Private Into The Sands

[Arcturus Dinn]

The desert stretched on, and on, and on around him. As far as he could see there was just sand dunes, a couple of sandstone rocks jutting from within, and... more sand.​

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He stood beneath the ship he had arrived in, within the shade it produced, and let out a slow sigh. It wasn't here.​

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It was supposed to be here.​

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Right. Here.​

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He brought himself out from under the cover of the ship and narrowed his eyes. Maybe he'd missed something?​

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In the distance he could see a storm kicking up, sand flying every which way. And it was approaching fast. The boy had half a mind to retreat back to his ship and reignite his research, he had to have missed something. That was the only explanation. With a grunt he kicked a stray sandstone rock, and yowled slightly when the thing didn't move.​

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His toes ached like nobody's business, and in the aftermath of his botched attempt at releasing some of his frustrations he was left staring at that jutting piece of sandstone. He crouched down, and began to brush away the sand around it. That only unearthed more stone... And more stone...​

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Thesh scratched his head, then his chin, and returned to an upright stance.​

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Well this was odd.​

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He waved a hand through the air, and through the Force began to stir the sand. Parting it, unearthing that which lay beneath. Lost beneath uncountable sandstorms, no doubt.​

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His eyes closed as he entered a far more focused state, with so much to move he had to pace himself. Behind him the ship began to lurch, no longer on steady ground. He had to take a break, and moved the blasted thing so that it didn't get sucked down into the pit.​

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It had been there all along.​

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Just beneath his feet.​

 

[Ceri]

Arcturus Dinn

Something shook the very floor under her feet.

"What..."

A blink there and she looked around. How did she... where was sh...

Again the ground shook and this time Ceri fell right on her ass, crying out more in surprise than any real pain. Then it thankfully stopped. Whatever it was, Ceri could suddenly sense life above her. She glanced up, squinting, trying to pierce the darkness. Until Arcturus blew the sand away with the Force and she got blinded by the sun.

"Gah!"

While she shielded her eyes she groaned. "Do you mind?! This is already occupied you know." Ceri rose up, rubbing her back, and making room for the inevitable moment when whoever this was dropped down into the room.

In the meantime Ceri looked around herself.

Some supplies in the corner- hers, if she were to guess. She could feel a datapad stuck in her pocket as well. So, clearly, she had been here to investigate something. But what exactly? "What planet are we on,-" Then Ceri realized she didn't know the human, his name anyway. Maybe they had come here together and she just forgot?

No, probably not.

"What's your name?"

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

And there it was, in all its unearthed - or, partially unearthed - splendor. He peered down, primed himself to leap down, and then faltered before he jumped. He could sense it through the Force.​

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Another presence.​

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And sure enough as soon as he pinpointed it, a voice shot through the air between them. An incredulous woman, just buried beneath the sand! Or at least, within the ruins which were buried beneath the sand.​

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Mind boggling.​

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He dropped down through the opening, and softened his landing with the Force. Still, particles of dust and sand were displaced by the action, floating through the air as they sought another spot to lay.​

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"Far as I see it," he mused, as he brushed off some of that same dust and sand from his own clothes, "You owe me thanks. Don't know how long someone can exist when buried under sand, but I can't imagine it's a particularly long time."​

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Her question, or what were the fractured beginnings of a question, brought a frown over his expression. She did not know where they were? How odd. He glanced her up and down once, paying particular attention to her head in order to see if she was bleeding or something. But she didn't look to be injured, and that was the only real explanation he had.​

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"You... don't know where we are?"​

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Had someone brought her here in her sleep? Hoped that she would be lost beneath the sands forever more? No matter, she was free now.​

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"Tash-Taral," he informed her, turning to inspect the room he'd dropped into, "And my name is Thesh. You are..?"​

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Ceri​

 

[Ceri]

"You owe me thanks. Don't know how long someone can exist when buried under sand, but I can't imagine it's a particularly long time."

This seemed logical.

Ceri was about to actually thank him too, before instinctively she did something else- she snorted. "You'd be surprised how long." Maybe that's when he would notice the green skin, greener hair and greenest eyes. Clearly not a human, so maybe there was a reason Ceri felt so confident with that statement, even if she had no idea why herself.

Tash-Taral.

She didn't immediately respond to that.

Instead she rolled the name around in her head. Trying it out on her tongue. It felt familiar, it felt strong to her in some way. Like she had a connection to it somehow.

I have been here before. Yes, that is the truth. "I know now." Ceri finally declared with a sigh, before studying Arcturus Dinn as he stood in front of her. "You can call me Ceri." Her hands shifted to her hips as she looked around with him. "These ruins are important. I don't know why. They are also dangerous though."

A thought entered her mind.

She sniffed.

"You are Sith. You are here to study this place as well?"

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Her curious statement had him narrowing his eyes and squinting through the odd light which filtered down into the pit they were stood within. If he had missed it before, now it was unmistakable. The hue of her skin was off, and though otherwise she looked to be human that one trait differentiated her from the baseline species.​

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But more than that, it was her inability to recall much that made her intriguing to him. Amnesiac, perhaps? Once the name of the world had been spoken she seemed to respond with a slight amount of familiarity, but not much beyond that.​

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Curious.​

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"Did you hit your head?" he asked, raising a brow, "Forgive my saying, but you seem disoriented... Ceri."​

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She knew her name at least. That was good. The question was, what was he going to do with her.​

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"I am Sith," he confirmed, with a nod, and he did not need to sniff as she had to sense the same of her. "As are you, in some regard at least. It seems we have similar intentions here, no? To explore the remnants of those who came before us... You say it is dangerous, does that mean the traps remain?" He paused, tipped his head to the left, and then looked around where they stood.​

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"Or perhaps beasties found the cool sand preferable to the surface."​

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He shrugged, for he didn't have an answer to that thought, and tipped his head in the direction of one of the branches which led from the central chamber they were within. "We could always scope it out together, if you'd like. Safety in numbers, and all that."​

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Or he could leave her to whatever fate befell her. With how odd her memory seemed to be, that wasn't ideal for her... But he wouldn't stand in her way should she will it. He was no Jedi, pushing himself upon other people's problems. It was exactly as he had said: safety in numbers.​

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Ceri ​

 

[Ceri]

Arcturus Dinn

Why did she feel such disdain at the thought of banding up together?

