The Blind

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Archaeology was always a strange hobby. One could never be sure as to what they might discover. Educated guesses were often made near the realm of what might be there, but that was the extent of certainty. Before Ession had fallen, Cedric had invested thousands of credits into the profession in hopes of discovering important lost texts. Some of those expeditions had borne fruit, most had not.

He lacked the resources for such endeavors now, and chose to go it alone. It was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the Graywall. The galaxy was in far too much chaos for Cedric to find any sort of peace in civilization.

Thus it was that he had come to Dxun, neutral territory for all that meant these days, and explore some of the Sith ruins that dotted the landscape. One such ruin was an old training academy that had been created to train Sith Assassins. The academy was little more than than stone coated in overgrown verdance now, but Dxun's uniquely wild state had kept industrialization from tearing it down.

Clad in full body armor, the Jedi Master strode alone through the moss coated corridors. His robes were dark brown, and pulled over phrik plates that covered the rest of his body. A helmet of similar quality gleamed from out beneath his hood, the large blue face plate catching the reflective light of that peered through cracks in the building's structure.

The ghost of a long dead lord was said to inhabit the very depths of the tomb. Cedric was curious as to what it might have to say.

[member="Shanoed Marais"]

 

[Shanoed Marais]

A period of rest. The Hunt would wait. The prey could live a little longer. She would always find them. Neutral land meant high tensions, which meant she might still find prey on this planet. The beast quieted as the slim figure slipped into an ancient corridor. Echoes of those who came before teased, just at the edge of her sight. There was another, more recent. She was not alone. Her bare feet moved slowly, heels never touching the ground, making nary a sound as she walked.

She wore a recent purchase. A pale blue dress whose dreamsilk material draped off of her body, the back trailing over the ground. There were subtle silver accents that made her platinum blond hair look like true platinum. There was a lightsaber on her hip, but any experienced saber master would know it was old, but rarely used. She wore a pale blue ribbon over her eye sockets that matched the dress. She was calm, at peace in the ruins.

She trailed her fingers along the walls, feeling the texture of the stone, where the stone met the natural life. There were memories in these walls, if only they would share them. What secrets were they hiding? She began to sway, losing herself in the ever moving Force as she followed the unfamiliar presence. She was doing nothing to mask her own energy. She never did.

Her pace was slow. If this was prey, it was no normal prey. This was not a simple looter. It was a curiosity. It would feel her, know she was getting closer. She wondered if it's hair stood on end and it jumped at shadows. Or was it as curious about her as she was about it? Was it hunting her now too? Her feet carried her quietly around the corner that placed her in the same corridor as the other presence. She kept walking forward, waiting for it to do something. If it was not prey, she would not waste time on it.

 

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There was a shift in the air. All force users interpreted the empyrean's effects differently. For Cedric, it felt as if the tides that flowed around the island that he envisioned himself as had begin to move in the opposite direction. A slight metallic smell to the air accompanied it, informing the experienced Jedi Master that he was most certainly not alone. When he reached out into the depths of the Great Ocean, he felt the presence of another.

This one was not steeped in the Bogan as he might have suspected. No protector of the old academy then, but something else. Perhaps an archaelogist? He reached out ever further, and felt the empyrean twisting about this figure tightly. A force sensitive.

The Jedi did not pick up his pace, but his curiosity toward the academy was changed to quiet suspicion. As he delved deeper into the ruined halls, he kept a hand close to his lightsaber. The empyrean only knew what it intended for him.

[member="Shanoed Marais"]

 

[Kalistelle]

[Ignore this]

 

[Shanoed Marais]

She saw it's back. How beautiful, the way the waves moved around this one. What was it's story? It was certainly strong, would make an interesting hunt. Slow, deep laughter came from her as she swayed along behind him, her fingers still trailing along the wall. "This one is curious, it wants to know what this place is." Her voice was almost a purr when she spoke. She took a few more slow steps before she darted towards him. She was incredibly fast and light on her feet.

She caught up to him and danced around him, looking him over. "This one is strong, but how strong?" Now close to him, her pale skin near glowed when the light hit it. After circling the man once she stopped in front of him and leapt back, further down the corridor. She seemed to be staring at him, but she was reaching out to him through the Force.

She was learning him, in the way that he held himself, in the way that he reacted to her. In the way that the waves danced around him. Her body seemed to always be swaying, her hands moving at her sides, like she was being moved by a river's current. "I'm curious, what is this one's name?" The Miraluka tilted her head, her expression as blank as stone, her words near devoid of emotion.




