Private Rending the Wound

[Onrai]

Sasmay Cull Runi Kuryida Shavara

"No..."

Onrai held the dataslate in her hands with a mix of shock and anger. The information on it chilled her to the bone - it was a note, a message from Sasmay Cull, her lovely Darkoninn who had been the thing she had cared about more than anything else in the entire galaxy. She had decided to go the one place Onrai had hoped she would never have to go, a place on the edge of the galaxy where the fabric of reality had slowly but surely grown weaker and weaker courtesy of the continued meddling with reality.

She had gone to the dimension of the Father of Shadows. And she hadn't brought the dagger.

The panic Onrai felt was substantial, as avatars on hundreds of worlds dissipated, their essence returning to Kinoss and further strengthening her. She was going to need every scrap of power available to her. The box within which the dagger was located soon came to her as she removed the blade, a more mortal form creating robes which they were hidden within the waist of.

But she would need more than herself for this.

Thus the offer had been made to both Runi Kuriyda and Shavara, the messages having been sent through highly encrypted channels, offering opportunities at which to join Onrai on the Ablution prior to a shuttle from it entering into the twisted, corrupted hellscape. Fear ran down her spine, fear that she was right - yet a belief still stood in the back of her mind that perhaps fear could be used to force them to stay where it was they resided.

Killing whoever it was that had taken her precious Sasmay would certainly work.

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: Purple Lightsaber
EQUIPMENT: Personal Robes
TAGS: Onrai Shavara Runi Kuryida

The forging of a blade to dispose of those potential dangers had been a worthy task. A way of cleansing the past with ease rather than dragging those that should never have worried about such into the matter.

The being that Onrai had lifted up from her mortal form into something like that of the Mother had believed in her abilities arrogantly to some. Or blindly to some. Curiosity to those that knew her. Ultimately, to perhaps the one that had created her, it was her drive to accomplish and appease others that brought about the consequences of such belief.

She had wanted to secure a place for her teacher and incidental mother to test their new weapon. Had wanted to make an effort to helping with the process in some fashion that wasn't just allowing herself to feel the emotions she had buried within herself so long ago.

To weep for a past that was unfair or unjust in her eyes and witness those making better out of their circumstance just as she could. If she had perhaps applied herself instead of allowing the universe to pull her along like an absent minded child. That time had done little to resolve the feelings she still held close to her core however.

Splitting the seams between had been easy enough with the fracture pointed out to her. A note left in haste to explain her intent. Perhaps it had not been enough. Or maybe just enough? She couldn't remember properly. Her head throbbed against the voice that now lingered in everything she did. Was it her own? How long-

You are doing wonderfully, keep going. Kurineth will be so happy with your efforts.

The voice whispered into the back of her mind. The warmth reminding her of what she had taken to achieve happiness. This strange between allowing her a chance to be happy. To live with someone that would not abandon her. That wanted to exist with her and see her grow.

That had created life with her.

No more friends to leave her again. No more hoping people would return to greet her. No more searching for purpose against the chance of the galaxy here in this strange place. A place she called home until sufficient planets had been devoured to-

She grasped her temple, long fingers tightening around the spot to steady her thoughts. Why did they want to leave? Images fluttered through of the small entity Bacathe kept about herself while Sasmay had been away. Had been working to devour energies from the unknown regions before turning her attentions toward the core worlds.

Violence and malice had ruled her life the past decade she had spent in the void. At first scouting for something. For someone. To...hunt? It was a blur now having spent such a time next to Bacathe and beginning a family. It felt like forever ago when Sasmay had stumbled across the other being in danger. Or had she been in danger?

Her form tensed beneath the questioning of her own memories. The small scar at the nape of her neck aglow as she shook her head, clearing her gaze before watching the hell scape around her flex.

She'd become intimately familiar with the strange occurances while trying to bring to heel the surrounding void. Carving out a small dominion of her own for rearing the small entity Bacathe kept safe for now. A twisted and sniveling imp like creature sprang for her from the crevice that led deeper into the void, a hand of starlight and the cold of space catching it by the face as it squalled and pedaled against her grasp.

Three eyes stared down, allowing it to exist a moment longer as the curses and screeches began to make the headache worse. Like plucking a flower, she let the thing flail on the ground without it's limbs, enjoying the sight before holding her hand over it to drain the life force in a slow and measured pace.

Exhaustion always came first.

The flailing slowing as more vigor was stolen until the only effort that could be made was that of breathing. The curses were only made between breaths as she siphoned more, watching the breathing slow even more, the eyes half glassed as she smiled. A little more stolen brought about a sleeping stage before her hand covered the being and snatched the rest of their life force away suddenly.

This was the power that would help secure a place for her child. Would protect them. Her form fluttered as she rose, gliding along towards the place that held the two most precious things in the Unknown for her.

The things that hadn't abandoned her as everything else had.

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi strode onto the Ablution with her helmet secured against the cloak of feathers against her back. Despite the lack of tension in her body, the Shaman did not offer even a small smile when she emerged from the vessel that had brought her there. This was no social visit, and the Speaker was already aware of ripples in the Manda. Her gaze would seek Onrai and await whatever the other woman/entity chose to confide.

