Paths

[Vrak Nashar]

Korriban
[member="Llevana Helas"]

Korriban was often thought of as only two things, The Valley of the Dark Lords and the Ancient Sith Academy.

These were the two most visited spots of the planet, the place that all people ventured to when they came here. The fact was not an odd one, they were the greatest sources of power that could be found here. It was where all the grandest Sith Lord's trained, where they fell, and where their bodies were eventually entombed. It came as no surprise that such places would be of value to people, but of course Korriban was more than just those two places.

The world had once been the crown Jewel of the Sith Empire.

It had been where his people had ruled from for entire centuries. This world was more than just a set of tombs, it was more than just an academy that had been rebuilt and reforged countless of times.

It was the ancestral homeworld of all Purebloods. The place where they had been created and forged by the darkside itself. Whenever Vrak walked on these sacred grounds he felt life as he had never before. The darkside coursed through his veins, filling him with a strength and power that he could not explain. His fingers balled into tight fists as he walked along the corridor of the broken palace, his eyes set before him with a stern gaze.

He couldn't help but smile as he wandered past a broken Statue.

This estate had once belonged to a descendant of Ragnos. After the fall of the Resurgent Empire it had been left to crumble, alone. The limestone had long ago faded and the pillars that had held the roof were fallen, but there was still something here.

Slowly Vrak made his way to the throne room, where Ragnos himself had once sat.

 

[Lief]

The sands of this strange and unrelenting world stretched on as far as the horizon whenever she had stood on the edge of the great waste. Back on Thirty Two the waste had been one of the places nobody dared tread, like the abyss or the thicket... Only Llevana had wandered (or swam) amidst both of those, yet never had her feet touched further than the grasslands which led into that endless desert.

And yet here she was, on a world dominated by red sand and dust, whose buildings were built from the very thing she had come to fear, to despise. And for good reason, it seemed. While the heat was not unbearable the sun was almost always on her, and the sand seemed to get everywhere. It was enough to drive a girl wild. She couldn't complain though, not that there was anyone to complain to, because at least here she was safe...

Or so she had been made to believe.

Truth be told she did not know what to believe anymore. Her whole life leading up to the point that Matsu pulled her from the great void had been a lie. Every moment of it had made her a pawn in some game she had no hand in, outerbeings staking claim to lives not their own. But what had they to show for it now? Some desolate world devoid of life?

Well, they were free to it. Thirty Two was a miserable place, and she hoped it made them equally as miserable!

As she glanced around to regain her bearings, Llevi could not help but notice that the very faint trail she had been following, one caused by years of physical weathering, had finally ended. Turning full circle did nothing to help, in fact all it sought to do was confuse her further for now she had no clue which way was forward and which was back.

The trail was non-existent.

Smart girl, they tell you not to wander too far and what do you go and do? Get yourself lost. In the middle of a wasteland... Really, your survival skills are second to none.

Llevi rolled her eyes. "You're back then?" she mumbled, realizing for not the first time that Mr Know-It-All would only ever resurface when she least needed his snark. Still, she supposed he was right. This was an inconvenience. If only she had been paying more attention to her surroundings these past ten or so minutes... Instead everything looked the same, and she could not say with any certainty which route would be best to take.

So she let her feet decide for her. Wandering on in the direction she had already been facing, Llevi hoped that at some point soon a familiar rock would appear, or some structure that still held life. But all that she had seen so far of this barren world pointed to that being highly unlikely. After all, she had only seen other beings in the ruins of Korriban City and the Academy Matsu had brought her to.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Llevana Helas"]

Vrak slowly wandered through the ancient fortress, his eyes drawn to the odd carvings and statuettes that had been left alone all of this time. He frowned slightly as he moved among the relics, wondering how long it had been since someone wandered these halls.

Much of Korriban had simply been forgotten, left alone. The Grave Robbers and 'treasure hunters' had all gone to the Valley, the Academy. The most dangerous spots on Korriban had also been the most looted. There was no doubt in his mind that this place might have been left alone, that they had simply forgotten it. Korriban was a large enough world. Not as big as Coruscant or Voss, but large enough that it had contained several Billion Purebloods before the Jedi had mercilessly purged them.

He scowled at that thought.