[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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There are only a few moments in a man’s life when he might be completely overwhelmed by sudden nostalgia. Now was one of the first of such for Cedric.

At first, the Jedi Master grew completely still. His mind raced through a dozen different options; the threat this woman posed was yet unknown. It was only when he caught the platinum tresses bouncing around the lithe form’s face that some of his apprehension faded. The woman moved in a way that was eerily familiar to Cedric, and her manner of speaking only served to further spur on the darkest corners of his memory.

He recalled a young girl, hair white as snow, standing alongside him overlooking Ession’s capital. He remembered the poetic way she had spoken, and the loving madness that lingered behind her pale blue irises. The way the stranger danced about him was much akin to the girl, who had spent her days frolicking about the city in her drug induced state of eternal bliss.

It was only when Cedric caught site of the mask pulled around the woman’s eye sockets that he realized [member="Lysandra"] had not come to find him again after all these years. For a moment, the veteran’s heart had been moved by emotions he’d long since abandoned in the pursuit of clarity, and he cast them aside like the useless detritus they were the moment he confirmed the stranger was not his lost wife.

“Strong enough,” he replied, his voice like boulders falling down the side of a mountain. He paused for a moment, his masked head tilting slightly as he observed the woman. “My name is Cedric,” he added, a hint of curiosity lacing his words. “I think the better question is whom you might be.”

[member="Shanoed Marais"]

 

[Shanoed Marais]

Laughter bubbled out of her when the man admitted he was strong enough. That sounds like a challenge to her. The beast stirred in her head and she took a step closer to him, her fingers flexing. "Cedric." She tried his name out then clicked her tongue softly. "This one is strong and it's name is Cedric. This one is not prey, not yet."

She seemed to be chiding herself as she took a step back, her expression becoming as blank as stone. "This one is distracting me from learning. Why is Cedric here?" Her voice held an almost angry, accusatory tone, as if he had invaded her privacy. She walked further down the hall then stopped and turned back to face him. "I'm the Crystal Spyder." She introduced herself, answering his question, as though it were a mere afterthought.

Shanoed seemed to all but forget him then as she spun around. Her fingertips returned to the wall, trailing along it as she walked away slowly. "How long abandoned..." The beast quieted again, going to sleep as her silent footsteps carried her further in. Her voice was soft and calm again. The dress swayed around her form. That was one reason she loved them. With her pale skin, pale hair, and masked eyes, the dresses gave her an otherworldly appearance at night. She thrived on frightening unsuspecting looters who didn't know the difference between a living creature and a spirit.

About her third step in, she started to hum softly. It was an eerie, mournful tune. This she did unconsciously. It was a beloved song that reminded her of home, of her family. Of the reason she hunted. It brought her sanity, her humanity back. Her fingers just trailed along the wall beside her. "The best knowledge is usually hidden further in.." She interrupted the humming for a moment to speak, acknowledging that she wasn't alone, then started humming once more.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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This whole situation was beginning to eerily feel like a trap. The ancient academy was said to be abandoned by most scholars, most of its secrets having been excavated long ago. It was only the lowest of levels that remained untouched, and it was said that several disasters had befallen the archeologists that had tried to delve to deep.

Perhaps this one - the crystal spider she called herself - was part of those disasters. There was no way to tell, save for trudging forward.

“I came out of curiosity,” he answered plainly, either not picking up on her nearly hostile tone, or simply choosing to ignore it. Likely the latter. “I had heard tales of an old spirit being bound to this place. It’s an ancient one, likely as older than several of the planets in this system. It may have answers to a few questions I have,” he explained as he slowly followed behind the near-specter.

Her bare feet, lithe form, and billowing dress were a stark contrast to the rather heavy suit of armor that Cedric was encased in. She was silent, while each of his footfalls rung through the corridors like a falling hammer. Stealth was rarely something Cedric concerned himself with.

“You said you were learning,” Cedric made a half-hearted attempt at conversation as they walked. “I take it you don’t live here then?”

[member="Shanoed Marais"]

 

[Shanoed Marais]

She heard him following. How interesting. She had never explored an ancient place with a partner before. This one wasn't hostile though, and she didn't know his war crimes, so she had no reason to attack him. Yet.

She turned her head back slightly when he spoke, "looking" at him over her shoulder, before turning her head forward again. She listened to him as she swayed further down the hall, still humming her eerie tune. When he asked his question she let lightly tapped the wall. "I am not from here. Here is a place to rest, before the next hunt."