If they set off in short order toward the thinning region of the plane, Runi would accompany them without complaint. Even when the fate of all things hung in the balance, the Shaman put the actions and decisions of others first. Any that chose to accomplish the task before them were free to do so. Runi would not seek fame nor glory in being that entity. However, should the balance fall too far out of favor for live to weather the storm, Runi would not allow the End to come. Not until it was time.

Sasmay Cull | Onrai | Shavara

 

[Onrai]

Of Bacathe

It had been so long since the others had been sealed in here. So long. Their torments endlessly inflicted, their dark whims eternally satisfied, yet the cycle of perpetual gratification had grown oddly stagnant. In a way, it was the punishment they deserved - whatever they desired in this dimension was granted, every action met with a predictable result. It was the most peculiar of hells, burdened with the knowledge that the one ultimate desire of those that had joined Nakhash had would never be satisfied.

Or would it?

Bacathe had regarded the newcomer with curiosity - it was she who had been entrusted with eternal watch over the seals, to know when they were broken so the fallen Celestials could wander the galaxy anew and achieve ultimate satisfaction. This newcomer was like them and yet not - she was like the one who came before, the afterbirth of the one Nakhash whispered to in order to fulfill their vision.

And she would serve Bacathe's purpose well.

Swiftly she had swept in to fight with the newcomer, pernicious and corrupting energies deviating from their eternal routine for the first time in hundreds of millennia. To her surprise, the strength of her opponent was great, and her resistance to the onslaught effectual. But soon, the wounds upon her frame grew more and more evident. Horns shattered. The eye of foresight gouged out as though a great godlike thumb had pried it free of Sasmay's scalp. Slashes of bladelike tendrils saw energy bleed from her form, and once she was finally worn through, Bacathe struck, her tendrils burying themselves deeply within the wounds of her enemy.

No, she would not be destroyed. Not when there was a greater purpose.

Slowly, over the course of what would have felt like years if not decades in realspace, Bacathe's own corruption was sewn within Sasmay. Her body, once a perfect sculpt of iron will, grew amorphous, easily molded to serve the fallen Celestial. Her mind, which had guided her along this path, began to rot, fog filling her thoughts as her initial purposes drew unclear. Why was she here? She was here to serve her new master, was she not? The one who had protected her within this realm? The one who had pumped the purity of her darkness and evil into Sasmay's soul, the vileness twisting and tainting the good and wholesome nature of godling into maleficent intent and unfettered devotion towards the one who had subjugated her.

And that was before the parasite.

It was as though a tapeworm had entered Sasmay's body. As she recovered, congealed around the new form and identity of what she had become, so too did the infernal life grow within. As she regained strength, it fed. What was once a mindless spawn of the dark Celestial soon began to understand the concept of thought, of sensation. The day eventually came when Sasmay was no longer able to contain the worm that burst forth from her essence, another more potent darkness spawned from her own. Yes, Kurineth, as she was called, would be the truly loyal servant, the despoiler and corrupter of a thousand worlds whose abominations would make those of the original Onrai look like nothing more than a mere birth defect. The bond the parasitic child shared with Sasmay even now still remained, a means of siphoning away whatever more strength and energy she was able to gain despite the intense potency of her corruption.

-

Of Onrai

"She is here." Onrai said to the duo aboard her shuttle. Shavara she expected to stay aboard the vessel, as there was no way a mortal such as she would be able to fight even the broken Sasmay and emerge unharmed - though she doubted it wouldn't stop her from trying. Runi on the other hand was of similar power to herself - but could she be corrupted or tainted by whatever horrors lurked within the confines of this twisted place?

Onrai emerged into the dark dimension through the wall of the shuttle. Her mouth opened and she cried out within the void, calling for Sasmay. Bacathe was aware of her from the moment she had entered, but now she believed the others knew as well - the cold gaze of Nakhash was upon her, a need for her to deal with this interloper.

Thus it was that Sasmay was sent to lead the way. For now, Bacathe would keep Kurineth away from the conflict as she was... untested.

Sasmay Cull Runi Kuryida Shavara

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi slowly rose to her feet as Onrai made for the exit. The Shaman paused beside Shavara and laid a hand upon her shoulder for a moment. "Remember who you are and that the Path is always beneath your feet, and the Darkness will have no sway over you." Her hazel eyes lingered on the woman for a moment. Whether the place would harm Shavara physical, mentally, or spiritually would be a battle the woman would have to fight if she chose to step outside; nonetheless, it was not one she had to do without spiritual armor -- the strength of which fueled from her own thoughts and convictions.

The avian helm of the Speaker was swept out from behind and slowly lifted into place atop Runi's head as she made for the exit as well. This was a battlefield, and as such a Mandalorian would enter prepared to do battle.

At the foot of the ramp, however, Runi stopped. Onrai called out for Sasmay, and nothing had yet responded. The beak of the helm slowly scanned the imperceptible horizon of the realm in which they'd entered. For the moment, the Shaman was content to wait, watch, and stand ready.

