Private The Resonance Below

[Vaelith Rhaen]

The ruins did not feel dead, and that realization settled over Vaelith long before she ever stepped fully into the abandoned complex itself. While most ritual sites eventually emptied with time, even those steeped in violence or saturated with dark magick, losing their sharpness as the years passed, this place had not settled. Instead of the Force quieting as emotions dispersed into memory, the site lingered with the unnatural persistence of something unfinished, its echoes refusing to fade.

Vaelith stood at the edge of the crumbling pathway, her pale gaze moving slowly across fractured walls and half-collapsed archways swallowed by creeping vegetation and silver-gray fog. The complex appeared ancient, far older than any modern settlement on the world, with structures carved from dark volcanic stone and threaded with reflective mineral veins that caught the moonlight whenever the mist shifted. The silence here was absolute; no wildlife moved nearby, no insects hummed within the marsh grass, and even the swamp seemed reluctant to approach too closely. That hollow stillness concerned her more than any overt display of darkness could have.

She moved forward carefully, dressed in attire suited for travel rather than ceremony. Layered fabrics in muted ash and weathered ivory rested close to her frame to avoid hindering her movement, while subtle bone and metal talismans hung quietly at her waist alongside a compact satchel of ritual tools. Nothing about her appearance carried the overt grandeur of Nightsister rites, for out here, practicality mattered far more than spectacle.

As she descended farther into the ruins, her attention settled on the center of the complex, where the remains of a ritual circle still scarred the stone floor. Though time and weather had fractured much of the structure, enough remained intact for her to recognize the design immediately as one of containment, rather than invocation or summoning. That distinction alone transformed the nature of the reports surrounding the site, lending a darker weight to the fragmented stories reaching the Nightsisters. Travelers had spoken of vivid dreams, hunters claimed to hear voices beneath the earth, and one man had been found waist-deep in black water, dehydrated and incoherent while carving the very symbols of these ruins into his own flesh.

No one understood how the connection worked, but Vaelith intended to find out.

She slowed several meters from the circle, allowing her awareness to expand through the Force in careful increments rather than recklessly opening herself to the unknown. The response was immediate: a structured, immense pressure that was neither aggressive nor hungry. It unsettled her more deeply than overt malice would have, as most dark side nexuses announced themselves through predatory intensity. This felt different, layered and ordered, as though countless overlapping intentions had settled into the stone over centuries until they became a single resonance, like a vibration lingering just beneath audible perception.

Vaelith crouched near the edge of the circle to study the carvings, noting that while many had eroded, others remained disturbingly precise. As she traced the geometry mentally, following the flow of the design piece by piece, she realized that someone deeply knowledgeable had built this, and whatever they had attempted had not simply failed.

Slowly, she extended one hand toward the stone. Thin currents of pale green ichor gathered between her fingers in delicate strands, and she fed only the smallest amount of energy into the fractured markings to test for responsiveness. The ruins reacted instantly, with sickly light spreading beneath the stone in branching veins as dormant pathways awakened with alarming speed.

Vaelith withdrew her hand and rose smoothly to her feet, her composure intact even as sharper calculation settled behind her gaze. The ritual had not burned itself out; it had remained active. Somewhere beneath the ruins, a low reverberation rolled upward through the stone, a vibration she felt through her boots before it faded back into the fog.

The reports had understated the danger. This was not the aftermath of a failed ritual, but the chilling remnants of something interrupted.

Vex Drakkon

 

[Vex Drakkon]

As nightfall came, Master Vex Drakkon slipped away into a deep sleep, one that he would never forget. During this sleep, Vex found himself having a vision of a planet soaked with red sands, a dark past and present, along with danger lurking around every corner. Not only that, but it also seemed that within the vision, the Master Jedi could see a woman through all the darkness that surrounded this mysterious female. But what stood out the most to Vex, was the fact that this woman was able to conjure up some sort of green magic to do as they pleased.

When Vex awakened from the vision, he shot up from the bed, drenched in sweat from the amount of emotion that was felt from the vision itself. He felt drained, as if whatever it was took every ounce of energy he had left. Regardless of the matter, the Jedi Master got up, and found his way to the cockpit of the ship, punching in coordinates to Dathomir. The ship went from settling in space, to launching forward at max speed, like Vex felt this was some sort of life-or-death cause. Maybe it was, but the fact was, Vex needed answers immediately.

It wasn’t very long before Vex Drakkon could see the red planet in the distance. A smirk formed on his lips just before speaking out loud to himself. "Good thing Meri is asleep, she won’t even notice I am gone. I will lock the ship just in case, though." He muttered, while pushing the throttle forward to accelerate towards the planet’s atmosphere. Meri would be awake in a few hours, so Master Drakkon had to get the answers he needed before that time was up, because leaving her alone was risky enough, and she didn’t need to ask questions that even Vex might not know the full answer to.

The ship cruised through the atmosphere slowly, allowing Vex to find the perfect spot to land to ensure Meri’s safety through all of this chaos. Once he found a small cave just large enough to hide away his ship, Vex came down and landed the ship gracefully within. As the middle-aged man stepped down the ramp, he could instantly feel the pressure of the force that dwelled on the planet. It was intense, to say the least, but Vex had to get his answers, so he moved forward away from the spacecraft to begin the journey across Dathomir. He had zero idea of what to expect, but with the dark side of the force so strong, Vex had no choice but to take things slow.

Vaelith Rhaen​

 

[Vaelith Rhaen]

The reverberation beneath the ruins faded slowly, yet the pressure saturating the complex refused to diminish, leaving Vaelith motionless beside the ritual circle. Her pale gaze remained fixed on the faintly illuminated fractures threading beneath the stone floor, watching as the last traces of ichor dissipated from her fingertips. Although the carvings had lapsed into dormancy almost immediately after responding to her touch, the lingering sensation within the Force felt subtly altered, as if, in her moment of contact, the ruins had become unsettlingly aware of her presence in return.

That realization unsettled her more than she cared to admit, for while most ancient ritual sites behaved predictably through lingering energy and repeating echoes, this place felt responsive. It wasn't alive in any conventional sense, but it possessed an attentiveness she deeply disliked.

Stepping slowly away from the center of the circle, Vaelith cast her attention across the surrounding decay with a sharper, more clinical scrutiny. The fractured pillars and collapsed walkways no longer appeared merely abandoned; instead, she began to discern a hidden structure beneath the rot, a series of subtle geometric relationships that suggested the original architects had designed this site with an intent extending far beyond a simple containment ritual. Her gaze eventually settled on a partially collapsed archway at the far end of the complex, where several symbols remained unusually intact despite the surrounding erosion. These markings differed slightly from those in the primary circle, not as contradictions, but as auxiliary stabilizers, reinforcement points, or perhaps even locks.