She lightly brushed away webbing that was in her way, not even flinching when the insect responsible for it fell on her bare forearm. She grabbed this insect in her other hand and crushed it, before lazily brushing the remains from her hand on a vine as she passed it. "Curiosity is deadly. This one is strong, but does Cedric fear death?" There was a hint of curiosity in her voice, but it remained otherwise calm, even. "The Spyder doesn't fear death. I will find that which is hidden here."

The way she kept switching from first to third person was another indication she rarely talked to other people. There was peace to her, but an underlying bloodlust. This woman had taken many lives, and was at peace with it. Everything about her at the current moment was calm, like she was walking through the halls of a beloved home. Her words showed through in her actions. She was not afraid, even after his words about an ancient spirit lurking the halls of this place.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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"There is no death," Cedric replied plainly, his tone implying that any argument to the contrary was a fool's notion. "I have faced many great evils in my travels. An old angry ghost isn't something I'm particularly worried about," he continued, squinting into the darkness they delved further into the academy. The hall ended ended in a stairwell that descended deeper into the darkness. The thin light that shone through small cracks in the building's structure did not pierce this deep, and the result was a thick darkness.

There was a spark to the air. It was almost coppery in taste, just strong enough to notice, but subtle enough not to be worrisome. "I suppose we're going to the same place. If you'll watch my back I'll watch yours, Spyder," he half-snickered when he said the name. He'd never been one for any sort of moniker aside from those of rank.

"What exactly do you hunt?" The Jedi asked as he toggled the night vision on his helmet. The ruins were cast in a bright green hue, and he made out large strands of what looked to be dead vines that hung from the top of the stairs into the darkness below.

[member="Shanoed Marais"]

 

[Shanoed Marais]

No death.. What a strange thought. She had already started down the stairs when she heard the slight shift in Cedric's pace. She paused a moment, tilting her head. Ah, it must be because it's darker here. She waited until his pace returned to normal then she started down the stairs once more. She tasted copper on the air, and the beast stirred in her mind. He asked her to have his back, and he would have hers. A strange notion. I threatened to kill my previous comrades.

Then, he asked her what she hunted, and the beast took the bait. Shanoed spun, darting up the stairs and spinning around Cedric to put herself behind him, one step higher. One hand came down to hover next to his chin while the other hovered at the back of the base of his neck. She leaned forward and near growled in his ear. "You." She then suddenly withdrew her hands, running them through her hair. "Not you. Cedric isn't prey. Other force users, like you, like me. Cruel people. I hunt them. I kill them. I end their threat forever. I do what they can't."

The Miraluka frowned, as if she was warring with herself. "Cedric on not prey." Shan put her face in her hands for a moment before rubbing it and returning her hands to her side and gesturing for him to continue down the stairs. "I will have this one's back, for now." Her voice was calm again. She was in control of the beast again. She was clearly not used to holding her blade when near a force user. Though her hands never once moved for the saber on her hip. Clearly, she normally used a different weapon against her prey.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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A lifetime of war had honed Cedric's senses to a fine point. He'd expected little danger from the Miraluka, taking her for an eccentric at the most, but it seemed his expectations were wrong. He instinctively drew in a small condensed bubble of telekinetic energy around his body, and was preparing to expel it violently outward just as she pulled away. It was only those very same years of training that allowed him to disperse the energy before it blew, leaving Cedric rather frazzled to say the least.

"You hunt Sith?" He asked warily, quite aware of the danger the so called Spyder presented now. He lofted a brow at her words, momentarily taken aback. He had seen other such confused creatures, ones whose seclusion had resulted in the formation of multiple minds within the same body. He suspected the very same of the Miraluka, though he would not give word to it. In his experience, exposing the poor souls for what they were rarely went well, especially if they were dangerous.

Better to have her on his side.

"Let's not have any more of the mock neck snaps, alright?" He asked as he started to trudge down the stairs once more, the scent of copper growing ever stronger the further they descended.

[member="Shanoed Marais"]

 

[Shanoed Marais]

Shanoed didn't move as he continued down the steps. She watched him for a moment then slowly, silently, followed behind him. The only sound she made for a while was the sound of her fingers trailing against the wall. Eventually, she spoke again. Her voice was calmer, clearer now. Like she was slowly getting used to talking. "I hunt Sith, Jedi, Luka Sene. Any one who abuses the gift of the Force. You have nothing to fear from me as long as you are not among that number."