Sasmay Cull | Shavara | Onrai

 

[Shavara]

She really had gotten herself into a conundrum. A whole world of knowledge had been opened to her but with it came many dangers. And now she was on a ship heading into who knows wear. She wore all her typical attire and equipment, naturally. Probably the only thing giving her enough security to actually go wherever they were headed. Since a considerable proportion of any force ability used on her would go right into her own advantage. Still, she was not much of a fighter.

Shavara was fairly confident that Onrai would actually do something if it did get dangerous but she wasn't going to assume anything. Her shield and Kaliek had already been summoned to her. At her side, but still ready. A third arm had been grown beneath her robes as well, she didn't know what she'd need it for but combat could sometimes require just a little surprise.

She didn't know Runi Kuryida , another of the people who Onrai would. Still, the woman gave her some sort of words of wisdom. She looked at her for a moment and just nodded in response, she didn't fully know the context of 'path' but she knew a lot of terms for darkness. Whether that meant the 'dark' side or something worse.

"What should be doing?" she asked Sasmay as much verbally as telepathically, likely, she'd put the hood on after the answer. She wasn't going to take a risk that there was a telepath here with greater strength in the offense than she had in the defense. Best to prepare in advance.

shavaras-robes
shavaras-kestralis-ring
vuns-kaliek
shavaras-shield
gkchrn

Sasmay Cull Onrai Runi Kuryida

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: Purple Lightsaber
EQUIPMENT: Personal Robes
TAGS: Onrai Shavara Runi Kuryida

She heard that familiar voice call through the place she called home. Heard the voice that had instructed and pushed her along in the time before she had come to accept this between as a place of solace. The voice that had ultimately abandoned her to this as Bacathe had explained to her.

Had she explained it? It was an unspoken thing it seemed as she paused long enough to feel for Bacathe and receive the reassurance to deal with her teacher.

And others it seemed from the sense she was getting of those that had entered the realm.

One was her teacher, another unknown to her, and the last-Sasmay blinked as the being attempted mental communication. Her remaining eyes turning to the source as she cut a path across the realm to deal with those that were intruding. To deal with those that might alter the plans for Sasmay and Bacathe.

And ultimately Kurineth.

She held the mental image of her splendor appearing before them. The corruption that Bacathe had placed inside her altering her perception of the real to the point of being unable to recognize even her own form. What came before the trio was a haggard version of the being that was once Sasmay.

A bent back, hunched forward as though bound in chains that kept her to the intangible floor. Horns broken and third eye gone. The starlight that had once filtered through her eyes having changed to a glassy cream that seemed to look beyond them all. Relying on her perception of the force rather than seeing as she normally would. The whispy dark that had shrouded her form before was little more than dark swirls across her arms and legs, unable to go beyond the physical outlet of her body.

The gauzy cloth about her torn and frayed, hanging from thinned limbs that were scarred in runic symbols. Scar tissue prominent against the dark color of her skin from improperly healed wounds. Most of them jagged and deep in form, like lightning drawn across a canvas and let to their own devices to heal.

Her misconception of power made her feel as though she were well above those that had gathered here along the border of the Pocket dimension and the real. In truth, Sasmay was so drained of power that she was well beneath her teacher. Never mind the two entities before her and even the mortal might have had an easy time with what was once a formidable being compared to her teacher.

"Decades, and now you come to visit. No less with company. What brings you here, Onrai? There is nothing here to satiate that blade." She finally asked, letting her form straighten as best she was able.

 

[Onrai]

For the first time in a long while, Onrai shed a tear.

She had no concept of the horrors that had been inflicted on her student, her preeminent creation having been irreparably disfigured on a spiritual scale. There fact that she knew there was nothing she could do to heal the wounds the as-yet unknown had inflicted on Sasmay sent a wave of anger coursing through her flesh. She would find who had done this and end them, no matter what they were. Satisfaction would be Onrai’s at the end of the day, she was certain.

And yet, Sasmay spoke differently. Decades? It certainly had not been decades in realspace. The dimension they were in now was much like the Netherworld in that it defied the timescale of realspace. Fortunately for her, Otherspace had been particularly different in that regard, with less a distortion of time and more a distortion of normality and conventional reality as it was interpreted in the normal plane of existence they inhabited.

“You speak incorrectly, my beloved student. The moment I discovered your note, I gathered those I believed would best aid me in your rescue and traveled out here. The tear in this cosmic prison was made more evident by your actions - it was mere days before we arrived. You say there is nothing here for the blade to be used upon, and yet I sense the dark presence of what has mutilated your perfect poison and maligned you into the form you are in today.”

She brandished the weapon. “If there is no one here, then come with me and let us leave this place. We are not the ones to be imprisoned here.”

-

“None are imprisoned here.” A new voice said. From behind Sasmay slithered into view a cacophony of tendril-like shadows forged into a single ever-shifting mass. The sight was maddening and easily would’ve sent the average mortal screaming in a fit of unrestrained insanity. It clung to Sasmay in a possessive manner as a voice rang out.