Vaelith approached the archway with measured steps, her boots scraping softly against the damp stone while fog curled low around her ankles. The oppressive resonance within the Force thickened as she moved, growing not necessarily stronger, but more focused, evoking the sensation of standing near a vast, hidden machine and hearing only the isolated clicks of its internal gears.

Then, abruptly, her attention shifted upward as a distant sound rolled faintly across the swampy sky.

It was the unmistakable drone of engines, muted by distance and heavy cloud cover, but clear enough to anyone accustomed to the occasional intrusion of offworlders onto Dathomir. Her eyes narrowed as she tracked the noise through the fog, watching the sky until the sound faded into the distance. Someone else had arrived, and the timing of it tightened a knot of unease within her thoughts. The reports surrounding these ruins had already spread further than she preferred, and places of such power possessed a localized gravity for the wrong kinds of attention, treasure hunters, desperate sensitives, or worst of all, scholars.

Though she remained cautious, stretching her awareness toward the horizon to monitor for further disturbances, she refused to abandon her investigation prematurely. As she neared the collapsed archway, the pressure within the Force shifted once more, the resonance beneath the ruins tightening around her feet like unseen threads drawing taut within the earth. Vaelith slowed, her posture sharpening as she studied the floor ahead, noting how fine fractures spread across the dark volcanic rock in branching patterns that were almost, but not quite, identical to the ritual circle behind her.

They weren't just similar; they were connected.

Crouching carefully, she brushed aside loose fragments of stone to reveal additional carvings that had been shielded from the elements. Unlike the surface circle, these symbols showed no signs of age, appearing preserved as if the ruins themselves had intentionally hidden them. Her expression hardened as she traced the geometry without making physical contact, realizing that the design no longer resembled simple containment. Layered beneath the original structure was a secondary pattern so complex and deeply interwoven that it would have remained invisible had the upper carvings not deteriorated first.

It was a design never meant to be seen, and as that realization settled coldly into her mind, the low reverberation returned, quieter than before, but undeniably closer.

Vex Drakkon

 

[Vex Drakkon]

As Vex ventured forth on the crimson planet known as Dathomir, the planet’s environment shifted within seconds of the Jedi Master walking forward. Fog settled in, causing it to be extremely difficult to see. But what settled in most was the dark side of the force. It echoed throughout the entire planet, stretching across every plain, every mountain, every drop of water. It was tainted, to say the least. But that wasn’t going to stop Vex from getting the answers he so desperately needed.

With the darkness clouding this place, Vex had no choice but to be cautious of everything around him. Anything was possible when it came to a place that was surrounded by the force, especially the dark side. The intoxicating feeling continued to weigh down on the Jedi Master, but his focus remained on the presence that lived nearby. Was this a foolish action from Vex, dropping everything on some sort of vision that haunted him the night before? Only time would answer that question. But for now, the man remained focused on what needed to be done.

Just when Vex thought he was on a clear path to his destination, he was surely wrong when he found himself staring down from what seemed like a cliff with an endless pit beneath it. Lucky for him, there was another cliff just ahead, but it was much further split apart than he thought. Any normal being would need some sort of device to trek across, but with the help of the force, Vex would make it across with no issues. So that is exactly what the Jedi Master prepared for, taking a few steps back to get enough distance to run before jumping. He then let his breathing slow, while concentrating on gathering the force, and allowing it to embrace him and help push him over to the other side.

Now the Jedi Master was ready. He sprinted a few feet forward, then with the help of the force, Vex leaped forward, and the force ended up doing the rest. The man launched from one side of the cliff to the other with ease, landing on the opposite side with grace. As Vex managed to land on the other side of the cliff, what sounded like a voice asking for help stretched across where he landed, as if it was an echo in the distance. It was the dark side of the force, trying to lure the Jedi to the darkest part of the planet. What for? Probably to torture him, and spit him out a whole new being, one tainted with the darkness of Dathomir. "I-i can’t. No, I won’t." He muttered, rejecting any of the darkness that was thrown his way for the time being.

Vaelith Rhaen​

 

[Vaelith Rhaen]

The reverberation beneath the ruins shifted again, subtle enough that Vaelith almost mistook it for imagination at first.

She remained crouched near the exposed carvings beneath the collapsed archway, her attention fixed on the preserved geometry hidden beneath the ritual structure's upper layers. The symbols no longer resembled simple containment once viewed together. There were repetitions within the design that should not have existed, overlapping pathways and mirrored sequences arranged with an intentionality she could feel more clearly than she yet understood.

Then the pressure within the Force changed. Not dramatically. Just enough.

The sensation spread outward through the ruins in faint ripples, disturbing the careful rhythm she had begun mapping in her thoughts. Until now, the resonance saturating the complex had remained relatively stable, cycling through the stone in slow pulses that felt ancient, layered, and strangely methodical. Predictable enough that she had started identifying patterns within it.

Now something had disrupted that balance.

Vaelith slowly lifted her gaze from the carvings, her awareness extending outward through the fog-shrouded wilderness surrounding the ruins. For several moments, she sensed nothing distinct beyond the familiar oppressive weight saturating Dathomir itself. Then, gradually, another presence emerged beneath it.

Distant. Disciplined. Force-sensitive.

Her expression tightened slightly as she focused more carefully on the disturbance moving somewhere beyond the cliffs and swamp surrounding the complex. The presence carried restraint within it, the kind forged through training rather than instinct alone, but there was tension beneath that restraint as well, subtle pressure coiled tightly beneath the surface.

Jedi, most likely. Though not in the sterile, carefully muted way many Jedi often felt through the Force.

That realization lingered quietly in her thoughts while the fog curled between fractured pillars nearby. Vaelith did not immediately move. Instead, she listened carefully to the way the resonance beneath the ruins reacted alongside the approaching presence. The response unsettled her.

Not because it became violent or overtly aggressive, but because the rhythm changed too quickly to feel coincidental. The low vibration threading through the stone sharpened faintly, spreading outward through the buried structure in uneven pulses that no longer aligned with the patterns she had been tracing moments earlier.

Vaelith's pale gaze narrowed.

Perhaps the approaching presence had unintentionally disturbed the ruins. Or perhaps she was beginning to impose patterns onto phenomena she did not yet fully understand. Neither possibility comforted her.

Very slowly, she rose from her crouched position and stepped back from the exposed carvings beneath the archway. The geometry hidden within the stone no longer felt safe to stand directly atop while the resonance behaved this erratically. Her instincts urged caution now, not fear exactly, but the growing recognition that she had begun interacting with something whose underlying structure remained largely concealed.

The swamp beyond the ruins groaned softly somewhere within the fog while another subtle pulse rolled beneath her feet. This one felt different from the earlier responses, less like a reaction and more like pressure testing weak points within an unfamiliar structure. The sensation reminded her uncomfortably of probing fingers pressing lightly against fractured stone to see where it might eventually crack.

