Wake Up

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Minor technicality!

Okay, maybe not so much, Kira thought, another giggle escaping. Tipping her head back allowed her to peer up at her husband, capturing within her sight the near breathtaking half grin that shone down at her. His teeth were white against the dark olive of his skin, tanned through years of being under the sun on Borleias. Her own had a honey tint to it as well, as neither had been particularly shy when it came to swimming out by the ocean. The sea had been their front yard, and almost three decades of being with the former false god provided an easing of would be propriety. There was nothing for the Lorrdian to hide from Sol. He loved her regardless of the scars that littered her body or the slight wrinkles that age had given her.

"Maybe..." a dart of a pink tongue was given to the Talith in a raspberry, impish delight coating the slight smugness that ran down the length of the blonde's body. She in no way was bothered by the situation. His ring was a link that relayed just what her husband felt and his intentions. In it she would joyfully fall into that well of affection, love, desire, and mischievousness.

"But what will you do now that you've caught me?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Oh." Soliael began to say with a small smile on his face, fingers gently caressing her stomach.

Oddly enough he began to think back on their first days on Borleias in that moment, the night and mornings they had spent together with the ocean on their front step. It had been a good time. He had surprised her there, it had been their first home together, their own place in the galaxy. It had been a significant mark in his life, a time for him to settle down, to be at peace. A hundred years ago he would have thought such a thing impossible, and yet...

With Kira had it been easy.

He had been wild before her, selfish beyond all belief. The former false god realized that now, and in hindsight he had caused so much harm, yet with his wife by his side most would call Soliael a good man. He didn't know if it was she alone that made him such, or perhaps she just brought out the best in him. Either way. He was happy.

"I can think of a few things." Soliael said as he leaned down to kiss her. "Maybe I'll show you."

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Warm lips met and Kira settled into the embrace with a loving sigh. Tipping her head up, the blonde smiled against Soliael's lips, nipping at the fullness of his lower lip amidst the lowering of her lashes. Even at her most serious, the Lorrdian was unable to halt a few giggles here and there. Good humor and a positive outlook permeated the Jedi Master. For her, there was always a silver lining. Something good and bright in the dark. For Kira, Soliael had expressed that decades ago.

More than a few handful had choice words to say to the blonde in the wake of her marriage. Most were from the more orthodox point of views in the Order. Some were well aware and remembered just what the name Talith implied, what Darth Moridin had caused in his bloody wake during his rule of the Sith Empire. Yet Kira didn't see that. She did not paint a red stain upon Soliael for his father's deeds. Not even the torture she suffered at his sister's Nemene's hands.

For Kira, Devin was not his sister. He was not his father. He was no one other than Devin for her. Did it blind her to what he'd done in the past? No, but she knew innately that he was not that man. Did it wipe away what he'd done? No, but she knew that he would do his best to make as much as he could right. They had created a family, a place to make things better. To help others. They may never be able to save the galaxy, but at the very least they could start with their own family. Esme, Draith, Kayrhi, and Nohei, their children were their legacy.

They had taught them all they could so that they would make their own decisions and know what is right. What is wrong.

And perhaps just a little bit, help the galaxy.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Once they had thoroughly woken one another up, Kira and Sol quickly ate breakfast. Their camp was kept set up, mostly because Soliael didn't think that they would even explore half the ruins during the day and they would still need a place to sleep after they got back.

"Flashlights." Soliael said as Kira wiggled her way out of the tent.

"I don't want to use the force a lot down there." They still had no idea what they would find. "We have no idea how stuff will react, plus...well nothing beats a good flashlight."

Well, maybe a magic glow-bulb that never ran out of power, but Micah had yet to create one of those and Soliael was too lazy to try to do it so for now they would just have to suffer through the use of regular lightbulbs mixed with batteries. There were worse things. "I'll take some torches too, just in case."

Soliael was really concerned about the dark.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Kira gave him an odd but amused look. That was a first that Sol was so concerned over the dark of all things. It amused her. Shaking her head, Kira laughed and accepted the flash light.

"Why? You afraid that we'll end up stuck in a deep, dark tunnel under the temple?" she gave a wag of her blonde brows, wiggling out of the tent in fresh clothes.

"Don't worry, I can make a glowlight." she teased, reminding him that she had taught him the very same skill decades ago when they'd been caught under the ice caverns at the Exocron estate.

Grabbing her hair tie from her wrist, the Jedi Master ran her fingers through her hair, finger-combing it to gather it up in a thick, golden ponytail. Easy peasy.

"Any fresh data come in from the probe?" she inquired. Kira had left the inquiry in exploration mode, and they were bound to get new information on the temple grounds. Wait...

"Is that why you mentioned the flashlights? Did it find a way underground?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"A glowlight is the force, dear." Soliael pointed out. "We don't know what we'll find down there, and using the force might trigger something."

That was the trouble with places of old, both Jedi and Sith. The force most often permeated so thickly through ruins left by their ancient ancestors that things generally tended to be...off-kilt. There were certain places in the galaxy where a simple push of the force could turn into a destructive wave, a nudge of ones mind could turn someone into a cripple, and the bending of steel could turn into the creation of a broken pipe. You had to be careful in these places.

"It did, but further into the ruins." Likely built for safety, or simply more room.

Jedi were, after all, rather conscious about their footprint.

Soliael knew that most Jedi preferred to leave as little behind of themselves as possible, and thus instead of destroying the surrounding forest the Jedi here had built into the earth itself. It was a tactic that had many bonuses, but he suspected also difficulties. Either way, he doubted that any true source of light within the ruins was likely long gone, and thus his insistence on the use of torches, flashlights, and perhaps maybe some bottled sunlight.