The Pureblood slowly waved his hand as he came upon a set of ancient stone doors. They were inscribed with the markings of his people, though the stone had long since faded and washed away. He pressed upon them with the force, slowly prodding them open. A rumble shook the palace as the doors fell away, slowly retreating into the walls to reveal the grand hall beyond. For a moment Vrak simply lingered, watching the empty room before slowly taking a step forward.

Half of him expected there to be traps.

His people had always enjoyed them, Terentateks and poison mines.

Yet it seemed that here there were none, only remnants of once was. Slowly the Pureblood moved through the Grand Hall, smiling as he saw the throne situated at the end of it. There was a bit of ego to the placement, high up upon a dias, but then again this place had once belonged to Ragnos himself. Vrak could hardly fault the man.

 

[Lief]

How long she had wandered the not so beaten path Llevi could not say. Her stomach rumbled, her throat parched, and by this point she knew she had gone in the wrong direction. No path had revealed itself, none of the landmarks she had marveled at during her morning wander, in fact there remained nothing save the sandstone walls of a valley to each side of her. It wasn't particularly tall, nary more than a divot in the already rugged terrain, but even so she could not make out what lay beyond.

And gazing upward in hopes of finding out had only left her with a feeling of foreboding, as though the rocks were ready to topple upon her and end her story before it had even truly begun.

So she swallowed back her fear, fidgeted with the hem of her sleeves, and forced her feet into motion. Had she been wise enough to recall, she would have realized that she ought to have brought the items she had been provided with along for the journey. One of them had allowed for long-range communications, what she wouldn't give to have that on hand right now.

She didn't even have a weapon. In fact she hadn't been given her own since coming here, and for a girl who always had her spear to hand back on Thirty Two she found the lack of one intimidating. She had already spotted several hostile looking creatures during her venture, but thankfully knew better than to approach anywhere near to them. If one caught her scent, she'd be a goner. Of that she had no doubt.

Finally there came a break in the valley. Knowing how foolish it would be to remain within the low-ground, she opted for scrambling up the edge in hopes of gaining a better vantage point. Who knew, maybe the Academy would be in view... It was a long stretch, of course, she'd been out here for quite some time now.

Squinting into the horizon, she was unsurprised to find that it was nowhere to be seen. With that said, however, there was what seemed to be an all together different structure due east of her location. What were the chances of someone being there? Of it being a working settlement? Slim to none, she realized, but... Maybe there'd be something to tide her over, not least since night was already threatening to make itself known.

She did not even want to contemplate what kind of monsters lurked the wastelands at night.

So that was that. She finally had a destination in mind, and an incentive to get there as soon as she could. Safe to say her pace picked up significantly.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Llevana Helas"]

The throne itself was not ornate or even significant really, a simple thing carved of rock and stone. There was an image inscribed within the back of it, carved deep into the rock. The picture was a simple one, a depiction of Massassi and Purebloods as they had been thousands of years ago. There was no real art to it, a simple telling of where their culture lay at the time. Vrak frowned slightly as he began to walk up the steps of the dais, his gaze settling on the throne itself.

Ragnos, had at one point, been the most powerful Sith Lord in existence. He had been the heir of Tulak Hord and Adas, with enough strength and power to cow even the most ardent Sith Lords of his time. The distinction that set him apart for others was his intelligence.

Unlike many of Vrak's people Ragnos had a vision for the future. He had known that the SIth would eventually expand outward and upward, beyond Korriban and their little Empire. It had been an inevitability in his eyes. Vrak felt much the same. Though the galaxy was a very different place now than it had been all those thousands of years ago the situation for him was much the same. Like Korriban all those years ago Athiss was now isolated and alone. They had their own little Empire, but it amounted to little more than a single world.

That wasn't enough.

He wanted more. He needed more, by simple virtue of knowing there was more to be had.

Slowly Vrak ran his fingers over the edges of the throne, the darkside welling within him. The force began to flow from him into the rock, beginning to consume the stone until black lines traced through it's images. An odd sort of humming seemed to resound within the Grand hall, reverberating like a soft song.

 

[Lief]

It was no small hike to reach the estate which sat among orange sandstone. In fact by the time she reached the shade it provided the sun was almost completely gone behind the horizon and she was practically panting. Sweat beaded upon her brow, though the day had not been particularly warm, and she felt all together far too parched. Water would have been a blessing in that instance, just another reminder of how stupid she had been.