Vaelith frowned slightly at the thought.

The pressure did not resemble the predatory hunger common to many dark side nexuses. If anything, it felt observational, though even that interpretation carried too much implied intent for her liking. She had already spent enough of the evening cautioning against the dangers of assigning motive too quickly to things poorly understood.

Still, the reaction remained difficult to dismiss.

Her gaze drifted once more toward the distant wilderness, where the approaching presence continued to move slowly through Dathomir's oppressive dark. Whoever they were, they possessed enough discipline to resist the psychological pressure saturating the surrounding terrain, at least for now.

That alone made them unusual.

Vaelith turned her attention back toward the exposed carvings beneath the archway, studying the hidden secondary pattern with renewed focus while unease settled quietly into the edges of her thoughts. The deeper layer of the ritual structure no longer looked accidental. Too much of it was interconnected beneath the visible design, concealed so thoroughly that centuries of erosion had been required to expose even fragments of it.

Which raised a question she found herself increasingly unable to ignore.

What if the visible ritual circle had never been the true structure at all?

Vex Drakkon

 

[Vex Drakkon]

The force was vibrating rapidly, almost as if it was sending a continuous warning to the Master Jedi of all the danger that surrounded him in every direction. Dathomir was no joke, the weight of the darkness was just enough for Vex to handle alone, so he couldn’t imagine how Meri would feel if she were with him. He did not let the thought dwell for long, as the dark side of the force on Dathmoir could easily evolve that thought into something more, something that would twist each thought to cause such illusions of fear, anger, or even death.

Vex continued to march forward through the rocky terrain, with the fog becoming denser, along with that feeling of darkness crushing down, like a weight of a thousand banthas down on your entire body. Vex Drakkon had to stop where he was, calm his thoughts to focus on what was important, because the dark side of the force was trying to lure the Master Jedi down a path he may never return from. "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the force." He repeated the famous mantra created by the Jedi long before him, giving Vex the right mindset to go on.

In front of Vex were two different paths. One would lead down the canyon entirely, while the other was directed to the top. He reached out with the force with hope of it guiding him directly to where his vision took place. For a moment, everything was completely blank, as if the force was being blocked from retrieving the exact location, but within a few more seconds of waiting, a ripple was created, giving Vex a hint of where the presence may be located. "There’s no hiding anymore." He muttered under his breath, while moving forward to the path that would lead him down the canyon.

As Vex was following the path that descended deeper into the canyon, he noticed a massive archway in the distance that poked free from the dense fog that stretched across the entire planet. The silver-grey color was tinted with the redness of the planet below, giving a pink hue from where Vex was currently standing. He didn’t stop. In fact, the Jedi Master ventured forward with more speed, more grace, and especially more caution. Whoever or whatever it was that came to the man’s vision, it was closing in quickly, and the force itself was growing stronger the closer he got..

Vaelith Rhaen​

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[Vaelith Rhaen]

The deeper the approaching presence moved into the canyon, the more unstable the resonance beneath the ruins became. Vaelith felt the shift long before she saw any physical sign of movement beyond the fog, noting that the pressure threading through the ancient structure no longer pulsed with its usual slow rhythm. Something about this approaching Force signature was actively disturbing the equilibrium woven into the site, creating subtle fluctuations that rippled outward through the buried geometry beneath her feet.

She stood motionless near the fractured archway, her pale eyes lowered toward the exposed carvings while her awareness stretched outward into the canyon. The mist drifting through the broken structures thickened and thinned in uneven currents, responding to these localized pressure changes within the Force like breath moving through sleeping lungs as the approaching presence grew clearer—disciplined, focused, yet undeniably strained.

Vaelith could feel the tension within the stranger even from this distance; it was the careful restraint of someone actively holding themselves together against a relentless external pressure. The surrounding dark side pressed continuously against the edges of that discipline, searching for fractures and probing old fears with the patient malice unique to Dathomir, yet the presence endured.

It was intriguing. Most Jedi moving through this world felt rigid within the Force, tightly ordered in ways that bordered on brittle, but this presence carried a certain flexibility. It was a tension layered over deep thoughtfulness rather than sheer emotional repression, and the subtle distinction was more than enough to pique her curiosity.

Then, the resonance beneath the ruins shifted again, this time sharply enough that several loose fragments of stone skittered softly across the ground near her boots. Vaelith's gaze lifted immediately toward the canyon while the buried carvings responded with faint, rhythmic pulses of pale light hidden deep within their fractured seams. It wasn't a full activation, but felt more like recognition, or perhaps a strange alignment, though she still did not trust herself enough to assign definitive intent to what she was witnessing.

Very slowly, Vaelith stepped back from the exposed symbols beneath the archway. The layered structure hidden within the ruins had become increasingly reactive the closer the stranger drew, and she had no desire to remain standing directly atop the geometry until she better understood their relationship.

The air itself felt heavier now, moving past mere darkness into a state of quiet expectancy. Exhaling slowly, Vaelith extended one hand toward the fractured stone beside her. Thin, luminous currents unfurled silently between her fingers, though unlike the crude, violent green ichor many outsiders associated with Nightsister magick, these manifestations were controlled and almost delicate. Pale silver intertwined with muted crimson and a faint, ghostly cyan, threading together in slow geometric spirals that hovered weightlessly around her wrist before dispersing into the surrounding air.

Rather than lashing out aggressively, the energy settled into the environment, anchoring and stabilizing the space. Subtle sigils briefly shimmered across the nearby stone surfaces before fading back to near-invisibility, woven carefully into the stone rather than imposed violently upon it. Vaelith moved with calm precision, reinforcing portions of the fractured ritual space while simultaneously preparing contingencies should the buried resonance react unpredictably once the stranger arrived fully within range.

That possibility seemed increasingly likely; the ruins were responding far too consistently to dismiss outright, and whatever ancient structure lay hidden beneath the visible carvings was waking up the closer the traveler approached.

Vaelith lifted her gaze once more toward the fog beyond the shattered complex where, somewhere past the cliffs, the Force signature continued its cautious, determined advance. The resonance beneath the ruins answered with another low vibration that rolled softly upward through the earth like distant thunder buried beneath stone, but this time Vaelith caught a fascinating new undercurrent within it. It wasn't hunger, nor was it malice. It felt entirely like anticipation.

Vex Drakkon

 

[Vex Drakkon]

Vex could feel the darkness growing with each step he took down the side of the canyon, pushing pressure down on his entire body and mind, but the Jedi Master never stopped. Instead, he pushed through it all with one thing on their mind. Peace. It was the only thing from stopping and taking in the dark side of the force as it anticipated. But that wasn’t going to happen, not while Vex was using that train of thought to continue on to the path that would lead him to the one in his vision.

