmth came back to him, as he spoke again:
"Let's get going, there's a temple nearby that'll generously provide us a spot for assembling your blade."

- With that, he spun, walking off towards a sparse patch of jungle, not bothering to look back as he continued. He knew she'd be right there with him.

-------------------------------------------

- Their journey led them through pockets of persistent forests, straggling bits of jungle, and arid wasteland. On reflection, it wasn't actually that long or challenging of a journey, however... Tund's force presence seemingly weighed down on them like an invisible pressure, dragging out every second.

- When they arrived at the temple, Stedvar examined the entrance. It was hidden underneath a stone circle, which had long since been covered with dirt and grime.
Long ago, this served as a ritual site for the Sorcerers of Tund. Now? It was where Stedvar would train Aren how his master had decades ago.

- Stedvar reached out a hand, concentrating. He channeled the energy of Tund's nexus, as if he were communing with the temple itself.
He called out to it in a way, and it heard him, opening almost... invitingly. A spiral staircase of stone revealed itself, as the stone descended into pitch black darkness.
One not accustomed to the ways of the Sith would find locations such as these... unnerving, to say the least.
However, Stedvar seemed almost... calmed the second the cold air hit his face.

"After you." Stedvar motioned with his arm, a sly grin on his face.

 

[Aren D'Shade]

"Whoa."

Lifting her hands in surrender, his point was made as she stared at the end of his lightsaber. Moving only when it was replaced at his belt, she listened to what he said. Looking at the bad at her side and back at him, she shook her head.

"I don't have anything to assemble."

Falling into step with him, she wasn't going to question her luck any longer. She had been the one to search for him, and he had answered her call. Everything was in her court now, and she kept up with the tall man.

Of all the kinds of places for Aren to travel to, this place had to be a nature world. She would have been far more comfortable in a city. But no, Stedvar had settled on a planet that had wilds, and she wasn't liking it one bit. Walking through the arid part wasn't horrible, and she breathed easier as she saw the sky above them. It didn't last long, though, and they were outside of a temple.

As he focused on opening the door, she watched the forest around them. Not that she would do much against anything nature-related. If anything technological came to attack, then she could help. Turning when she heard stone moving behind her, she looked at him quizzically when he told her to go first.

"What's going to come and eat me?"

Stedvar Eldrakadia

 

[Stedvar Eldrakadia]

"Dunno, Rancor maybe?" He jested wryly.

"Don't worry, this tomb is clear... Probably." He stated, glancing down into the shadowy depths.

- He turned to her, retrieving his offhand saber once more. He tossed the hilt over to her.

"There, now you can fight back incase anything does try and eat you. And, it doubles as a torch."

- He paused, before continuing:

"You'll make your own, but for now, you can hold onto it. Treat her well, and she'll do the same for you."

- He motioned to the winding stairs once more, saying:

"Go on then, hurry down there. I'll be right behind you."

- His tone was... softer, more serious as his last words escaped his lips, a small... almost nostalgic smile on his face.

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

Catching the hilt of the saber, she held it in her hand as he spoke. She had the feeling he wasn't being entirely serious about a rancor being there, and from his tone, she figured it out. They would be safe for now, and besides, he could easily take care of whatever threats there were.

Igniting the saber as she started down the stairs, the red hue reflected off the rigid stone walls. In some areas, there were faded markings, but they were too faint for her to pick out.

"What kind of people built this?"

She usually wasn't interested in history, but this time she was making small talk as they walked down the stairs. There were no ghosts to haunt her yet, and she didn't think he would intentionally allow her to get harmed. He was Sith, though, so she had to keep that in mind.

"I think this'll cause me more harm than good, Steadvar. I don't know how to fight with one."

With a gentle motion, she waved the humming lightsaber in front of her.

Stedvar Eldrakadia

 

[Stedvar Eldrakadia]

"Sith Sorcerers, powerful ones too. Purebloods." He answered her inquiry, following behind her with his other saber ignited.

He allowed for distance to build between them, as he continued his history lesson

"The Sith Sorcerers of Tund left Korriban long ago. They had a very... esoteric view of the force. They mostly kept to themselves for the majority of Galactic History, until one day... well..."
He paused for a moment, trailing off, running a finger along some ancient wall writings along the spiral, before continuing

"They met the same fate as the many Sith Orders after them. Internal strife led to their collapse, when one betrayed the others in order to strengthen himself. Ironically, he was later killed by a swindler, a fellow by the last name of Calrissian, if I remember correctly. Tund's spent centuries recovering, and, here we are now. Fascinating, isn't it?"
He finished his comment sarcastically, knowing that Galactic history was often... long, boring, and unnecessarily complicated. Still, he found the subject aligned well with his thesis

After hearing her comment about the blade, he chuckled slightly, stating:
"You'll thank me later. So long as you don't slice your head off first."

The two continued their descent, until arriving at the bottom. It was a relatively small chamber, but seemed to hold no conventional way forwards. In the center of the room was something resembling a... bird bath? Other than that, the room was mostly barren, barring some wall inscriptions that had mostly faded

Stedvar had little need to translate the writings. He approached the bird-bath looking... 'thing' in the center, and removed his glove.

"You'll have to pay up if you wish to enter. Even in death, their knowledge doesn't come for free."
With that, he reached over to a side pedestal, retrieving an engraved knife that glowed a soft green hue, appearing as if it had just been made.
He put the blade to his arm, and softly cut, allowing for a few drops of blood to drip into the fountain.

"Catch." He said simply, carelessly tossing the ritual blade in her direction.

Aren D'Shade

 

[Aren D'Shade]

The woman listened with some interest, but as she was more focused on where she was going, some of the details were missed. She did get the gist, though, and she nodded when he finished.

"They don't seem very recovered if this is a ruin left by them."

When he replied to her comment about the lightsaber, she glanced down at the device held in her hand.

"I highly doubt I'd cut my head off, but maybe my hand or foot. Even then, I hope not, I'd like to remain organic. Thank you."

Allowing Stedvar to go in front of her when they arrived at the bottom, she watched as he cut into his arm. Curling her lips at the thought of doing the same thing, she caught the hilt of the knife when he tossed it to her. Turning it in her hand, she felt the engravings and looked at the swirling blade.

It almost mesmerized her, and for a few seconds, she gazed into the glowing depths. Eventually, she came out of her daze and made a small cut on the side of her wrist. Just enough to produce a drop or two before it healed on its own. Aren wasn't stupid enough to give herself a large wound.

Holding the knife out to him, she waited for the next stage to be revealed. A rumble filled the room once the knife was replaced.

Stedvar Eldrakadia