Would Matsu and her ilk notice that she was missing? It was long past time she was due back within her dorm. Would the freaky woman care? Or simply see Llevana as lost to the natives of this sandy world? Neither answer boded well for her, especially if she had any hopes of leaving the planet as she deeply wished to do. Not that she would ever say as much to the Witch of course. No, in that department her lips would remain tightly sealed... The vehemence in the womans gaze had been enough to inform Llevi of the very thin line she was treading. One false move and death would be swift.

And after all she had fought against back on Thirty Two, to die now would only be an ironic insult.

The air within the building seemed far chiller than the exterior, a welcome reprise. Each step she took was calculated and quiet, and while she realized almost immediately that the place was in a dire state of repair and unlikely to house anything or anyone she could not help but remain fearful of what may lurk behind the next corner.

Her gaze scanned every inch of the entrance hall. Hostiles? Water? A weapon? Anything that might help her out... But there was very little. Broken pottery, dust, furniture that had seen better centuries. Hands fidgeted at her side, and she was surprised to find Grumpy so quiet. Where was the snarky comment? Or had he abandoned ship again?

It wasn't until a slightly melodic humming resonated through the walls that Llevi realized she wasn't alone. By this point she had weaved through several rooms, the estate feeling more like a maze to the girl who was used to wide open spaces, and as such she knew not the way to retreat. And at any rate, her chances of survival in here felt higher than they would be outside with the monsters.

Finally, though, she spotted something that she had been longing for ever since leaving Thirty Two. Upon the floor lay the long metallic shaft of ... something. She didn't care what it was, if it was mechanical or weapon, because in her eyes all she saw was her old spear... Without the point. But she didn't need the point, did she?

With a slight scraping sound as she lifted it from the floor, she tread carefully onward with stave in hand, alert and on edge. She hoped that whatever was causing the sound would quieten soon, and leave the vicinity. Dawn could not come any sooner, though she knew that this would be one of the longest nights she'd experience since the stars fell.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Llevana Helas"]

The force had always been an interesting tangent.

Many thought of it as dynamic, a twist between good and evil, Vrak was among them. There were those of course that claimed the Force was more complex, that the Dark and LIghtside were something of a greater whole that could somehow be tapped into, but to him such things were only lies.

The force was what fed him.

The Darkside had a symbiotic relationship with Sith Purebloods. They fed from it, gained strength from it, and pushed themselves to new limits using only it. The Lightside of the force seared them, its touch burning greater than any heated metal. For them there was no greater whole, there was only the abyss.

Nowhere was this more clear than on Korriban.

This place was theirs, and it was here that Vrak grew in power.

His eyes slowly folded closed, concentration falling upon him.

 

[Lief]

Fingers curled around the metal shaft, granting her a sense of empowerment. She had not held a weapon since leaving Thirty Two, none had fit within the small tin can she used to escape the world's clutches, and she didn't think Matsu was going to simply hand her one any time soon. Not that she had seen the woman since she had first been brought here. Thrown to instructors instead.

And they wanted to break her down more so than anything.

They didn't have much work to do with her in that department though. Llevi was practically a blank page insofar as knowledge came. Her home was nothing at all like the rest of the Galaxy, she had lived on base instinct. There hadn't been teachers, or parents, or training. At least, not organized training. Emeri had his own silly methods, but they did not hold a candle to this place.

Dust flew into the air, unable to settle underfoot as she strode more confidently through the empty halls. The humming did not disappear, if anything it seemed to get louder the further in she wandered. Until it was all she could focus on. Until it resonated in the back of her mind.

She turned into what seemed to be its epicenter. Cautious, afraid, yet with her chin up. At first she saw nothing. The room was larger than the rest, with ceilings at least twice the height of the others and sandstone pillars. But it was not that which truly drew her attention.

No, it was the dais. Upon which sat a seat larger than any she had seen before.

How odd. Is this a giant's home?

It must have been, there was no other explanation for it. She did not see the man right away, which truly was foolish of her given that securing her surroundings had always been of the utmost importance.

Sometimes awe took precedent though.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]