Private Paint the Town Red

[Amani Serys]

Commenor
The Lord of Hunger

The newly-anointed capital of the Silver Jedi Concord was somewhere Amani had still yet to travel until now. Chasin City was a bustling town, itself the capital of Commenor, and the new temple had been constructed in the middle of it all. The Mirialan much preferred the natural environment of Kashyyyk herself, but visiting this academy had merits of its own.

Night had begun to fall across the cityscape, and Amani decided to take it upon herself to get to know the area a little better. She had been getting a little more daring in her travels, with... varying degrees of benefit. But an evening stroll was the least of the dangers she had faced so far. Amani found herself on a lonely street, surprisingly quiet compared to the bustle of the city’s heart. The walk took her past dim lights and empty alleys, seemingly not another soul in sight. How a scene could be so simultaneously peaceful and unnerving was hard to describe. She looked up at the night sky and took a deep breath; She needed the fresh air. Or at least as fresh as it could get here.

 

[The Lord of Hunger]

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Commenor, the streets were usually bussy and filled with life, but even such a mighty and grand city of light and justice had an underbelly drenched in darkness and shadow and when the light would vanish from the skies, the darkness would claim its dominion, the dominion of the night. It was at this time, that something strange happened, something which had not happened in Commenor before.

Pant pant...

"Why is this happening, what happened to Vil and Nark?" A man, dressed in common clothing, with unkempt hair and a blaster in his hands ran through a dark alleyway in the city of Chasin. He seemed exhausted, his breath ragged and hollow as he turned around a corner. His clothes were drenched in his sweat, beads of the same bodily fluid rolling down his face and dripping off of his chin, while foam had formed around the corners of his lips, he was nearing his limits as he turned around yet another corner. "Yes...finally..."

He could see it, the busy street, it was a street filled with people still enjoying the many shops within the district, lit up by many a lantern, for the man it looked like heaven, a safe haven from the darkness which was nipping at his heels. He ran as fast as he possibly could into the direction of the street, his lungs ready to burst... his chest was hurting like hell. "Please...please save...ah..."

The man felt cold all of a sudden, his chest hurt excrutiatingly, not from running, it was something else and as he looked down, he could see it; a black tendril having pierced through his ribcage and slowly slithering upon his chest. "No...no...please save m...." Instantly, the man was dragged into the darkness of the alley, his pleas unheard by those who walked the light, his cries unanswered by those oblivious to the hold the shadows had when the light was absent from the world.

A few moments later, a drunk man, tired of having had a good evening with some pals walked into that same alley to find some relief and as he lowered his pantaloons, he could feel that his foot tapped against something, so with a hiccup and a drunken snarl, he gave a slight nudge to whatever was touching him. Just as he wanted to let his body do what it was supposed to do though, the object he nudged against slumped down over his feet, resulting in a loud scream of fear and terror howling through the alley and alerting some of the people on the busy street.

Pulling up his pantaloons in haste and fear, drenched in the liquids of his relief, the now completely sobered up man and some of those who had heard his scream were now looking upon what looked like the remains of a man, clothes still wet from sweat and a bit of blood around a hole at the center of the chest. The remains' skin had turned as dry as leather or parchment, its eyes completely dried up, leaving nought but empty sockets and upon the dried up husk of a corpse, the face was horrifying, wrought and wrangled for all eternity in an expression of insurmountable fear...

TAG: Amani Serys
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[Amani Serys]

The Lord of Hunger

The bone-chilling scream carried through the air, reaching the young padawan as well and stiffening the hairs on her neck. Instinctively, Amani grabbed her staff, taking a moment to build up her confidence before running in the direction of what she had heard. Several others across the busy street had now begun to peek around out of morbid curiosity, and she pushed her way through them towards the mouth of the dark alley.

A deep breath, and Amani stepped in to see the horrifyingly disfigured corpse that lied before her. Immediately she stumbled back, her air escaping her and face sinking into a pale, sickly color. The girl covered her mouth with a hand, while the other drew her weapon. What could do such a nightmarish thing, and here of all places, was beyond her comprehension. She finally spoke, addressing the citizens but not daring to look away from the alley’s interior, “Please, everyone, stay back.”

