To walk on hallowed ground

[Samka Derith]

"Now... we wait, I suppose," Samka shrugged seeing if it had any effect.

At first she felt nothing but then it began to burn within her. A small cough as it rose from discomfort to outright pain, burning away at her insides. Despite doing her best not to show it, Samka's eyes began to water and the cough deteriorated into spluttering.

Ordinarily pain gave her strength, it fuelled the anger and emotion which enhanced the Dark Side's power but here it was... draining. Doing her best to put the sensation aside and think logically, Sam realised it was trying to rid her of the darkness within. There was only one option, a temporary and extreme measure in the panic of the moment - to cut herself off from the Dark Side completely.

This thing, whatever it was, could even kill her. Samka simply didn't know. Even if it didn't, it left her hideously weak and if Charlie realised the cause of the pain, she could kill her anyway. In this state even a Jedi Padawan could be too much.

Then it stopped.

The reassurance of the Dark Side whispering within her had stopped too.

She took a moment to catch her breath amidst a feeling of emptiness. She'd almost forgotten where she was and who she was with in the distraction.

"I'm fine," she turned to give a pained smile to [member="Charlie"], Sam's voice slightly hoarse. But she noticed something past the other girl, a doorway had appeared which wasn't there before. "Charlie," she motioned her head for the Jedi to look behind her. This had to be the final step.

 

[Charlie Nooran]

[SIZE=10pt]Nothing happened to Charlie, though she did have to hide her face slightly and burp after gulping down the liquid so quickly. She did feel a bit revitalized as if she had just slept for several hours. She would pause for a moment to scribble down a note in the journal she had brought with her. The findings would possibly interest her Master back at the rest. As she drew closer to where the exit was, Charlie paused. Something didn’t feel right. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Looking back towards her partner, Charlie wandered over towards Elizah who was finishing her choking. Tilting her head, Charlie looked towards the girl and questioned her quickly. “You okay?” Elizah had answered her and Charlie nodded. She stared for a couple of minutes at Elizah and nodded. Something told Charlie that she needed to be a bit warier of about what had just happened. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Before Charlie could continue to press the issue of Elizah choking on the water. Looking behind her, Charlie blinked and noticed the door that had just appeared. “Seems to be the exit.” Charlie looked back to Elizah and stepped aside. “You go first.” [/SIZE]

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

"I'll... go first," Samka got to her feet, still feeling slightly giddy but made her way past @Charlie.

She wobbled slightly with her movements, having to take it delicately but began to find her balance again soon, her steps growing more confident with each one.

It was odd, not only the pain of the liquid but the disorientation from losing her connection with the Dark Side. It had been many years since she'd gone without it, she must have only been a child. The silence in her head was deafening.

The doorway glistened slightly as she approached, like a mirage which wasn't there and yet she walked through as easy as can be. There was no sensation to mark it different to any other doorway.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Samka regarded this next chamber as well. It was a large, circular chamber with stone pillars dotted around the room. Some of them had collapsed but it was not these which took her attention. On a raised pedestal in the centre of the room was a chest. The chest cried out in the Force, almost humming with the Light. It didn't make her as ill as before, not with this cut off from the Dark Side. But she knew her task, this was her target. She'd return it to the First Order and claim her prize - the attention of the Supreme Leader.

But first there was a small matter to attend to:

"Charlie," she spun around to find the Jedi Padawan following her. "I think we've done it," an excited smile crossing her lips. "We found it!"

She contemplated her next move, in this weakened state, it would be preferable to avoid combat with the woman. Ordinarily, Sam was confident in her abilities to crush a Jedi like this but right now her abilities felt shaky. Hopefully there might be a way to gently part ways.

Heavy footsteps followed. Many of them. Samka's stance shifted, becoming protective. She didn't like this one bit.

One by one, a group of Wookiees came into view. There was about four of them standing behind one larger and more shaggy looking Wookiee missing an eye.

"May I... help you gentlemen?" She questioned, suspiciously. They were armed with bowcasters and vibroblades and cast a menacing sight. They didn't seem friendly.

The leader gave a snorting noise which Sam supposed passed for a Wookiee's chuckle and growled. Sam's fingers itched to her Lightsaber.

">Jedi girls open shrine, at long last!<" The Wookiee spoke in his native tongue. Shyriiwook was an ugly language, beastal. ">We don't have Force, could never make it work. Now you here. You give us secret prize now!<"

The body language of the group was clear, it wasn't a request.

"No," Sam said firmly. "You leave this place immediately. It's not yours to take." Her fingers unclipped the Saber at her belt. It was heavy, heavier than her own but the Jedi weapon would have to do.

The Wookiees growled. ">Then we'll take it!<" The leader snarled and unloaded a bolt from his bowcaster at Samka.

 

[Charlie Nooran]

It was an amazing feeling to have completed something like the challenges they had faced up to now. Charlie wanted to celebrate, and she made the necessary notes in her small journal that she would present to her Master at the end of all of this. Small accomplishes such as this was a good feeling, it meant that her studying and training were paying off. As they entered and were greeted by the wookie group, Charlie tilted her head. It was possible the bad feeling she had just felt was the group waiting for them on the other side.