“And thanks to your ‘beloved student,’ soon that statement will be truth.” Smaller tendrils seemed to branch from the shoggothic mass and pierce through Sasmay’s flesh, once more opening up the terrible scars as the corrupt essence of Bacathe was injected into her very being. “Once more we will walk where our brethren denied us, teaching mortals the truth of this reality - that we are the supreme ones.”

As the evil entity observed, she noticed the others who had come to aid her opposition. Shavara’s own telepathic abilities would soon be overwhelmed with a sense that she was an inferior form of life, whose best outcome for her future was to kneel and submit to the twisted paradigms of reality before them. Onrai sensed the attempt of Bacathe to perform such an action and sought additionally to push back against it - but it was proving particularly difficult. Then the eyes fell on Runi.

“Ah… sister. It has been a long time since I have seen you, Rilvel'klar.” She said, using a term that Onrai found particularly unfamiliar. “I see that some still wander in exile among mortals… The anguish of having watched their fall to corruption, the quadrillions of lives sacrificed and souls consumed… was it as good for you as it was for me?” She laughed.

Runi Kuryida Sasmay Cull Shavara

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi's helm fixed on Sasmay as the creature-entity manifested before them. A mortal might say it drew near or stepped out of the shadows... the perception hardly mattered. She was there. As was the thing behind her, which took a moment to make itself known. Grand entrances were a hobby of Old Ones. When everything was new and breathtaking it was hard not to indulge in a little extravagance. As some had been denied the rigors of time with sufficient company, such habits had yet been broken it seemed.

A habit Runi was pleased Onrai had seemingly yet to adopt. Aside from her use in messengers. After all, the three of them had arrived in a shuttle into another dimension -- not the most audacious way to cross over.

All of that were matters not of import, though. No, Runi was content to allow Onrai to lead the exploration. To support her in recovering a wayward soul as it were. Her usual means of interacting with the grand scheme of things -- everyone had their own story to tell. No one liked an intrusive supernatural entity meddling. Certainly not other supernatural entities.

Which brought them to a moment of concern, really.

As Runi stepped off the ramp and into that void the visage of a cloaked Shaman was swept away by that of a radiant, white Mandalorian with a long spear held firmly in their right hand. "Few have earned their exile as thoroughly as you and your kin. A loss for us all in the end, but certain measures became necessary." The butt of the spear rapped on the 'ground' with the toll of a bell. "As for your 'corruption' and 'sacrifices,' I find your success rate... wanting, Bacathe. Or have you turned your blind eye to my efforts to ensure every soul had as many chances as they needed to resist the failures of Old?"

Calling Rilvel'klar out by name was a grave mistake if Bacathe believed she would be leaving her prison. There'd been no surer way to have the humble Shaman stop holding back. It had certainly helped conjure up memories of the Time Before. Twice in such a short time to remember such ancient events -- and 'ancient' was understating it quite significantly. First Onrai, and now Bacathe. If Rilvel'klar didn't know better she would think this was a sign from a supernatural power; only they were such powers so that would be little more than a casual missive.

Onrai | Shavara | Sasmay Cull

 

[Shavara]

Shavara didn't receive an answer, instead she felt a presence and a feeling...and immediately she pulled the hood over her head, bits of flesh extending from her forehead to grip it in place even more firmly as the reach to her mind was met with resistance by her robes, her reaction changed quickly when it did. The putting on of the hood didn't fully negate all affects of the force telepathically, but the sudden and considerable reduction in the feeling confirmed for her that it was indeed a foreign one. She took in careful breaths, working to keep herself calm. Had their tactics been more subtle, and more suited for Shavara's own fears and thoughts, they might have made more progress. The ring furthered her mental fortitude in focusing on her own telepathic resistance, she was born in a land of telepaths who saw invading minds as the norm. And in that very land, Shavara was a spy. They would need to be more creative or much more forceful to make her bend a knee.

Then, on top of the energy being absorbed by her robes, her kestralis ring helping her remained focused, and her own mental fortitude, she began shifting her own body yet again, altering her brain to take on certain trait to that of a Falleen, to even further maximize her resistance to assaults on her mind. Her heart was certainly racing from the sudden pressure she'd felt, but a mental assault was far from anything new or unexpected for her.

And so, she sat down, a few extra eyes emerging on her to keep sight of all the angles. And then doing very little but taking it in. Meeting the barrage they gave her and what wasn't absorbed by the robes she would do her best to counter herself, she didn't need to counter-attack. Merely refuse to acknowledge any truth in a new reality, a new belief. Hold onto nothing but that which already existed, and guard herself from dangers. The Kaliek and shield just as read if they were to try a physical attack as a mental one.

She didn't know how much power they had yet, or how many tricks they had. And so she wasn't going to reveal any of her own. They surely realized that the robes were helping to protect her, but they might not realize that they were further empowering her in the process.