Kneeling down beside the body with her composure at least marginally regained, she reached out for a sign. In spite of the horrors of what she saw with her own eyes, what truly managed to terrify her the most was the utter lack of said sign. Even in death, a mote of the Force could often be sensed. But this figure was a pitch black void in the Force’s very existence now. Amani gripped the staff tighter, extending her senses into the rest of the alleyway, hoping to find the source of this nightmare.

 

[The Lord of Hunger]

Hunger

Feed

Life

Force

With eyes as red as blood, pupils as thin as a hair's width looked out of the darkness onto a couple of corpses, black writhing tendrils latching onto those remains to drain the last of their life and their connection to the force into itself. Suddenly, the being shuddered and stood silent, tilting it's head upwards and letting out a deep sigh, its tongue wetting its lips, as it showed a sinister grin. It could feel it, something reaching out into the air, spreading through the force like a rope, hoping to latch onto it. "I sense ... light... Jedi?!"

With a few final shivers, the black tendrils strated to retreat into the shadowy figure's body, the being's hand slowly reaching upward towards the hair it now possessed, combing it slickly backwards. "This annoying mutation seems to have drawn the eye of a very peculiar rat," Putting on his mask, the now fully conscious man's lips curled upwards into a faint smile. "It would be a pity if my efforts were to be in vain because of some jedi trying to hunt me...don't you think so too?"

Looking down upon a shivering human woman, the man; armored and cloaked in red and gold glared at the helpless child with murderous intent, a twisted glee abundantly clear within his gaze. Slowly, the man bent through his knees and placed his hand atop the young woman's head. Instantly she screamed when he used the force to reach into the very depth of her mind, he could sense it...there was at least a bit of force sensitivity, enough to manipulate to suit his needs.

"Heed my will, I command you to take care of this one job for me..."

...
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A young woman, no more than the age of a jedi padawan ran out of the darkness, screaming for help as she approached the people which had gathered to see the commotion around the corpse which had been found by the drunkard. "Please, you need to help me...you need to help us," Her breathing was ragged and hollow as she looked towards Amani Serys "You are a jedi aren't you? Please, can you help me...there was something in the alleys that has killed my friends, my brother escaped but..."

As she looked down to the remains which had been discovered earlier, the child's eyes widened and she let out a scream, recognizing the clothes of her brother. "No...no...this can't be, how? He should've been fine, he was right there...how?"

 

[Amani Serys]

The Lord of Hunger

The scream echoing down the alleyway startled the padawan into a defensive stance. A young girl, no older than herself, begged for her help. Amani stared at her in shock, barely able to focus onto her words, “Yeah. Yes, I-“ she nodded halfheartedly, cut off as the girl continued to cry of someone - no, something - in the alley, that killed her friends.

Amani’s eyes followed the girl’s to the corpse nearby, quickly making the connection between the two. The pit in her stomach deepened, “I’m sorry. Don’t... don’t look.” She reached out to hold the girl closely, turning her head away from the scene and sensing for any injuries. Once she was sure the child was not hurt, Amani slowly guided her towards the crowd. “Keep an eye on her, and get her somewhere safe. Somebody, contact emergency services now.”

She spoke firmly and directly even through the wavering in her voice, making sure the commands had been heeded before turning back into the alleyway. Gripping the staff tightly, Amani slowly made her way in the direction that the girl had come from. She connected with the Force once more, and down into the darkness she went.

 

[The Lord of Hunger]

Amani Serys

As soon as the woman was placed into the protective care of the crowd, something the jedi padawan may not have expected happened, as she started to vomit up blood and started to scream in between bouts of ragged coughing. Her eyes turned white right before she fell down and then it went silent...until something reached out through the force towards the jedi padawan.

From the top of one of the buildings far in the back, a man clad in gold armor and red robes was looking down upon the padawan. Utilizing the padawan's connection through the force, the being suddenly reached out...

"I do hope you like my present..."

For a moment it looked like the woman had died, yet all of a sudden she grabbed one of the legs of a bystander and gnawed into the poor person's flesh with her teeth, ripping out a chunk of flesh before rising up and attempting to attack another. Oily scabs had formed on her eyes, her skin seemingly covered with a layer of gelatinous puss. If anything, this was severe and if the padawan had any knowledge of what was happening, she'd know containtment was of the highest priority.

