There Has Been An Awakening

[Stephanie Swail]

The Forests of Teth
Teth, Baxel Sector​

Another night where the snow coated the ground of Teth. It rested on the bunker of the fallen Sith Order. It rested on the bare trees that stretched as far as one could see. It rested on the tattered cowl of the Sith Knight Asterion; the Minotaur.

With a thick beard and a number of untreated cuts, the former warrior and servant of the Sith Lord Kyros walked gently through the forest on another evening to scour for food and any sign of life. It had been years - it must have been - since Asterion had seen another being. Ships had passed by and he'd spent many nights sat on the cliff top watching the galaxy pass him by, but that's what failures did.

Not even two lightsabers made him powerful; his own, and that of the late Lady Kyros. Not even the Force was worth his time as that had gotten him nowhere. Lots of faces floated through his had over the years, but each face had faded away over time but the impact they had made remained because he walked without confidence, without purpose and without direction.

Asterion had made the Teth bunker his own, and it was hidden by overgrown vegetation and now a coating of thick snow. He exercised daily, rested as much as he needed and studied many datapads and documents just to keep him sane. Whatever happened out beyond the bunker and the forests didn't concern him; Sith would betray other Sith, Jedi would let down other Jedi; everyone would just be as meaningless as him at the end of day.

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Word had reached Effekt of Lord [member="Asterion"] disappearing from the galaxy. Given the past the Empress Nimue had with him it seemed odd to anyone else why she was so keen to find him. Nimue herself had never said why, for even she never fully understood herself. When last she'd seen Asterion he'd been helping her hone her combat skills with a blade while staying for a brief time in the royal palace. After that he was paid and went on his way, saying how he couldn't stay in one place for too long. Even then Nimue had felt upset as his leaving, wishing he'd have considered staying at least for a little while longer. More tie she could have had becoming closer with him and figuring out these deeper feelings she had for him. But news of him being gone had worried her and she wanted to make sure he was alive and safe.​

​

Using her political powers and connections she searched for him, even going so far as to use the force to try and reach out throughout the galaxy to find him. This proved more guiding that she realized as it at least pointed to general quadrant in the galaxy where she continued her search. Finally her searches had been sucessful. Teth. That was where he was. Nimue had wasted no time, taking a shuttle to the planet and touching down a little a ways from where the bunker was.​

​

She could sense him via the force, guiding her towards the bunker. Being dressed in her usual furred cape and layered royal clothing the cold weather bothered her little to not at all. Her boots crunched in the snow while her cape dragged along behind. Her saber hilt clicked against her belt as she approached the bunker, trying to see any signs of Asterion.​

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Like a wild animal, Asterion hid from the ship as it came down outside the forest edge. Landing lights pierced through the trees and illuminated the white blanket of snow all around in between the dark trees spearing up from the ground. He concealed himself low and tight, watching the activity before him.

A figure was coming through the forest, and it was either a remnant of the Sith Order out to reclaim what they could from the bunker - but why now - or a hothead investigating ancient history. Cold eyes bore out from the cowl, his beard hiding most of his face a tense body under his loose black robes.

Cutting himself from the Force, he honed in on sight and smell alone to follow the figure by footsteps and metal on metal. He moved gently, knowing the terrain he called home and mirrored the movements of the figure silhouetted by the lights from the ship they arrived in. For a moment, he was sure there was a Force aura, which cemented the fact this person was here for a purpose.

Asterion knelt down, and decided to watch just what they were doing and where they were going. Not having his lightsaber didn't bother him; he had developed his natural ability with the Force over time and had learnt to fight and defend with his body minus a weapon.

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

The connection she'd felt fro [member="Asterion"] was gone. This worried Nimue as she tried looking around. It was too dark to see fully and she'd forgotten to being any means to illuminate her path. The most she had was her saber which she figured to use. Taking it out she hesitated, thinking it best to try and call for him at least.​

​

"Asterion? Asterion, are you there? It's me! Nimue Stormson. The Empress from Effekt!"​

​

With no answer right away she held the hilt over her head and ignited it. A blaze of dark purple shot out fro her hilt, followed by two smaller ones. The dark core did very little to light the area around her, but at least it was a little better. Now seeing a bit further she continued to call for Asterion, cupping one hand around her mouth while moving closer towards the bunker. ​

 

[Stephanie Swail]

The Empress.

Asterion didn't move except for his eyes, watching the royal illuminate her position with a strong violet blade that looked rather pretty amongst the virgin snow. Nimue Stormson had done nothing to Asterion that had reduced him to this beast, but she certainly had proven to him that everyone at one point would crave power and superiority above others. He knew she was a strong Force user, but not very adept in controlling it or her emotion in conflict.