Shavara wouldn't risk trying to fight back, not yet. If they wanted to use the force on her directly she wasn't going to stop them. She doubted she could beat them in any way that mattered. But maybe she could hold on long enough that Onrai and her people could do what they needed to do....hopefully.
Onrai Runi Kuryida Sasmay Cull
shavaras-robes
shavaras-kestralis-ring
vuns-kaliek
shavaras-shield
gkchrn

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: Purple Lightsaber
EQUIPMENT: Personal Robes
TAGS: Onrai Shavara Runi Kuryida

Sasmay's Altered Perception

Days?

Time was a fluid thing in this realm it seemed with that revelation. Had it only been a handful of days outside of this place? Had time so thoroughly slipped between her fingers once more? Her sense of self and reality masked beneath a shroud that her mind clung to as a piece of debris in a ceasless ocean. It mattered little as familiar hands found her.

Nails bit into her skin, a language unspoken between them since Kurineth's creation to siphon power to the smaller being once she had ceased feeding from her own body.

Bacathe spoke, Sasmay's own mind beginning to focus on the inevitable as the words filtered through the unseen layers the other had woven into her mind.

Another presence emerged from behind them, scraping its way across the surface of the realm and seeking to secure its home. An unknown in the sense that it had remained unseen to Sasmay at least until now when a threat had appeared.

A smaller aberration than Bacathe though larger than Sasmay that crawled along, dragging its lower half that lacked appendages. The rotund lower portion of its body a bell shape that never seemed to still even when it drew near enough to interfere. It sucked in the air as though struggling to survive, it's upper half adorned with a number of limbs that joined directly to a large shape that resembled a face with too many eyes and a lid-less maw for a mouth lined with teeth from end to end along the rim.

The presence it shared was familiar to Sasmay and Bacathe both, a new formation of nightmares from their larval child. Kurineth had not been idle while Bacathe had been busy.

"Leave. This place. You. Are not welcome. Where. The matron-maiden. Treads." The entity hissed at Onrai, raising a pair of arms in protest at her before setting its eyes upon Shavara with a hungry greed. A mortal was a rare thing to see alive, and this one was seated for the moment. A seemingly easy target as it wheezed and groaned, rubbing another set of limbs together.

"You will not speak again unless told." Sasmay cast her eyes down to the being as energy coursed through her once more, the being shrinking slowly as though to placate her. Her gaze cast back to Onrai, she extended her arms to the side, tilting her head slightly in question.

"You are to stop us then? Destroy what I have made? Bring an end to your beloved student, teacher. No. Mother?" She dared to prod the woman wielding the weapon she had helped create. Knew what it meant to stand against it as she drew more from the delicate fingers that supplied her with strength.

 

[Onrai]

“And yet, those failures are yours, sister. We will escape the exile we have been put in, and all you have spent millennia seeking to preserve from us will fall.” Bacathe would’ve smiled if her twisted form had been capable of such - but for now there was only the reinvigoration of Sasmay, for she needed to be empowered for the conflict ahead.

“What is this?” Onrai asked, observing the abomination that sought to talk roughly towards the trio. It was a mere bauble, a corruption of whatever had once been - but it could not have come from Sasmay. No, her student would have created new life far less grotesque than this. She looked at Shavara, indicating there was an opportunity for her to contribute to the upcoming battle and engage with the abomination we’re she to so desire.

If not, Onrai would handle it.

“I have no choice.” She said, fingering the grip of the dagger. “If I allow you and Bacathe to escape this place and unleash yourself upon the galaxy, there will be nothing left for a goddess to do. My followers, all I have done for them would mean nothing, and I cannot let them down that way. Even if it means killing you, my greatest student.” She would’ve gulped if actually capable of doing such.

“If you view me as a mother to you, then I will mourn your loss, my daughter.” Onrai chose to make the first move, seeking to advance upon the duo in an attempt to bring things to a swift conclusion.

Shavara Runi Kuryida Sasmay Cull

 

[Runi Kuryida]

"You lack the ability to understand," Runi's voiced echoed in the Deep that surrounded them. Perhaps they'd sacrificed that part of themselves before Time began. Perhaps their Creation had never possessed it. Regardless, the endless blame and desire to see only the failures in others to suggest there was elevation of the self was a trait that burned bright with those like Bacathe.

No move was made at the arrival of a third. Long ago, perhaps, Runi might have laughed mirthlessly at its words. Not today. It treated this realm as a sanctuary. Blinded by ignorance and corrupted by the putrid designs of Bacathe's ilk. A sorry existence if ever there were one.

"Let lift the fog of war." Runi hefted and then thrust the tip of her spear out into the open air in one hand. Energy poured out in all directions from the Marble Mandalorian. Black gave way to gray and a towering fortress loomed near. It was made of unnatural angles where the eye could not linger on any one place, yet the Knowing of its appearance was gleaned regardless. It was a prison for the most foul of denizens too powerful at the time to destroy, and too dangerous to remain free. A pit of vipers with no Warden and no Guards to watch over it. The inmates did run the asylum, and Runi could only imagine what was afflicting Sasmay as a result of listening to their poison.