"Blackwing is such a lovely sight, no?"

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[Amani Serys]

The Lord of Hunger

Amani turned back, only able to watch in horror as the woman’s health took an immediate turn for the worse. The woman collapsed, seemingly dead by the time she made her way back towards the crowd. A voice probed its way into her mind, and she looked around for the source before responding telepathically,

What is this? Who are you?

Before she could even await a response, the woman’s corpse reanimated, quickly attempting to wreak havoc on the surrounding crowd. Amani sprung to action, shoving the creature back from its next victim. It’s bite made contact with her robotic arm, gnashing teeth scraping against the metalwork, preventing an actual injury but triggering the pain sensors all the same. She yelped, fighting through the pain to keep it latched on her arm and stop it from attacking anyone else. With her other hand she choked up on her weapon’s hilt, igniting the blade through the skull. Once she could be sure it was dead, the padawan collapsed to her knees, coughing and sputtering. Killing something that had until just then been human made her feel like vomiting. Holding it in, she looked over to see the individual who had been bit on the ankle, “Nonono…” Amani scrambled over next to him, holding his leg and beginning to try and draw out and detoxify the virus with the Force. The bite had just happened, so there was a chance she could remove it before it was too late, but her knowledge of Blackwing’s inner workings was relatively limited. She looked around again for the source.

Why are you doing this?

 

[The Lord of Hunger]

Amani Serys

From his position he could see it; how the Jedi Padawan got bit by the woman as she attempted to remove the threat. However, as the Force monster realized that the padawan wasn't infected at all, he could not help himself from feeling slightly excited. He tilted his head slightly when noticing how the child sank to the ground, obviously in utter disgust after she had brutally dispatched of the Blackwing infected zombie he had sent her way. It was...an affliction or rather a feeling he knew all to well, he had seen many a weakminded fool sink to their knees after their first kill, it was after all a heavy burden upon one's soul...especially to those who upheld a code of honor which went against the idea of brazenly killing and thus terminating the life of another so swiftly and brutally as the padawan had obviously been forced to do.

"Who I am, does not really hold any merrit, does it?" His voice, cold and stern, rang through the force. Even from the distance, it was obvious that the man's gaze was trained upon the jedi padawan. "I'm not some attention seeking fool, I do not follow a code and thus am not bound by such trivialities...so if you want to know who I am, you'll have to figure it out by yourself."

A chuckle could be heard through the telepathy again when the final question was asked, making it obvious that the on on the other end was highly amused by the padawan's incessant questioning.

"You were simply unfortunate to have sensed my presence and you actively searched for me," From afar, the man raised a hand and tapped the side of his head with two fingers stretched out. "I am simply giving you the choice to spin your story, tell the people that it was that woman who was the culprit or continue to try hunting me. One option will give you accolades not only among the people, but you will gain recognition from the order for your services. The second option is trying to stop me, capture me...a valiant choice, but a foolish one, young child, for I am beyond your kind as you are beyond those powerless schlobs behind you...so, what will it be?"

 

[Amani Serys]

The Lord of Hunger

Amani cleansed the last of the disease from the victim’s leg, resting it against the ground before sighing shakily. The stranger’s voice was unnerving; Had his actions not already been enough, his words alone were proof that he was dangerous. There has to be something you want. A reason for all of... this. The padawan looked over to the corpse, then to whatever terrified civilians had not already run away from the scene. It was a horrible scene, likely one that would be seared into her memory for good.

The stranger seemed amused by her questioning, which in turn only distressed her further given the circumstances. He offered a taunt. A challenge. She would be lying if she had said just taking the former option didn’t sound at least slightly tempting. Leaving it behind, redeeming herself. Except, it wouldn’t really be redemption, would it? She would live on knowing she could have at least tried to stop it, but didn’t. No, the thought was pushed from her mind as quickly as it came. Amani stood up defiantly. I’m not letting you get away with this. She turned her attention to several of the civilians, “Somebody caused this. Somebody very dangerous. Make sure the proper authorities are alerted. Do not go anywhere alone.” Her voice then rang out through the Force again,

I’ll stop you.