Her expression was as blank as stone as she continued. "Besides, this is a confined space, and I don't have my weapons. Cedric currently has the advantage. I gain nothing from attacking you." She fell quiet again for a moment before she brushed past him and danced a few steps ahead. "But you are a curious one, Cedric. I have lunged at you twice, and you haven't raised a hand. Do you not fear that I will actually attack you? Perhaps you believe I pose no real threat? Even still, it could be because you are simply very patient."

She seemed almost to be talking more to herself than to him at this point. She puzzled over him like he wasn't there to answer her questions. Then she stopped and tilted her head. There it was again, just at the edge of her vision. Something was influencing the Force in this place. "How curious. Perhaps your stories about a spirit are true. You won't scream if you see one, right?" She turned her head back to him, the ghost of a smile teasing her lips before she started walking down the steps again.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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Normally he would have waited for her, but something about the Spyder made him continue walking. He was rather sure she'd keep up with him one way or the other, given his attentions or not. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, the scent of copper almost overpowered his senses. There was something else to the air as well, sickly sweet like meat that the butcher had left out too long after cutting. The academy stank of death.

"I doubt many Jedi would abuse such," he mused, eyeing her warily from the corner of his eye. "What are you anyway, if you hunt all these things? Luka Sene?" He asked, having met one of their kind before. That one had been similarly odd in mannerism, and it seemed being Miraluka was one of the qualifiers for membership.

"I don't think you'll attack me, no, or rather I feel like you'd probably announce it first." He explained as he began to walk down the only hallway forward from the stairs. The stench grew stronger, making Cedric's nose curl up in distaste. "I'm not really the screaming type. Figured that might be more of your forte." He jabbed in an attempt to building up a rapport. He figured such would be important, given the unpleasant aura that pervaded the academy's depths.

[member="Shanoed Marais"]

 

[Shanoed Marais]

As they entered the hallway her hand left the wall, coming behind her, where she met it with her other hand, holding them both there. She swayed as she moved, but her muscles were tensed. She was like a predator preparing to pounce. That energy wasn't directed at Cedric though. It was directed in front of her, in the direction the smell had to be coming from. This place wasn't going to be a peaceful experience.

Since there was no true threat for her to focus on, she allowed the man to distract her with conversation. "Jedi are not infallible. They have so much pent up anger. Sith are more open about their abuses, more proud of it. Luka Sene... Luka Sene are deadly." She hummed a low note then shook her head. "I was Luka Sene. They hunt me now. Some day, I will be forced to kill them, but for now, they haven't found me. The woman they knew..." Her voice fades for a moment, then she speaks again, softly. "She is dead."

Sadness tinges her features for a moment before it is gone again. "You are right. I likely would announce my intent to hunt you. There is something about the fear in my prey's eyes, knowing they are being hunted..." A devilish smile curls her lips as she turns her head back towards Cedric, still walking calmly. "Maybe I get a little thrill from inflicting the terror that their victims felt upon them. Luka Sene kill as a last resort. Some don't deserve redemption. Some deserve to die."

She turned her head forward again. "And no, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't scream. I make people scream."

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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The empyrean was remarkably calm for how dreadful reality felt. Cedric cast himself into the Great Ocean for a moment, only to find the tides swirling gently as if nothing were amiss. A more inexperienced Jedi might have taken that as safety, but Cedric knew better. Whatever lingered within the depths of this place had kept itself well hidden from the prying eyes of the Force - it had no desire to be known.

That only spurred Cedric's curiosity onward.

"The Jedi aren't infallible, no," he agreed, "Still, I doubt there are many." He remarked as they continued down the seemingly endless hallway. "Why do the Luka Sene hunt you, and why is the woman dead?" Cedric asked rather bluntly, his voice carrying through the silent hallway and echoing off some unseen structure further down.

The way in which the Spyder spoke of killing did not sit well with Cedric. "You sound more like the people you claim to punish than you might think," Cedric mused, "Taking pleasure in the act of meting out justice is a quick path to damnation. Do your duty only when it is must required, and take no joy in it. Pity the damned souls for all the good they might have done for the galaxy had they walked a different path."

Something far ahead crunched, like a boulder crashing against granite. Cedric halted immediately. "That doesn't sound like a ghost."

[member="Shanoed Marais"]

 

[Shanoed Marais]

She mused his questions as he asked them, tilting her head. "The Luka Sene hunt all who go rogue, like me. We are not fond of spreading our teachings. Their teachings." She corrected herself. "The woman they knew.. never could have taken the lives that I have. I had to become a new person." He went on to compare her to the people she killed, but she didn't deny it. Wouldn't. She knew it was true, that somewhere along the way she had lost herself, lost the reason she had started doing this in the first place.