"No prisoner may leave these grounds alive. In whole," Runi's visor turned in Bacathe's direction, "or in part." The last being emphasized. Machinations of the Unholy were not as easily overlooked as they themselves believed. The benefit of having lived lives the horrors could only scarcely imagine. The reward for enduring so much suffering not of her own making, but as a consequence of the freedom Life had been given. "There is yet time for those to throw themselves into the arms of their family. One last choice to make." Though her gaze seemed to be with Bacathe, her last statement was for Sasmay.

As it should be, Runi would counter Bacathe if the entity sought to intervene directly into the conflicts of others. She had done enough, and was certainly not crossing over into the realm she hungered for greedily.

Shavara | Onrai | Sasmay Cull

 

[Shavara]

Shavara met the gaze of the strange creature...another risk. Her body began shifting form to the most familiar combat-capable thing she knew of, gaining most of the more combative features of an osorae. This was not really anything of note to her and while most Vran'Ti would find the form rather demeaning, it was one she knew well due to one of her crew. And so she was confident in her ability to shift back and forth without any risk or taking up much of her attention away from the telepathic threats. Though she didn't quite go all the way through, sacrificing some of the raw power of the claws themselves for a little more dexterity so she could maintain usage of her weapons.

She didn't do anything else about it, yet. But she had not quite been expecting Sasmay's reaction to Onrai. 'Mother'? She'd missed some of the conversation due to the sudden pressure on her mind, was that a literal or merely personal usage? Regardless...she wasn't sure she was happy with the use of the weapon on her. Not that she had a choice in the matter. And she was certainly not going to stop Onrai if Sasmay was a danger, she was certainly not fully herself compared to the last time she'd seen the being.

Onrai seemed to see the creature as something Shavara could deal with. Shavara took in a breath, she doubted illussions would be of any use here. But her tools and the force would. She did not want to make the first move, "It is not necessary to fight. But I am willing." She said to the creature, though she was still preparing, charging up the blade in her hand. She didn't look brave, even covered in scales and raised to nearly 3 meters in her altered form. But she wasn't exactly cowering either. "Your form is unfortunate; do you intend to keep it? It looks...unfinished." Even here it was hard not to wander at the potential ways the creature might function. It looked inefficient. But then again, her planet had the Koroshkil who were so social they could die from loneliness quickly, and instead of breathing simply ate in abundance. So efficiency wasn't always necessary.

Shifted form: Osorae. Less claw-like hands. 3 meters height. Has not fully shifted the mouth reducing its potential for biting but permitting speech.


Onrai Runi Kuryida Sasmay Cull
shavaras-robes
shavaras-kestralis-ring
vuns-kaliek
shavaras-shield
gkchrn

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: Purple Lightsaber
EQUIPMENT: Personal Robes
TAGS: Onrai Shavara Runi Kuryida

Sasmay's Altered Perception

Everything around her continued to fall apart no matter where she went. Even in the places she had made for herself. All of the work she had done for nothing. All of the effort for little more than dust between her fingers.

It infuriated her to no end.

"LET ME HAVE THIS, PLEASE!?" Sasmay screamed, begged while breaking from the grasp that Bacathe had about her. The glossy white of her eyes tear bright as she rose to meet her teacher.

Rose to meet one of the people that had brought her above the terrible pit she always found herself wallowing in.

Her mind raced as anger and bitterness twined into reality. The ground shifting and breaking beneath her as her own hand rose. The split of the ethereal land ripping loose jagged planar energy to push her mentor back.

"WHY MUST I ALWAYS GIVE AND GIVE WITH NO RETURN!?" The words were laced with pain and longing. Her milky white eyes forming globs of the ichor that had helped create the dagger now wielded against them. In place of tears, star filled poison formed along her cheeks and flowed freely and burned across her shoulders.

Another portion of planar landscape cracked and splintered, pieces swarming towards Onrai in an attempt to cage her.

The strange horror created from Kurineth's hand tensed as Onrai rushed forward, a number of its eyes splitting between the trio that had moved to attack those that resided here. The other had transformed, now a being that seemed to radiate a light that made it cringe away.

The spire was something else that made it content with dealing with the-

The eyes then shifted completely forward to focus on what was once a mere mortal. The eyes blinking once to ensure that it was not affected by the more powerful beings near it.

The mortal had shifted.

An all the more enticing morsel.

"Your essence. Shall be. A divine. Thing." The entity muttered between gasping breaths. The arms folding together into its body. The gaping maw forming sucker like tendrils as the limbs disappeared until completely consumed inside of itself.

It rose from the ground awkwardly, almost falling flat on its face before catching itself. An entity still new to existence as it pondered how best to deal with this threat. A low grumble preceded a snapping twist in its form, seeming to shift itself this way and that.

It screamed as it writhed and twisted, snapping it's own bones before spikes protruded from its skin, now loose and kept together by some unknown force.

The blob flew forward, seeking the transformed mortal with a hunger that Shavara would be able to recognize as something that believed itself a predator upon the kill.