He didn't even get to know her before he left, and forgot her soon after. Until now. Funny how she was the one to come calling, something he hadn't expected. With a gentle moment of breathing through his nose to think what to do, Asterion rose and slowly walked past the tree trunks, crunching on the snow with his boots.

"What are you doing here," he spoke as he approached her from behind, arms by his side and face peering out from under the snow speckled cowl.

She would certainly not see the face of the man she obviously remembered. Not a very warm welcome for the first person he'd seen in many years, but right now it wasn't of concern to him at all.

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Turning quickly with the blade still overhead Nimue could finally see [member="Asterion"] . She was a bit surprised by his appearance. He looked like he'd been through hell. And given what she'd learned about the Netherworld indecent that plagued the galaxy years ago it was a fair assumption. While her was occupied with the civil war on her planet she'd not been effected by the Netherworld, but seeing and hearing the accounts from others made her realize how lucky her small planet was not to have been caught in the terror.​

​

Taking a moment to let it sink in she said "I was worried about you. I...I heard you may have been dead. I just wanted to see for myself. You look.... well you've looked better." she was honest with him at least. ​

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Asterion looked up at the blade she carried – obviously she had decided she had come a long way in her training to now carry the weapon of a warrior. Dark eyes returned to her, and he simply looked at her regal frame: partly intrigued and partly uninterested.

"What do you want."

Not really a question – there was little he could muster her, and he wasn’t in the mood for bargaining, or reasoning, or negotiating.

"There’s no need for you to be here. Leave me alone."

He slowly walked past her, a fleeting look as he continued his walk through to nowhere. There was nothing he could offer her, and he’d tell her that if she pressed him.

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Nimue was taken back by his insistence to ask what she wanted. He didn't seem happy that she was there, and even when she tried to be as friendly as possible. She knew that when they first met there had been tension but both of them had grown a little from that. Nimue having far more respect for him than before and, perhaps, something deeper. That was the part that still confused her yet motivated her to have come here looking for [member="Asterion"] to begin with. ​

​

As he told her there reason for her to be there, trying to walk away, she reached out and touched his shoulder to stop him. "Yes there is a reason. You! Don't you understand? I was worried, and now that I find you out here I don't want to just leave you. Why are you even here? What happened to your home? Why didn't you come back to Effekt? I could have helped. If I'd known you were living here in an old bunker, like a wild animal, I...I..."​

 

[Stephanie Swail]

The hand on his shoulder stopped him, and he looked to it, before shrugging it off and turning to her. The cowl lapped gently over him from the wind blowing through the trees; not cold, but just bitter.

"You what? I had no idea you cared beyond your quest for glory, which, by the way, I hope has worked out for you."

He brought up his hand and indicated to the scar on his cheek.

"A 15 year old girl did this to me many years ago, after I met you. That meeting changed everything for me and I saw how empty I was – I don’t even know if what I did help you. This is my home – I never HAD a home to start with. I wandered around like a beast and now the beast has found solace away from everything and everyone and I can just last out my days until the warm invitation of death comes knocking. Asterion? A name lost when the Sith Order died with me."

The howl of wind got a little louder and he indicated to her ship.

"I appreciated the time we spent together, and thank you for coming looking – but unless you give me a better reason than simple worry, you best get out of here before the storm comes. It’s quite lonely and dangerous here when the storm comes."

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

She pulled back when [member="Asterion"] shrugged her hand off, only to follow with showing her his scar and going into his grand speech of why he felt empty and alone. She felt all the more sorry for him. Had she know this when they'd first met, had she known a lot of things from their first meeting, she'd have said and done things a lot differently. But the more he talked the more he tried to convince her there was nothing do to or that he wanted done. He wanted to be alone because he felt empty and useless to anyone else. That wasn't true. Not to Nimue. ​

​

"Then come with me, please!" she began, putting her saber away finally. "You think I Have nothing to offer but you've no idea what I can give you. I.... I care about you, Asterion. I do. And I mean it. I know you might think of me as some empress who parades herself and opens her legs to anyone, but things have changed a lot. I've realized where I was wrong. And turning my back on you now will just be another example. So just come back to Effekt with me, please!" ​

​

Part of her was almost on the verge of telling him something else. A deeper secret that he may or may not have wanted to hear. But she couldn't tell him. Not yet. That secret still needed time before anyone could know about. As much as the idea crept into her mind she stopped herself from going that far. He's know in time. ​

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Seeing her on the verge of desperation, it wasn’t something Asterion was used to – someone who felt genuine in wanting his wellbeing. He raised a hand to calm her a little, to stop her going on.