The fog covered the entire area around him, and ahead as far as the eye could see, causing him to rely more on the force to sense everything in front of him, while maintaining the same focus that would deflect the darkness away from his mind. This place was scary, even for a Jedi Master, like Vex Drakkon. Even those who trained their whole life would feel the sheer darkness the moment they touched down on the surface of Dathomir. Master Vex couldn’t imagine what Meri would have done by this point, and it honestly makes him feel bad for even leaving her back at the ship.

With the archway getting closer, Vex could feel the darkness grow even stronger, trying to sway the Jedi Master’s mind to succumb to the power it held. "NO!!" He shouted loudly, attempting to reject any of the dark side that resided in the area. The noise was surely loud enough that whoever the Master Jedi was looking for, heard the shriek from where they were, alerting them of his exact location. At first, he didn’t think about it because of how much stress the dark side of the force was putting on him, but he still managed to fight through it all just to ensure he got the answers needed.

As Vex continued to get closer to whoever or whatever he was searching for, he noticed markings across the stone, all in which were foreign to him. He stopped for a moment, staring, examining, and taking it all in, but then a sudden ripple through the force caused the hair on the back of neck to stand. Vex turned his attention to where the force was guiding him, then placed his hand upon the lightsaber hilt, and waited for the right moment to speak into the shadows. "I’m not here to hurt you." He said in a calm tone, trying to create peace immediately. Vex had no interest in fighting, only taking to ensure some questions were answered.

Vaelith Rhaen​

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[Vaelith Rhaen]

The moment the shout echoed through the canyon, the resonance beneath the ruins reacted sharply. Vaelith felt it surge through the buried structure beneath her feet in uneven pulses, sending subtle fractures of pressure rippling outward through the concealed geometry hidden beneath the stone. Dust shifted softly from several nearby carvings while the fog threading through the ruins stirred in unnatural currents, drawn briefly toward the canyon entrance before dispersing again into the night.

Her pale gaze lifted immediately toward the sound; the approaching presence had finally reached the threshold.

The strain within the Force surrounding him was unmistakable now, and even at this distance, Vaelith could feel the pressure pressing against his thoughts as the surrounding darkness tested every unresolved fear and emotional fracture it could find. Dathomir did not corrupt through simple proximity alone; it amplified, pressed, and unearthed whatever already existed beneath the surface, forcing it upward until discipline either adapted or shattered beneath the strain. Yet somehow, he was still resisting.

Interesting.

Vaelith remained motionless near the fractured archway for several moments longer, studying the shifting resonance spreading through the ruins in response to his arrival. The buried structure had become increasingly unstable the closer he drew to it. Not violently so, but reactive in ways she still did not fully understand. The pressure no longer moved with the slow, ancient rhythm she had first encountered upon arriving here, but had grown uneven and almost anticipatory, which unsettled her more than outright hostility would have.

When his voice finally carried through the fog, calm despite the strain beneath it, Vaelith closed her eyes briefly and listened carefully, not merely to the words themselves, but to the shape of the intent behind them. She found no immediate deception, no hunger for violence, and no arrogance either—only caution layered over exhaustion and determination.

The ruins, however, did not seem nearly as willing to trust him.

Another pulse rolled through the buried structure beneath the stone, stronger this time. Vaelith's expression tightened faintly as several of the concealed sigils surrounding the ruined cantina flickered softly in response. The pressure gathering around the Jedi was beginning to draw reactions from the deeper layers of the site itself, and, if left unchecked, she suspected the resonance would continue to escalate until something finally broke beneath the strain.

Very slowly, Vaelith extended one hand toward the nearest fractured wall. Thin luminous currents unfurled silently between her fingers, pale silver threaded with muted crimson and spectral cyan. Unlike the aggressive surges of power many associated with Nightsister magick, these currents moved with delicate precision, spreading quietly through the surrounding carvings and hidden structures like stabilizing threads woven carefully through fractured stone.

The pressure within the ruins shifted subtly, growing not entirely gone, but softened. The oppressive resonance pressing outward through the canyon eased by degrees, enough to reduce the constant psychological pressure without fully silencing the ancient structure beneath them. Vaelith had no intention of dismantling something she barely understood, but neither was she willing to allow the ruins to continue tightening around an already strained mind unchecked.

Only then did she step forward from the shadows beyond the archway. The pale silver-white blade in her hand cast soft light across the fog curling through the canyon entrance, though she kept the weapon angled low beside her body rather than raised threateningly. Her fitted dark-field leathers and layered travel wraps blended naturally into the ruined stone around her, while the faint luminous sigils woven through the environment slowly faded back into near-invisibility behind her.

"If you intended harm," she said calmly, her voice carrying clearly through the fog without needing volume, "you would not have announced yourself before entering."

Her pale gaze settled steadily upon him then, watchful but not overtly hostile.

"Though I would advise against shouting inside ancient ritual structures you do not understand. Dathomir listens more closely than most worlds."

Vex Drakkon

 

[Vex Drakkon]

The dark side of the force was surrounding them all, especially tempting to lure the Master Jedi into its trap, but the man stood firm and paid attention to anything but the darkness that haunted the planet. His focus was now on the figure that stepped free from the shadows under the large archway. As the female approached just slightly, Vex remained still for the time being, but his eyes never left the woman’s. "Fair enough." He replied firmly, still not moving from their current location, but the Jedi took their hand away from the lightsaber hilt and crossed them against his chest, wondering what was going to happen from all this.

Vex Drakkon finally took the final step down from the canyon onto the flat area near the archway, but still far away enough from Vael that they wouldn’t feel threatened. "Something about this place has drawn me here." He stated in a soft tone, while trying to figure out exactly what the vision meant to him. Even though Vex was lured to Dathomir, it felt like this was a mystery that may be unsolved for a long time, but even then, there were still so many questions that needed answered.

Before the woman could even respond to him, Vex felt the need to introduce himself to hopefully break the weirdness that settled between them. "The name is Vex. Vex Drakkon." He spoke softly to ensure whatever darkness that surrounded them was not stirred in the process. The dark side may have been strong on Dathomir, but Master Drakkon was trained for moments like this, allowing himself to block out the dark, while using peace and quiet as a replacement. This was something he learned from a fellow Jedi Master, known as Valery Noble. Someone important to him, yet they have gone missing for some time now.

The Jedi Master stepped forward slowly once more, looking around the area to get a better view at the markings on the stone walls. His hands traced over some of the markings with pure wonder, while looking over their shoulder near the archway where Vael was standing. "Made by you or are these markings of ancient?" He asked curiously, wondering what the markings meant, while maintaining focus on the woman near the archway. This was certainly not something Vex expected to happen, but the force guided him here for a reason, so he was going to do what he felt was right.