Elizah took control of the situation, Charlie didn’t understand why she did – especially since she could sense that the girl was feeling weakened for some reason. Asking at this point would be pointless and, in the end, detrimental to their cause. If the wookie pirates realized that one of the two Jedi girls were injured it meant they were easy pickings. Frowning, Charlie felt her blade in her hand. The wookies weren’t going to go down quietly, which frustrated the small padawan.

Before she could say anything, the leader took a shot towards her companion. Reacting quickly, mostly because she knew Elizah wasn’t feeling all that well, Charlie stepped in front of the girl and ignited the blade. As the saber extended its full length, it caught the bowcaster’s bolt and shot it back towards the leader. This only frustrated the wookies and those that had the bowcasters started to open fire. Charlie blocked the next few and then opened her hand to push them off their feet. The small chest in the middle of the room that held the prize was now open to be collected.

“Elizah! I’ll hold them off – get the chest!”

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

A blue blade errupted before her ready to block the shots, it was strange to use the foreign colour for herself but there was no time for pining over a colour scheme. However it wasn't her blade which intercepted the attack, it was her companion's.

"R-right," she stuttered slightly at the orders. Could the Padawan really hold back five Wookiee hunters? Already one was coming around to flank her, raising his bowcaster.

She reacted out of instinct as the alien took aim and threw her Lightsaber towards it. Killing or incapacitating it, she didn't know, she didn't stick around. It was a swift movement of throwing the Lightsaber and turning back to dash to the chest, pulling her weapon back to her with the Force as she did so.

Hearing a bolt of plasma land close by her, Samka snatched the chest and dove behind the alter for cover. She took a moment to compose herself from the sheltered area, cradling the treasure now in her arms. She had it! It was hers! She simply had to get it out of here and return it to the Supreme Leader. Oh how he'd praise her.

The Ren poked her head out of cover to survey the situation. [member="Charlie"] was in a face off. The fight was blocking the exit. Perhaps they'd kill each other and make her task simpler. She smirked slightly at the thought. For the time being, she would observe and see which action to take depending on how the battle unfolded.

 

[Charlie Nooran]

[SIZE=10pt]There was no reason to kill the Wookies. They were in the way of what they were doing and all they needed was to get away. Charlie ducked and blocked the attacks from them. The Wookie that got the hilt of Elizah’s lightsaber to the face was knocked out cold. There was only four left and Charlie tried to feel through the force as to where Elizah was. The girl was still there, but, where was she? Why wasn’t she helping? The padawan figured that the girl was hiding – maybe scared, but at least the prize was secured. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]The remaining Wookies came at Charlie, being a student of form IV, she didn’t hesitate to take the offense against theirs. Moving forward, the padawan jumped and kicked one of the Wookies in the chest pushing him backwards. As she landed, her body twisted and the moment her foot touched the ground a second leg moved to snap a kick to the stomach of the other. To incapacitate the last two along with the one that was hunched over spewing curse words in his native tongue, Charlie launched forward a force push throwing them against the nearest wall. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It took a lot out of the small padawan, perspiration collected on her brow and she was out of breath. The lightsaber deactivated and returned to her belt. Looking around, she hovered near the exit. “Elizah? We should get going. Let’s go back to the rest okay?” [/SIZE]

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

Samka frowned from her hiding spot. Was the girl an idiot after all? Her opponents were stunned for little more than a moment and she declared the coast clear?

"Elizah? We should get going. Let's go back to the rest okay?"

"Okay..." She responded slowly to the other girl, the Ren genuinely tentative about the situation. The Wookiees were still threats. Having gained an advantage, Charlie should logically dispatch them. Samka was weakened, from her ordeals getting here and having to carry the artefact beneath one arm. She was vulnerable.

Emerging from cover, Sam kept low and hurried back the way she'd came, staying close to the wall.

But as she had almost reached the exist, she felt a hairy paw grasp her leg, tugging hard and knocking both Sam and the chest to the ground with a yelp and thud. Rolling over on the floor, she saw the Wookiee she'd thrown her Lightsaber at regaining consciousness. She'd passed close by the brute, assuming it was out cold but it had recovered fast and she hadn't seen it coming. Her senses were clearly muted by the shrine.

The beast growled menacingly and rose a clawed hand to slash down at her. Samka's borrowed Lightsaber ignited in response to shield herself from the attack just as the Wookiee struck. In a moment their fortunes had reversed. The Wookiee had severed his own arm in the attack against her blade. It drew back, roaring out in pain and surprise and the Ren seized the opportunity the Jedi was too weak to do. She thrust the blade forwards, stabbing her attacking and then swishing upwards, a simple movement but enough to cleave her opponent and grant him death.

Brushing the corpse off of her, Samka snatched up the chest and dashed past [member="Charlie"] for the exit.

"Let's go," She called out, running past the Jedi hopefully before the other Wookiees could recover.