"Just, calm down, alright? I don’t think that – I never did. Stubborn? Yes. Powerful? Not quite but you’d get there. To be honest, Empress, I don’t…"

He trailed off and shook his head, looking around and sighing, giving up on even his train of thought.

"I don’t know who I am anymore. Am I still a Sith? Hardly – I don’t know. I’ve discovered little about my place in the galaxy here on Teth, but it’s good because while I’m here nothing goes wrong and no-one reminds me how pathetic I am; that’s not an invite for you to bull me up with compliments."

Asterion held his hand out for the Empress.

"If there’s one face I’ll remember here, it’ll be yours. Thank you for coming at least. I’m just sorry I’m not the man you may have wanted to find."

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Now he spoke with a little more clam tone. She listened to him say how he was here because he didn't want to be reminded of being a failure. She felt he was too hard on himself. She looked down as he said hers would be the one face he'd remember before trying to wave her off and not accept her offer. She wouldn't accept this. She couldn't. ​

​

Walking up she quickly too [member="Asterion"] by the face and said "You're not a failure. You never were. Not to me..."​

​

Before he had the chance to argue she stopped him by planting her green lips upon his. She could feel the cold, cry skin against her lips but didn't care. She needed to prove to both herself and Asterion that this was real. This was what she needed to do. To prove to Asterion that not everyone thought him useless and that she herself had the genuine feelings for him that she did. All of that time spent with others had not felt as good as it had with him. For some reason there was more of a spark to be found with this man, one she'd not felt in the longest time. Despite the beard and the dirty look she still kissed him, wanting to show her real feelings for the old warrior. ​

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Before he could move, or speak, or think, the Empress was close to him – and then kissing him. A sensation he hadn’t experienced before.

He could smell her rich scent, feel her warm, moist lips on his own and even though his dark eyes, she was full on sincerity; not even a hidden blade was used as he was distracted to take his life as some vengeful or bitter people may have done beside him.

Recoiling gently, Asterion didn’t know what to say or feel – this wasn’t making sense. He was a mess, and a shadow of what he had been. This was nothing of attraction to an Empress like Niume who could have anything – anyone – she wished.

"What the hell was that?"

He stood side on, unsure of what to do. Push her away? Run to the safety of the bunker? His head was swirling and his eyes looked for something to focus on other than her. He knew of what passion was, and had seen it before in others he had served with, but only Felicity had come close to tapping into the beating heart behind the cold warrior, and that was simply from a child’s innocence in seeing the fragility of what Asterion was all about.

Now – this?

"I’m sorry – I…you came here just for that? Don't you have an Emperor or Prince at your beck and call yet, your Highness?"

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

As he pulled back Nimue could tell he was confused. Not just sensing it in the force but the look on his face. Even she was confused when he asked what it and if she didn't have anyone back home to do it for her. She began to wonder if more royals did that, at least in the more casual sense that she did, before waving it off. Did he really not understand? Part of her almost anted to slap him for being that thick but, of course, did not. Instead she tried staying close to him as possible while explaining.​

​

"It was me showing you how I felt, [member="Asterion"] . To show you how much I care about you. I want you to come back with me. You can stay in my palace and not have to live like this." She through before following up with "You want a place to fight and be a warrior again? I'm joined a group called the Primeval. They have enemies just as the Sith did and need people to help in the fight. People like you. Like me!" ​

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Listening to her, Asterion took in the words carefully – she was offering care (whatever that meant), a purpose and something to focus on. Surely it would be foolish to at least try and see what she was giving him, and the notion of becoming more than just a worn down Sith relic was interesting.

He nodded softly.

"The Primeval. Ones belonging to the earliest of time. Alright…I’ll go back with you. One chance, and that’s it. I highly doubt anyone will even remember or notice me, so I will use this as the chance to break the shackles of the Sith Order that haunt me and see what I can become."

Reaching forward, he gently brushed his finger down the side of Nimue’s cheek.

"I can’t promise you I can be all you probably expected me to be, but I will make it up to you for finding me. Thank you, Nimue. Let me go collect my things. I will meet you at your ship."

He turned and held the cowl as he walked through the dark forest, letting her ship lights pave the way towards the bunker and let his hand graze the trunks of the trees he would miss in the serene surroundings he had fallen in love with touched with snow. A thousand sorts raced through his head, and he would need to take things slow, and re-discover himself back in society.