Vaelith Rhaen


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[Vaelith Rhaen]

Vaelith watched him carefully as he emerged fully from the canyon. She did not anticipate violence, but the ruins themselves certainly had. Ever since his approach, she had felt the ancient structure beneath the site reacting to his presence in ways she still did not fully understand, its buried resonance stretching toward him like unseen fingers probing for weaknesses within stone. Yet now that he stood openly before it, no longer a hidden silhouette beyond the fog and cliffs, the pressure eased. The constant, restless vibration that had hummed through the hidden geometry since her arrival suddenly lost its urgency. It was as though the ruins had been waiting for something to arrive and, having finally found it, no longer felt compelled to search.

That realization settled quietly into her thoughts as he introduced himself, and her pale gaze lingered on him for a moment longer before relaxing by a fraction. He carried the unmistakable structure of a Jedi within the Force, not merely a rigid discipline, but a practiced, core stillness she could feel working against the heavy strain Dathomir placed upon him. It was fascinating to sense the effort required to maintain that equilibrium against the darkness saturating the landscape, and the fact that he remained standing so calmly said more than any formal introduction could.

When he stepped toward the markings, Vaelith allowed it with measured care. The ruins had already shown more interest in him than she found entirely comfortable, but the site's sudden calm mattered too much to be disrupted.

"Vaelith Rhaen," she replied at last, her voice carrying a quiet ease as she openly acknowledged what he was. "And no, Jedi. These are far older than either of us. Much older."

The fog curled quietly through the broken archway as she moved a few steps closer to the nearest section of exposed symbols. Unlike him, she did not touch the stone immediately. Instead, she studied the carvings with the familiarity of a scholar who had spent considerable time doing exactly that, her attention settling upon the deeper layers hidden beneath centuries of erosion.

"At first I believed this was a containment site," she admitted, the confession carrying no discomfort, only honesty. "Now I am less certain."

She turned her gaze back toward him, though her eyes drifted briefly toward the deeper portions of the ruins where the hidden geometry disappeared beneath collapsed stone and thick fog.

"My markings look different because they are alive, actively maintained by a living mind," she said softly. "These are echoes. Which is precisely what concerns me. Ancient rituals fade, and ancient magick eventually erodes. Even the most powerful structures usually become little more than stagnant memories etched into stone. But this place hasn't."

As if in response to her words, the low resonance beneath the ruins answered with a distant vibration, rolling softly through the earth beneath their boots. It was no longer threatening, no longer searching, but simply present and, for reasons Vaelith did not yet understand, noticeably calmer now that a Jedi stood among the ruins.

Vaelith was silent for a moment, studying both the ruins and the man who had somehow quieted them simply by arriving.

"If the Force truly brought you here, then perhaps it is better that you see the difference for yourself," she murmured, a subtle warmth entering her voice, not quite a smile, but something close to it. "You've seen the echoes left behind by those who came before us. Now let me show you what my magick actually looks like."

Her pale gaze lingered on him for a moment longer before she added quietly,

"Do not worry, Vex Drakkon. I have no intention of harming you."

Slowly, Vaelith lifted her hand, allowing thin currents of luminous energy to spark and gather between her fingers. This was not the violent, emerald ichor most outsiders expected when they heard whispered stories of Nightsister magick. These currents were a delicate tapestry of pale silver, muted crimson, and faint, spectral cyan, winding around one another in precise geometric spirals. They moved like threads being woven through an unseen pattern rather than raw power being unleashed, drifting outward until they brushed the fractured stone.

The ancient carvings responded almost immediately. Several dormant symbols illuminated softly at the touch of her energy, revealing hidden, intricate lines buried within the rock, before the effect faded a few moments later, leaving the stone exactly as it had been before. There was no explosion or dramatic display, merely a brief, quiet revelation.

Yet the pale currents did not fade entirely. They continued moving between her fingers, flowing in slow, intricate patterns before spreading outward across the nearby stone in geometric forms that shimmered faintly against the ruined surface. Unlike the ancient markings surrounding them, these threads responded instantly to her will, shifting and reforming as naturally as breath before dissolving once more into the mist.

Vex Drakkon

 

[Vex Drakkon]

Through the dense fog a female with dark clothes revealed themselves for the first time to the Master Jedi, but the middle-aged man remained unphased, standing absolutely still to show that he didn’t feel threatened by their presence alone. With a small grin forming on their face because of the woman knowing he was a jedi, Vex took another step forward to get a much better view of not only the markings on the stone, but a closer look at who he was speaking to through it all. "Your senses are correct." He responded to Vael revealing his true nature to the force itself. It was something many could tell by just their looks, or by the force showing them the truth. Either way, Vex didn’t have to worry because he felt the truth in the woman’s words.

As Vael continued to speak about the very place they were located, Vex Drakkon remained absolutely still, but he listened to every word Vael was saying about the difference in the markings she made, and the ones that were presented to them currently. He raised a single brow, curious to what the markings would look like when they were alive, along with how it would feel for a person sensitive to the force. These were all things that wondered within the Jedi Master’s mind, but he didn’t speak upon the thoughts. Instead, Vex continued to listen as Vael began to respond to his previous question.

The moment Vaelith mentioned how Vex should see the difference for himself, he placed his hand upon the lightsaber hilt once more, but he never pulled it free from the utility belt wrapped around the Jedi Master’s waist. Even as the woman said how she didn’t intend on hurting him, Vex never took words to heart, especially when it came to a stranger on Dathomir. "We will see if that is true." He responded with a firm tone of voice, while remaining in the same position to wait and see if Vael was actually going to do as she said.

Once Vael raised their hand and began to pull in the current of energy, as if the woman was preparing to do something extravagant. Vex kept his entire focus on the woman and what she was doing. But when Vael began to paint the wall with the energy she conjured up, Vex’s eyes lit up in shock at what he was seeing. The colors intertwining together, then pushing forward on the stone was one thing, but the fact that this was something Vael was able to control was another. "Amazing would be an understatement, that’s for sure. Makes me wonder what else you are capable of." He responded, shifting his focus back to the woman as the energy slowly dissipated from the fingertips of Vaelith.

Vaelith Rhaen​

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[Vaelith Rhaen]

Vaelith watched his reaction carefully as the final strands of luminous energy dissolved into the mist. There was something oddly refreshing about the absence of immediate suspicion once the demonstration ended. Most outsiders who witnessed Nightsister magick for the first time either feared it or attempted to categorize it immediately into something familiar. Vex had done neither. Instead, he simply observed, allowing wonder to exist without immediately reducing it into certainty.

That alone made him unusual. A faint smile touched the corner of her mouth as he spoke. "Quite a lot, Master Jedi."

The answer came easily, carrying no arrogance, merely a simple truth. The currents of pale silver, muted crimson, and spectral cyan had fully dissipated now, leaving only the natural darkness of Dathomir surrounding them once more.

"Though I suspect the same could be said of you."