"I never intended to be the good guy in the history books. The Luka Sene were all I knew, and I couldn't stand watching them capture people who were later released to continue their heinous behavior." She listened to his words of wisdom but was interrupted by the sound before she could respond. She froze, her senses flaring out. There, a flicker. It was hiding from her.

"I don't know many spirits that hide. I also don't know many spirits that haunt places that still smell so strongly of death." She agreed with him before edging a little further in. Her Force Sight mapped the corridor and chamber before them. "Do you think, perhaps, it is a guardian, left to prevent looters from reaching the inner chambers?" She lowered her voice, whispering to him now, though her voice was distracted as she was constantly looking around. Something that was invisible to her... She had to ask, just in case. "Can you see it?"

@Cedric Grayson

 

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A hand fell toward the lightsaber at Cedric's hip. He reached out into the empyrean ever further, and felt nothing. The hallway opened up to what felt like a massive chamber, and that was where the cracking noise had come from. The Jedi's brow furrowed as he cautiously stepped closer. "A guardian most likely. I've an idea as to what it might be, given the stench, but I can't make out anything." He informed as he cautiously stepped through the mouth of the hallway.

The cavern they stepped into was massive. It could have easily contained a stadium of hutt ball fans. The ground was black obsidian, the walls of the cavern a similar material. Pale moonlight seeped in through a fissure at the apex of the cavern, illuminating the chamber in a dim white glow.

Something massive stirred at the center of the cavern. Its brown, mottled hide glistened in the moonlight. Wicked tusks poked out from a mouth full of bladed fangs. Beady black eyes were transfixed on something at the creature's feet. The beast easily stood four meters tall, and was half as wide. Sharpened claws the size of vibroblades clacked as it pulled at what could now be seen to be the corpse of a large farm animal.

"Terentatek," Cedric whispered, his lightsaber slipping into his hands as the beast turned to look up at the two of them. It just stood there, staring for the moment.

 

[Shanoed Marais]

Her own fingers brushed across the saber at her side. As he moved closer, she stuck close to his back. He clearly was more suited to taking a hit than she was, so why shouldn't she use him as a shield? As she stepped into the cavern she felt her skin crawl and resisted the urge to throw up. It was positively rancid in here. She brought a hand up to pinch her nose, her head snapping to the great beast as it turned to look at them.

"Well, so much for the element of surprise. It's big, it's ugly, and it could really use a bath, but that just means it's guarding something of value. Nothing worth doing is easy." Her voice was grim as she took the saber into her hand. "We'll have to discuss your belief's on killing later, because right now, it's kill or be killed." As she said this she slipped away from him, edging further into the cavern along the wall. She knew she was quicker than the hulking beast, knew if it charged her, she could leap out of the way at the last moment, and force it to ram it's head into the cavern wall.

She hadn't yet ignited the saber, she seemed reluctant to. The beast would have to act. It would have to choose it's target. Would it choose her, and discover how hard the wall was? Or would it choose Cedric, and open itself up for her to attack it? Would Cedric stay and fight? Or was she going to fight alone? Questions swirled in her mind. Questions she hadn't had to ask herself for a long time. She'd only had herself to worry about for so long... She would protect him. That was the thought she focused on. She would protect him. He would leave these ruins, even if she did not.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

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Cedric had only faced such a creature twice before. Each time, he had left the battle with more than a few bloody wounds. He did not relish facing one again, though this time he did have the advantage of not being alone. Perhaps things would actually go well this time - the Force only knew.

The Spyder moved before Cedric did. The lithe figure caught the beast's attention, and the Terentatek turned its gnarled head about violently, teeth gnashing as it broke into a dead charge at the Miraluka. Its horned head was lowered, the jagged hunks of sharpened marrow aimed to impale the Miraluka before she could escape.

Cedric stepped forward, his cyan blade roaring to life. The Blade of Ruusan was no ordinary weapon. It was infused with the very Light itself, and its aura made the beast falter for a moment, slipping over its own foot and sliding straight toward the wall that the Spyder now resided against.

Cedric was too far to do much, and opted to rip a chunk of obsidian from the nearby wall with an expression of telekinetic will, and hurled it at the Terentatek. The beast barked in pain, but otherwise seemed unaffected by the rather massive shard that had been hurled at it.

[member="Shanoed Marais"]