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Apparently the chance of redemption was what [member="Asterion"] needed to bring himself out of his funk. Something Nimue was wishing she'd have done first and then lead into explaining her feelings for him. Either way it worked. Her green eyes watched him as he spoke of how he would come, a smile starting to form. It broke when he said how he was not sure if he would live up to what she wanted him to be. For her she didn't need him to be anything more than what he was: the man she knew him to be and the warrior that he always was. His finger against her cheek brought color to it while saying he would find a way to make it up to her. She smiled again before he turned to the bunker, she nodding before walking back towards the ship. Often she glanced back to see if he was following yet, only to fully come to a stop a meter away from her ship. Her guards were still awaiting her but she didn't move, not until she could see Asterion coming and making sure he was joining her this time. ​

 

[Stephanie Swail]

The bunker door slid open with little effort, and Asterion pulled back his cowl over a thick mane of hair; if ever he looked a wild beast it was now. He walked down the steel corridor and turned left into his room – the makeshift armoury now cleared to make space for him to sleep, eat, read and exercise. Kneeling by his thin quilt on the floor, Asterion picked up the two lightsabers – his own and his former Masters.

There was nothing else he needed – he came here with nothing and would leave with nothing. He could return in time, and he would continue being nothing if that was the case.

Moving out, he reached the small stairwell leading up the surface but stopped in his tracks and took the white hilt of the departed Lady Kyros in his hand. Left to him after her passing, it was a memento of the past, of the Order that had ultimately abandoned him when he gave so much to serve them. He returned to the armoury and his quilt, and placed it gently on the pillow where he had slept for years. It would stay here, with his memories and his failures. Should he fail once more, he would return and hold it to remind himself of what he really was.

Leaving the bunker minutes after, a powerful pull of Force energy sealed the blast doors and he kicked up a small wave of snow to cover the door, looking like just another disused mine hidden by rock, snow and rotting fauna.

The cowl came up and he followed the lights from Nimue’s ship, guiding the way to something he didn’t know what, but he would be foolish to ignore it. She was still there, with her guards, waiting for him.

"Give me time, and I will discover myself again if you believe in me. Lead on, Empress."

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

A bit of relief left Nimue's lungs when she saw him approach. She was glad he was actually coming and not making an excuses not to or trying to run away from her as she feared. When he reached her she smiled, taking both of his hands in her and saying "You know I do." in response to him wanting her to believe in him. After that she still held one hand while leading him back to her ship. Her guards went in first, allowing the two to enter one behind the other. Once on-board Nimue had allowed the boarding ramp to close while leading [member="Asterion"] to a decent room for him to stay in during the trip. She allowed him to enter first, seeing if it was to his liking, while also wanting to have a better look at him in the lights of the ship. The shuttle itself finally began to take off back to Effekt, a small lurch before going up and out of Teth's atmosphere. Seeing Asterion more clearly now he looked all the more rugged and dirty. His long black bush of a beard and his dirty, cold skin. While it wasn't ideal she still found a rugged charm to it. It reminded her of some of the more grizzled heavy bearded warriors of her planet that made up the bulk of her armies and berserk corps.​

 

[Stephanie Swail]

The ship was spacious enough and sleek, with comfortable surroundings to rest and reside in. It had been a long time since Asterion had been in a ship such as this, or any ship at all. Whether or not she picked up he was uncomfortable in the surroundings, and even being led in hand by her, Asterion didn’t have the strength or fight in him to try and be smart or full of quips. This was an alien situation to him, and it felt like a dream.

The warmth struck him, and he breathed slowly as he adjusted to the change in temperature from an environment he had become acclimatised to. Finding his way to the small quarters he could rest in, far more comfortable than his efforts back on Teth, Asterion sat on the bunk provided under the lights and leant an arm on his elbow, fully aware of how he must look now.

"I’d like to freshen up if possible once we reach your palace, if you don’t mind. It didn’t bother me looking like this, but I don’t think it suits being back in society."

He ran a hand over his beard, thick and full. He then looked up to the Empress with a defeated smile.

"So you know my story – have I missed anything whilst I’ve been away or what?"

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

With his remark of freshening up Nimue did nod while commenting "You could use it. I can help if you'd like. Starting with that beard. It makes you look....well like a savage." After that she still stood in the doorway watching him while he asked what he'd missed while being away from the rest of the galaxy. "I'm afraid a lot. In the ensuing time we last met there was some great horror in the galaxy. They called it the 'Netherworld' Indecent. But I was not aware of it until afterwards. I, however, had dealt with a war that broke out on my own planet. Some of my own people, my own advisers, had tried to rise against me for my actions. The traditionalists who wanted Effekt to remain out of galactic affairs. That lasted a long while before it finally subsided. And in that time I'd finally grown into a full fledged warrior. A Knight as I believe some of you like to say." She showed her cross-guard saber to him, only the hilt, while saying "And I'd finally forged my own weapon. Impressive, isn't it?"​

​

[member="Asterion"]​