It was a wise move.

Safety in numbers.... like a herd of cows for the slaughter. Ceri blinked and shook her head gently. Such a strange and foreign thought. Cold, clinical, she didn't know where it had come from. "Yes. We can travel together... for now, at least, while our goals align." He said that she was Sith. That... was news to her and yet it didn't feel like a lie whatsoever.

It felt true and so Ceri didn't argue against it.

Was I a Sith in the past?

"Danger comes in many shapes and forms. There are no traps..." She paused and thought about that statement. "...that I have been able to detect." Amending it slightly there. "But the previous caretakers of the ruins are still here, though in limited numbers. They guard this place jealously."

A glance his way.

"My head is fine. It must the thin air in here. Musty. Yes." Their eyes met and the lie passed from one to the other. It didn't matter- she knew she was lying, he knew she was lying, and by their combined knowledge it became a truth shared.

"Tash-Taral is a difficult place to get to... Thesh. Was it just this ruin that brought you here or is there something more that meets... the eye."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

If her expression was anything to go by, she didn't much like the notion of banding together.​

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And yet she agreed to all the same.​

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Such a strange thing, this one... Seemingly at conflict with herself. Unaware of much about her own life, it would seem. Yet she knew her name, and held familiarity with her surroundings. Was it all an act?​

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"Great," he said, rocking back and forth between the heel and the balls of his feet, arms swaying languidly before he brought them together in a very light let's get this started then clap. "Shall we maybe start with this path?" He gestured to the same one he'd tipped his head towards moments prior, took one step in that direction, then paused some as she divulged further information.​

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It was always useful to have more information. Mhm.​

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"Caretakers, hm?" he pondered on that, rubbing his chin, "How are you with a weapon? You... Did bring a weapon, right?"​

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He did not comment on the lie. As she thought, there was no need to when they both knew it for what it was. But it did illuminate the issue at hand, and he wondered if there was anything that could be done to sort it. Not for mercy's sake, he simply didn't need a potentially volatile companion in a place such as this.​

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Who knew what she really was.​

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"The ruin, aye. On the trail of alchemists and sorcerers!" he gestured with one hand, index finger pointing while the rest curled inward as though he had unearthed some ancient knowledge and was sharing his eureka moment. After he'd done it, he could not help but be vaguely reminded of Pravus Zambrano, that most eccentric of men to whom he had been an aide in his younger years. Certainly, it was something the man would have done, given the right subject matter.​

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"What about you? Isn't that why you're here? Or is there more to this tomb than I am aware of?"​

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Ceri ​

 

[Ceri]

She glanced at the path he gestured to and then the other one.

Eventually she shrugged.

"This path is as good as any." Since they all looked the same to Ceri. Which was frustrating, because she was reasonably sure she had already been through the ruins once. Why else was she so close to the surface now? The sandstorm would have buried the ruins hours ago, if that is what had happened back then. So, it couldn't be that Ceri had only arrived right before Arcturus Dinn , wouldn't make any sense.

"A weapon?"

Confused look there for a moment, before brightening up. "Ah, yes." Out of her bag she picked up a little stick. She shook it gently and it began to grow into a larger stick.

"Here. This is my weapon."

It didn't look so fierce. Not like a lightsaber or anything.

But then again, nobody had been expecting it to GROW in size either, so who knew what sort of tricks Ceri had up her sleeve. If only she knew herself. It would make it all just a little bit easier. "I see. So you are curious about alchemy and Sith Magic?" Her tone was just a smidgen of amused. Why, Ceri didn't even know.

If only she knew that once upon a time she had been (humbly speaking) one of the finest alchemists in the Galaxy.

"Oh, yes, yes, the alchemists and magicians and such. Very fascinating." It sounded fake. Mostly because Ceri didn't KNOW what she was doing here.

In the distance a roar broke through their thoughts.

Ceri glanced towards the sound. It still seemed far away for now. "Hm. I expect that to be one of the caretakers."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Well, he supposed, as he glanced at the stick she pulled forth and watched it grow in length, a weapon was a weapon no matter what form it took. Right? In the right hands anything could be deadly.​

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The question was, were those the right hands?​

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Perhaps it was a bluff. A way to get things into a laxer stance before she brought out the big guns. Perhaps, like Thesh, she was more want to call upon the Force in such matters, rather than rely on a physical weapon. Either way he could not judge. He merely shrugged, and set them on the path toward the doorway they'd chosen.​

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Even the roar didn't persuade him to do otherwise. He had anticipated that the place would not be entirely empty, though running into a disoriented plant-woman certainly had not been on the books.​

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"A fine weapon, I'm sure. Come on, let's go see what all the noise is about..."​

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Away from the sunlight which beamed down through the hole in the roof, into deeper, darker territory. It was cool down there, beneath layers of sand, well insulated. That was a boon if nothing else, away from the incessant heat of the surface.​

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Ceri ​