Her pale gaze settled on him thoughtfully.

"Most people would never have sensed this resonance at all, much less followed it across the stars. Whatever drew your attention to this place reached you from an extraordinary distance."

The observation lingered between them as Vaelith turned her attention back toward the ruins. The question continued to bother her. The resonance had reacted to him. Not merely noticed him, but responded in ways she still could not explain. Now that he stood within the site itself, the pressure beneath the earth had grown quieter, almost content.

Then the air changed. Vaelith felt it before she saw it.

The resonance beneath the stone shifted once more, not violently this time, but with a strange fluidity that caused the fog drifting through the ruins to ripple unnaturally. The sensation was subtle enough that someone unfamiliar with the Force might have dismissed it entirely, yet to her it felt unmistakable. Something was surfacing.

Her posture straightened immediately as the air around the ruins shifted. The fog thickened between two fractured pillars near the center of the settlement, gathering into unnatural currents that twisted and folded upon themselves before figures began to emerge. They were not flesh, nor were they spirits, but something in between—echoes, impressions left behind by lives long vanished, woven from pale light and memory.

Translucent silhouettes formed from pale light and memory moved silently through the ancient settlement. A woman clad in garments unlike anything worn in the modern era crossed the broken courtyard carrying a staff topped with unfamiliar symbols. Behind her walked several others, their forms wavering at the edges as though reality itself struggled to remember them correctly. They paid neither Vaelith nor Vex any attention. They simply moved through the ruins as though the centuries separating past from present no longer existed.

Vaelith stared, genuine surprise crossing her features for the first time since arriving as she watched the lingering traces of the apparition fade into the mist. "I've never seen it do that before." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

The figures continued their silent procession before one paused near the center of the complex. The ancient woman lifted her staff and pointed toward the deeper portions of the ruins where much of the hidden geometry remained buried beneath collapsed stone.

Then the image fractured, the ancient forms breaking apart like reflections disturbed upon still water before dissolving completely into drifting mist. The silence that followed felt heavier than before, settling over the ruins with an almost tangible weight. Vaelith's pale eyes remained fixed on the place where the apparition had stood for several long moments, her expression caught somewhere between fascination and disbelief. Slowly, she turned back toward Vex.

"I think," she said quietly, her earlier certainty replaced by growing intrigue, "you may have arrived here for a reason after all."

Vex Drakkon

 

[Vex Drakkon]

Vaelith was quick to respond, revealing that she was capable of a lot, which didn’t strike the Jedi as odd because of the vision he had just a few days earlier. Vex cracked a slight smile and laughed for a short moment before finally speaking once more. "Once again, you are correct. It was a vision I had. Not entirely sure why, but I know I had to come here in hopes of some answers." He replied to Vaelith’s statement about what drew him to the planet. Vex was still unsure why he was lured to the depths of the galaxy and yet it made him even more curious.

Not too long after Vex moved closer to the stone walls, a feeling came over him, one that caused him to look over his shoulder at the stranger, wondering if they had anything to do with what he felt. But it wasn’t her. It was a reaction from the force and the magic that dwelled within the core of the planet. Whether it was good or not was something that still needed an answer itself. Vex didn’t question it, though. Instead, the Master Jedi spoke out on what he was seeing. "T-this can’t be good." He spoke softly, almost as if he were whispering to himself.

The shift in the air alone was enough to alert Vex of what was coming, but what he saw next was something the imagination couldn’t conjure up. Shadows the size of humans seemed to scatter about, forming in the center area of between the archway above the woman. "I’ve seen this before. Or at least some of it." He spoke firmly, with eyes wide from amazement at what he was seeing. The force created a vision, one that Vex saw a portion of in the vision he had days earlier. He stood still, looking on and wondering what was going to happen.

Seconds went by and the figure that conjured up out of nowhere pointed with their staff at some sort of entrance in the distance. Every figure that formed moments ago began to break apart until there was nothing but the fog that surrounded most of the planet left. "So, that was a first for us both, right? Whatever it was, it really wants us to go down there." The Jedi pointed to the ancient ruins just in the distance of where they stood. His focus fluctuated between the woman and the ruins for a short moment, until his attention remained on Vaelith. "You can stay back if you want, but I have to go check this out." He stated, while moving towards the ruins just ahead.

Vaelith Rhaen​

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[Vaelith Rhaen]

Vaelith listened quietly as Vex spoke of the vision, her pale eyes never leaving him. It explained more than she realized it would. The resonance had reached beyond Dathomir itself, across the vastness of space, and had somehow found a Jedi it wished to bring here. That possibility should have troubled her. Instead, it only deepened her curiosity. Ancient workings of this scale were rarely random, and the echoes they had just witnessed only reinforced that conviction.

Her gaze drifted toward the dark passage where the apparition had pointed. The resonance beneath the ruins had changed once again, no longer probing or testing as it had before. It had settled into an almost patient stillness, as though content that both of them now stood exactly where they were meant to be. Whatever intelligence, purpose, or lingering memory remained within this forgotten place had accomplished its first objective. Now it waited.

When Vex declared his intention to continue alone, Vaelith regarded him for a long, thoughtful moment before slowly shaking her head.

"No."

The word was gentle, yet carried quiet certainty.

"The Force, and perhaps this world itself, brought us together for a reason, Master Jedi. Whatever waits below called to you, but it revealed itself only after I arrived. I think both of those things matter."

She stepped away from the ancient wall and moved toward the entrance the apparition had indicated, stopping only when she stood beside him rather than behind him. There was no challenge in the gesture, nor any attempt to lead. It was simply a declaration that neither of them should walk forward alone.

"We go side by side."

A faint smile found its way onto her lips as she looked ahead into the darkness beyond the archway.

"As you Jedi are fond of saying, the Force is my ally as well. I simply know it by different traditions than you do."

Her eyes shifted back toward his, calm and unwavering despite the unknown waiting beneath the ruins.

"So tell me, Vex Drakkon..."

For the first time since they had met, she used his full name.

"Do you dare walk this path with me?"

Vex Drakkon

 

[Vex Drakkon]

As Vaelith responded fairly quickly, causing Vex to stop and turn his attention back to her, listening to everything she had to say. It was obvious that the force brought them both together for this exact reason, but there was still so much more to unravel as time would go on. But for now, Vex gave the woman a soft nod before speaking in response. "This is something I have never experienced before, so I am a little caught off guard by all of this." He stated, but Vex remained confused, trying to put together whatever was going on in their mind.