Bacathe scoffed as Sasmay removed herself form her tendrils. The beloved student would no doubt fail to stop her mentor. But that was of little consequence in the end. She did not require the entirety of her puppet to fulfill her goal.

Just a portion of her.

The structure gained a passing glance as she looked to Rilvel'klar.

"I do not need to escape. Not when the veil between can be torn. Will, be torn." She merely had to last. The ripples across the edge began to grow slowly. The seams of the real and other coming undone from the whispered lies she had drowned her puppets ears with.

Crackles of power rose from the depths as Bacathe rubbed her tendrils together. Her puppet had done wonderfully. Runes burned themself into existence about her form, the farthest reaches of the realm seeming to grow in vibrance as Bacathe channeled more from the tethers that Sasmay had planted.

The veil thinned, stars peering through from where the trio had entered. The process had begun, if earlier than Bacathe had desired.

From Afar
The sound of fighting awoke the small being. Her mentors away from her as she felt the connection between herself and her host thinning before gorging itself on power.

Unaware of what was happening, Kurineth drank greedily from that connection as her mind wandered away from her form towards the sound of fighting.

 

[Onrai]

"I can't let you destroy the galaxy."

Onrai's words rang clear as she clashed with Sasmay, a hand interlocking with the broken shadow-being's own as her former student's other wrapped around the iron fist clenched about the grip of the ethereal dagger. The struggle between the two was now as direct as it possibly could be, Onrai's own gleaming eyes buried within her shadow-form gazing into the glazed, almost blinded optics of Sasmay herself.

"Look at what Bacathe has done to you, Sasmay. She has mutilated you. Your flesh is rent, your horns, broken, your eye of foresight plucked from your flesh. These runes exist to aid in weakening you. All she desires is for you to help her escape - then she will toss you aside without so much as a second thought. There are two options - either surrender yourself to me, and hopefully I can repair that which she has taken from you - or if you choose to continue aiding her, I will have no choice..." She looked at the weapon in her hand as she sought to push, to bring the edge of the blade ever closer to Sasmay and perhaps force her to make a decision.

Shavara Runi Kuryida Sasmay Cull

 

[Runi Kuryida]

A deep rumble that might have been a throaty sound of contemplation or a withheld sigh followed Bacathe's words. The helm of the Mandalorian turned to regard the impossibly-angled structure for a time as the creature spoke. It seemed the pillars still held. A hastily assembled pen in which to keep the unrepentant Fallen, but sturdy all the same. The butt of the spear rapped thrice upon the firmament once more.

"Torn." The word dropped in isolation for a spell. If she noticed the change in the environment, the Mandalorian gave no indication of needlessly gazing down and around at it. "To think Sasmay thought you wise. You turned your gaze inward too long. Consumed by the desires of the self. Ignorant of the power that surrounds. A failing you seem to have taken pains to instill in your 'student.'"

The spear struck for the ninth time, and five more Mandalorian warriors stepped from the first. "Your narrow mindedness shall be your undoing." With that the five armored figures darted away in a blur. Their essences would seek out the dark entity's tethers on the realm and begin wresting them free.

Though Runi had to admit what little Bacathe had accomplished in this matter was impressive given the celestial handicap of the soul. Such a terrible loss for her to descend so far into madness. That entire episode of Existence was a sad story of the death of kings.

"Now, then, Bacathe," the First Runi swept the spear forth and took hold of it in both hands, "one last time?" It had come too far. Runi would do what the Celestials had chosen or failed to do so very long ago -- she would end Bacathe's existence 'here' and 'now.' The Mandalorian advanced on the creature that sought to escape into the void to coil about all life and suck the marrow from its celestial bones. Few like her remain to perform this task; the rest chose to withdrawal and feign ignorance of their own arrogance. Perhaps if Runi were not still there the Old Fallen One would have a chance -- to play on Onrai's ignorance of who or what Bacathe truly was. Though, Onrai was not powerless as her efforts to date and shown.

Onrai | Shavara | Sasmay Cull

 

[Shavara]

Sasmay was not taking this well, but Shavara had to avoid spreading her focus too much. She didn't know just yet what she was going to be facing. Or what it's comment meant. But she understood that it was not going to be doing things peacefully. She readied herself as she sensed it's intent...an odd sense of amusement hit her, My first shrugak. Hardly traditional and the thought was pushed aside quickly as the creature lunged, it would be met with fire spat at its face. She had no idea if it would take any damage from it, but it was not meant as the attack. That would come when she used her wings to launch her upwards and over the creature attempting to cut into it from above. If it penetrated even at all, or if the broadside of the weapon made contact with the creature, the blade would generate an explosion from the portion that made contact.

Assuming there was nothing stopping her momentum through the air, she'd stay airborn to re-evaluate the situation while keeping her shield and sword ready to defend again. She truly had no idea what she was facing and that almost made it more terrifying than actually trying to take down a dragon on her own. But those were creatures of evolution and scientific advancement. This was an abysmal creature. Whether that made it more or less powerful, she wasn't sure. She just knew she couldn't take it lightly.

Onrai Runi Kuryida Sasmay Cull

Shifted form: Osorae. Less claw-like hands. 3 meters height. Has not fully shifted the mouth reducing its potential for biting but permitting speech.

shavaras-robes
shavaras-kestralis-ring
vuns-kaliek
shavaras-shield
gkchrn

(OOC: Sorry for the delay, I don't think I realized it was my turn)

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WEAPONS: Purple Lightsaber
EQUIPMENT: Personal Robes
TAGS: Onrai Shavara Runi Kuryida

Sasmay's Altered Perception

"I will have what I deserve!" Sasmay cried.

The world around her never settled for long. Always shifting for the worse no matter how hard her hands gripped that reality. Onrai met her, the dagger lancing forward as her own hand pushed back against it, keeping it away for the time being. The strength Bacathe had shared at first empowering her to push back.

"Wh-No! She wouldn't-She healed me! I remember it. We were…we were going to be a family." Her voice switching between anger and confusion as she visibly winced. Her strength failed her momentarily, trying to back away from the lock the duo were in as the dagger sang against the air beside her ribs.

The power of the dagger cleared some of the fog that wreathed her mind. Her eyes focused briefly as she stared at Onrai in alarm. The moment of clarity was merely a flash of recognition. Bacathes runes flared as she winced once more, a stupor seeming to rise as she clung to the remaining strength she had.

"Then this is the end. Whose we shall see." Sasmay sighed, the base of each horn flaking away until flush with the cracked ashen skin of her head as she consumed herself to garner more power.

When had she learned that? Why?

It didn't matter anymore. She had to protect what was hers. What she had made. What she wanted to be true. Energy flooded her once more as she pushed back, trying to wrench Onrai's wrist backwards.

Trying to turn the dagger upon its wielder.

-

Bacathe snorted at the idea put forward.

"Whether she believed me wise or beloved matters little. She was the vessel of my will. Other and able to move as she pleased." Bacathe spat. The spear rang, producing more of the helmeted warriors that ran forth to undo her efforts.

She writhed at the idea, hissing her displeasure.

"This will not be undone while I still exist. We deserve to be more than this." Bacathe spat, the air crackling as storms began to form. "You cannot stop this."

Thunder rolled along the plane, lightning attempting to strike down those warriors Runi had created before they reached their goals.

The direct attack by Runi however seemed to bring glee to Bacathe.

"A last to bring what should have been to reality." Her form wriggled before smoke filled the space around her. A slender form in dark colors emerged, advancing as Runi did. Mirth was colored by anticipation of victory as she attempted to turn aside the spear head and strike at Runi's calf with her own.

-

The shifted being spat fire, and moved to ascend. The skin across its surface boiled, the screech turning to a cackle as the blade came down. It was having fun with the situation.

At least until the blade produced an explosion.

"Nasty. Tricks." The entity spat, thrown to the ground as it recoiled from the blast. The remainder of its face turned up before lifting itself once more to attack Shavara.

It would once more try to envelope the new form with its own body. The breaking of its own body saving it from terrible damage having absorbed both against its round and blob like body

From Afar
With the link to her origin being drawn upon, even Kurineth felt the danger of the weapon that had merely kissed the air of her host. She ceased her draw of power, not wanting to bring an end to her supply of power just yet.

Her corporeal view of the scene was a strange one, overshadowed by those present save for the shifter and the abomination she had created.

Her gaze shifted to the duel between her host and another.

The dagger spotted as she wondered nearly aloud about its creation. About how to get a hold of that dreaded thing. How to keep it away from herself in the same breath as caution won against greed in the moment of thought.

Her view settled upon the being that her host spoke to, the teacher as her host had mentioned.

 

[Onrai]

"What you deserve is so much more, Sasmay." Onrai said as the duo continued to struggle with one another. "You deserve to be loved. To be treated like the nascent deity I had always hoped you would become. I regret that in my efforts to guide you, I could never give you the true affection which you deserved. The love of another." She focused for a moment, the edge of the dagger grazing but not piercing the shadowed unflesh of her fallen student's rib. Within her spirit, her own anger surged her to push on, to try and gain one final opportunity over Sasmay and end the confrontation.

"She lied. What grew within you and feeds from you still was not a child born of love, but a parasite, an innerwyrm that feasted upon all the blessings I had given you. Bacathe intended and still intends to let her devour your essence, Sasmay." She strained, seeking to raise a clawed foot to scratch at and damage the runes Bacathe had forcibly imprinted on Sasmay in a vain hope of damaging whatever puppeteering control the fallen Celestial had over her greatest creation. As Sasmay flexed Onrai's wrist back, the former Sith crying out at the pain of her hand being forcibly shifted in a way it was never supposed to do, she chose to take the opportunity - She raised her free hand and slid it and Sasmay's own over her head before sliding behind her and pulling the hand with the dagger towards her. If the maneuver worked, Sasmay would be both trapped by her own arm and impaled by the dagger as it was pulled into her own stomach.

"I'm sorry." Onrai said, giving Sasmay a momentary kiss to the back of her neck.

Sasmay Cull Runi Kuryida Shavara