Vaelith knew that both of them were connected to this apparition that appeared to them, but what it was trying to point out was the mysterious thing they would have to investigate together. The woman then stepped beside the Master Jedi, speaking yet again. This time, Vex let Vaelith finish entirely before responding to anything because his mind was currently clouded from everything that was happening in such a short time. Regardless of how little they did not trust one another, Vex agreed with a slight nod to what Vael said. It would be best if they ventured forth together, rather than ignoring what they saw altogether. "We do this together. Whatever it was, it called to us both, giving us little to go by. But that’s what intrigues me the most. The thought of the unknown." He cracked a smile, then turned to face the ruins once more, and began to step closer to the entrance.

The thought of Meri tucked away in the ship never left the back of his mind, giving him more of a reason to make haste of this new mission. The fact that Vex already found someone connected to the planet, was a sign that the force was leading him down the correct path. But what threw him off the most, was the planet itself. It gave off this radiant energy, something he hadn’t felt before. It was very similar to the force, but also extremely different. Whatever it was, the Master Jedi planned to get the answers needed at the end of this.

With Vaelith now by his side and a small hint at what was needed to be done next, Vex still had so many questions about Vaelith, her abilities, and the planet itself. But the Master Jedi was mostly worried about the dangers that undoubtedly laid ahead of them both. "This planet is unknown to me, so I am not sure what to expect. You know this place better than me, I assume, what do you think is beyond these ruins? " His voice was low, but loud enough that Vaelith could hear him easily. With the known in front of him, Vex wanted to be safe instead of sorry, which is why he kept such a low tone of voice.

Vaelith Rhaen​

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[Vaelith Rhaen]

Vaelith walked beside him in unhurried silence, her attention drifting between the broken passage stretching into the ruins and the weathered stone rising around them. Every few steps she allowed her awareness to brush lightly against the lingering resonance beneath the earth, searching for any indication that the strange calm surrounding the site had begun to change. It had not. The pressure remained steady now, patient rather than probing, as though whatever ancient presence lingered here had settled into quiet observation. The oppressive unease that had greeted her arrival had eased since Vex revealed himself, and though she still did not understand why, she could not ignore the difference.

His question drew her thoughts away from the resonance. Vaelith considered it carefully before answering, allowing herself a small moment to choose her words rather than responding immediately.

"Beyond these ruins?" she echoed, her voice carrying a quiet warmth that had not been present when they first met. "Our homes. Ancient shrines. Places where my people still gather. Ritual circles hidden beneath forests and stone. Valleys where the rancors roam undisturbed. Dathomir itself."

She glanced toward him then, the faintest smile softening her normally reserved expression.

"But I don't think that's what you're truly asking."

Slowing beside one of the weathered pillars, she rested her fingertips lightly against stone polished smooth by centuries of wind, rain, and time. Her eyes wandered across the faded carvings before returning to the darkness waiting beyond the archway.

"I think you mean...what do I believe these ruins are offering us?" She let the question linger between them before answering it herself, her tone calm and untroubled by the uncertainty. "Unknown, Master Jedi."

There was no frustration in the admission, nor embarrassment at not possessing the answer. If anything, it carried the quiet acceptance of someone who had long ago made peace with uncertainty.

"If I already understood this place, there would be little reason for either of us to keep walking," she said, her gaze settling briefly upon him before returning to the passage ahead, "and whatever called to you through your vision... whatever stirred these ruins when you approached... it brought us both here, so we'll discover it together."

A comfortable silence settled between them as they continued forward, broken only by the distant sounds of the swamp and the soft crunch of stone beneath their boots. After several moments, Vaelith spoke again, her curiosity replacing the quiet contemplation.

"Tell me...did you truly see the figures?" she asked, her tone gentle yet curious as she lifted one hand in a slow, deliberate motion, offering him a reassuring glance while faint currents of magick began to gather around her fingers, "I mean no harm. Sometimes it is easier to understand a memory when you can see it again."

Thin strands of luminous magick coiled gently between her fingers. Unlike the emerald ichor so often associated with Nightsister stories, these currents shimmered in pale silver woven together with muted crimson and faint spectral cyan. They drifted outward like delicate threads caught upon an unseen current, slowly weaving themselves into two translucent figures suspended before them.

The first resolved into the silhouette of the woman they had both witnessed. Though featureless, she stood with unmistakable authority, a long staff resting comfortably in her grasp. There was an undeniable dignity about her bearing, one that reminded Vaelith of the ancient Mothers whose guidance had shaped Dathomir long before the modern clans had taken form. Opposite her, the second figure emerged beneath Vaelith's careful control. Cloaked in flowing robes with an upright, disciplined posture, the apparition bore a striking resemblance to the Jedi of another age.

Neither figure possessed a face. They were not recreations of individuals but impressions preserved within the Force itself, echoes of a moment that had somehow survived across untold centuries. Yet standing together, they conveyed something unmistakable.

Vaelith regarded them quietly before finally speaking.

"I do not believe they were enemies," she said softly. "Not in that moment."

The luminous forms remained facing one another for several heartbeats, as though suspended in an ancient conversation neither of them could hear. Then the threads unraveled, dissolving into drifting ribbons of silver, crimson, and cyan that disappeared gently into the surrounding mist.

Vaelith's eyes lingered on the empty space where they had stood.

"Perhaps," she murmured, her voice carrying a thoughtful warmth now shared rather than guarded, "whatever waits ahead remembers a time when our paths crossed for reasons other than war."

Vex Drakkon

 

[Vex Drakkon]

The darkness that seemed to shroud over the area slowly faded away after the apparitions appeared and left, almost as if whatever was guiding them forward, thwarted off the dark side of the force for the time being. Vex knew instantly when the weight was lifted from his entire body all at once, causing him to feel a sense of comfort, even if he was side by side with a stranger who possessed the force in a whole new concept, one that the Master Jedi was not familiar with. This wouldn’t create any sort of rift between the two. Instead, it would form a bond that would connect them to one another for a lifetime.

As Vaelith began to explain the answer to Vex’s question, the Jedi Master looked in the woman’s direction, listening to what she was saying carefully. Fortunately, Vael knew what Vex meant in his question, so she revealed the answer as plainly as possible. He let a long sigh out after hearing exactly what he did not want to hear, but he shook it off because Vex had faith in this vision he had, along with the straightforwardness of the apparition they saw just a short while ago. "The unknown, of course. I should’ve known this was not going to be easy. But yes, we will do this together." He replied, glancing back at the ruins ahead.

Once they continued onward towards the ruins, Vaelith asked a simple question, wondering if the Jedi Master saw the figures that she did. He looked over at her and simply nodded once before replying. "I did, just as I see you right here. It was vivid, yet it seemed as if the apparition was telling us more than one thing. Whatever it was, I trust the feeling I got within that moment. The force, it has brought me here for this, I know it." He said, while the sound of the dirt of dathomir crunched beneath their boots. The terrain may have been a bit forgiving, but whatever laid ahead of them both seemed less peaceful than what they were sensing in the moment.

But Vex’s attention snapped towards Vaelith just as she began to conjure up the memory once more before their very eyes. Master Drakkon looked shocked at first, then the expression became more astonished to what he was truly seeing. "T-this is amazing. Is this something all Dathomirian’s can learn?" He asked curiously, with amazement and wonder in their tone of voice. Vex felt like he had truly seen it all now. Not once did the Jedi Master think someone could possess such a feature. To see it in a vision, sure, but to recreate it mostly through the force in a visible way, not something he has even heard of before.

The memory finally faded once more and Vealith spoke of their thoughts of it, while Vex still felt such a strong sense of the force whirlpooling around the woman. She was gifted. More so than the Jedi Master initially thought. Regardless of that, they had more to work with because of the second run-through of the memory that reached to the both of them. "Then we find out exactly what it wanted us to see or know. It can’t be much further ahead." He stated, while continuing to move forward through the terrain of Dathomir.

Vaelith Rhaen​

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[Vaelith Rhaen]

Vaelith regarded Vex with a trace of warmth as his astonishment lingered over the fading remnants of her magick. His reaction was unexpectedly genuine, carrying none of the suspicion she had grown accustomed to from outsiders witnessing the traditions of Dathomir for the first time. Still, his question earned a slight tilt of her head as the last threads of silver, crimson, and spectral cyan unraveled from between her fingers and disappeared into the mist around them. "Nightsisters," she corrected gently, without any sharpness behind the distinction. "Not all Dathomirians practice magick, and even among my Sisters, what you just witnessed would not necessarily take the same form. Magick is shaped by the woman wielding it, by how she was taught and what comes naturally to her. This is simply how mine chooses to answer me."

She continued beside him toward the ruins, though his certainty that their destination could not be much farther ahead caused her attention to shift downward rather than toward whatever waited beyond the broken structures. Something about that assumption troubled her. The apparition had pointed them here, certainly, but Vaelith was beginning to suspect they had interpreted the gesture too literally. The resonance she had felt since first arriving had never seemed to originate from any particular chamber or structure visible upon the surface. It had traveled through the stone beneath them, sometimes faint enough to resemble a distant vibration and sometimes strong enough to be felt through the soles of her boots. Now, with the oppressive darkness strangely diminished, those subtler sensations were becoming considerably easier to distinguish.

"I don't think ahead is where we should be looking, Master Jedi," Vaelith said after several moments, slowing until she came to a complete stop. She crouched and placed her fingertips against the exposed stone beside the path, closing her eyes briefly as she allowed her awareness to follow the faint resonance downward without attempting to disturb it. What returned was difficult to define, but the sensation of solid earth beneath them was interrupted by peculiar absences, broad spaces where the resonance seemed to expand before narrowing again. Her eyes opened slowly. "I noticed it earlier, but I mistook the vibration for something contained directly beneath the ruins. I no longer believe that's what I was feeling."

Vaelith rose and looked across the surrounding terrain with a newly sharpened awareness, taking in the fractured stone, uneven depressions, and places where portions of the ancient complex appeared to have sunk deeper than simple erosion should have allowed. Dathomir was riddled with caverns, some carved naturally through the world over countless ages and others expanded by creatures, settlements, and civilizations whose names had long since disappeared. "I think we're standing above a cave system," she explained, looking toward Vex as the implications settled more firmly into her thoughts. "Possibly an extensive one. These ruins may only be the surface of whatever was built here, and if I'm right, the resonance we've been following isn't coming from the ruins at all. It's traveling through them from somewhere much deeper."

Her gaze returned to the ancient archway before drifting downward again, and for the first time since their strange meeting, genuine anticipation warmed her expression. The unknown before them no longer felt like an empty question waiting somewhere beyond the next crumbling wall. It had acquired direction, even if that direction happened to lead beneath their feet. "The apparition may not have been pointing toward a destination," she mused, glancing back toward him with the faintest hint of a smile. "It may have been showing us where to begin looking for a way down. If you still intend to discover this together, Master Jedi, then I believe our first task is finding the entrance."

Vex Drakkon

 

[Vex Drakkon]

The moment Vaelith said the words nightsisters, that was when Vex raised a brow slightly, wondering exactly what that was. But then it all came together at once after the woman spoke. "That must be what they call themselves." He thought to himself in silence, while looking back at Vaelith with a bit of a confused expression upon their face. At first, he didn’t respond to what was said. Instead, he continued walking at a slow pace, wondering what the future held for him, but he was also worrying about his Padawa, Meri Vale. She was still tucked away along a cliffside, sleeping peacefully within the ship. At least, the Master Jedi hoped she was still sleeping.

Vex’s focus quickly changed the moment Vael mentioned that their path was not in front of them, so he instinctively stopped dead in his tracks, folded his arms against his chest, and looked directly at the woman with an unamused look. "Then you should lead the way. Maybe this is how I get answers." He replied, staring directly at the female. Vex wanted nothing more than to end this, but everything was happening for a reason, so he decided to play it out. Patience was key and the Jedi knew that more than anyone.

Just when things couldn’t get worse, Vaelith revealed a system of caves beneath their very feet, which caused the Master Jedi to look down at the ground near his boots out of pure instinct, then his attention shifted back to the pale woman. "Not the worst news I have heard. Then again, I don’t know what kind of trouble dwells here." He added with a hint of worry behind their voice, while maintaining the same stiff posture. There was a lot to worry about, indeed, but Vex had his mind clouded from the vision that continued to replay in their mind.

Vaelith was intelligent, to say the least, and it was something that Vex was beginning to admire, but was that something the female used to manipulate those around them? The Master Jedi had a feeling it wasn’t. Instead, it felt like a subtle warning, one that Vex would use to help figure out what his vision was about and why he continued to have it over a few days' span. Regardless, his attention was quickly brought back to Vael when she pointed out that the apparition wasn’t pointing to where they needed to go, but it may have been a place where they should look for some sort of entrance to the cave systems below.

Once again, Vex Drakkon began to examine the red stained sands of the planet, looking for any sort of clues to help get them closer to figuring this thing out. "Is this something you experienced before? Like, the apparitions and everything else? This place is new to me, so I am clueless on what I have witnessed today." He admitted calmly, while continuing to look around the area in which they stood. The planet was dull, yet full of the force, causing so many different emotions to come forth at any moment, but it was also calming in a sense. Something about the quiet that got the Jedi’s attention, but it was dismissed the moment the wind picked up, carrying away some dust and rocks away from the wall to their left.

Vex moved towards the wall, examining it along with some of the carvings that were etched throughout. None of it looked familiar, nor did it make any sense to him, but he continued to look closely, feeling the force moving swiftly around him, almost telling him to keep moving. Instead, he ignored it and looked back to Vaelith, wondering what was to come next. The Jedi Master didn’t say a word; he just stood there with his eyes glancing around the area in search of some sort of clues.

Vaelith Rhaen​

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