The latter was of course more difficult, but he'd nearly convinced his children it was possible once so maybe he'd try it on Kira before they headed inside.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

A circle of her eyes and Kira gave her husband a punch in the upper arm. Not that it did much what with how he kept his body fit and toned. Sigh...

"You are too good looking, you know that?" she tossed out at him with an impish grin. She followed up with a small smack of his butt before moving to grab her gear.

She tucked in the flashlight on a hoop on the side of her backpack. Inside Kira made sure they had plenty of snacks, a bottle of water, and some general first aid supplies. A fire starter along with an extra power cell for anything else.

"Okay, trying to think what else we may need," she said aloud, bending over to work through the contents of her backpack.

"I have some food and water." ah, where was that datapad? Oh there! She spotted it alongside the sleeping bag, Picking it up, the blonde skimmed through the display.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"I know I am." Soliael said with a simple shrug. "You should see me when I go out, I have to beat ladies off with a stick."

Not actually true of course, but that hardly mattered.

"It's a curse." Soliael said as he stuffed another small ration pack into the side-pocket of his backpack. He had no intention of being in the ruins longer than a day, but he was still incredibly weary of what they would find in the hidden depths below. There was a possibility of...well anything. They had no clue of what they could find. The probe had a life-signs detector, but there were dozens, if not hundreds, of species that could avoid those. Couple that with ancient traps, tricks, and a dozen other things...well Soliael wanted to plan ahead.

"Alright I think thats it." Soliael said as he stood up. "Maybe a blanket?"

He shrugged.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"And oh s-ooo humble too." another amused circle of her eyes, but Kira did so with a false scoff. Soliael was as silly as Kira could be, if not more. They both had a compatible sense of curiosity and they were both apt to be rather mischevious in their interactions. They truly brought out the best in each other, and it was evident that in this they also imparted onto their children.

While Esme may seem to be a bit aloof, she too had a lovely personality and enjoyed a good laugh -- just that hers had a tendency to be rather muted and only those closest to her ever really saw her smile. She was getting better at that now. Her trials working for SIS allowed her to glean a better understanding of being social and also truly being part of the galaxy as a whole. Force knows that the stories her eldest had given her had revealed that Esme was now really learning what it meant to be a regular individual.

Some might say that Esme was still a little bit naive on the comings and goings that spacers typically had. Perhaps they had sheltered their children a bit too much? In hindsight, a large part of that was due to me I suppose, Kira would muse, giving a nod to Devin about the blanket.

"A blanket is always good." a pause then a wink. "But you also have me to keep you warm, big guy." Packing up her bag and slinging it onto her back, the Lorrdian Jedi Master was set.

"Ready to go?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He nodded, still quite unsure of what they would actually find within the ruins ahead. A part of him wondered about what lay within the dark, though the other half simply tried to ignore it. That might have seemed silly, but...well he didn’t often get surprises. When someone was as old as him, surprises were few and far inbetween.

Soliael very often knew something about everything, and this was one of the few times where he knew nothing.

Speculating further on what was in that ruin without ever actually entering it just felt like it would be...well ruining the surprise that waited for them. It was silly, perhaps even a bit childish, but Soliael deserved to act a bit childish after three hundred years and raising four kids. That was why he was here in the Rishi Maze after all, not to be an adult, not to be responsible, but to do as he pleased.

”Let’s go.” Soliael said as he pulled out one of the flashlights and stepped forward.

He didn’t turn it on just yet, if only because there was still enough ambient light to illuminate their path, but he was rather weary of that suddenly going by the wayside. He doubted the Temple had many sunroofs.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Alright," Kira said, excitement radiating from her tiny body. The blonde was looking forward to exploring the ancient temple. What would they find? Would it be entirely abandoned or would it still retain some treasures of the past? Not that the Jedi Master was in any way was aiming to loot things. The Lorrdian had been the Master of Shadows for several years in the past; her task had been to track down potential Darkside artifacts and Darksiders and root them out for the Council.

Here, however, it was an entirely different feel. This was to simply have fun and explore a new planet. There were so many things that they could find or maybe find nothing!

What mattered is that she and Devin were together.

As the former false god took the point, Kira noted that he had been correct. Past the atrium, there was little natural light that came in. There were high arches and vaulted windows that would progressively illuminate the long corridor before them. Along the walls were more carvings, some covered with vines while others were coated with a thick layer of moss.

"It has been a while since anyone's been here." she'd murmur, noting that if there were moss here, then there would be plenty of humidity down below and deeper into the temple as well.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

”I would certainly hope so.” Soliael said as he began to take a few steps deeper into the ruins. The architecture was a reflection of the outside, smooth bevelled walls, rounded corners and edges, everything looking...peaceful. He was no stranger to such places, in fact in an odd sense it felt like had been there before. A frown pulled at his lips, and slowly he pulled Kira along as he wandered into the Temple.

They moved through a hallways for a few minutes, heading directly into the ruin as the light began to fade. There were a few sky-lights cut into the ceiling, but most had become overgrown by vines and moss. Soliael switched on the flashlight as he moved, using it more as a tool to see clearly rather than to illuminate the darkness.

Eventually the hallway began to open, parting into a huge ante-chamber.

”Temple Lobby?” He asked Kira as he shone the flashlight around the room. There were four great statues all around them, one standing above the hallway they had just exited, the other three standing above similar tunnels.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

A second ray of light joined Soliael's; it was Kira's own illuminated flashlight. A slight frown furrowed over her brows, the blond slahes puckering forward. There were four statues and four entryways.

"Could be." she said, taking a step forward to the closest one to her. It was heavily overgrown with vines and moss, and if she tucked her head in, she could hear the faintest drip of water in the distance.

"Four options." the question was, which one would they explore first? With a wag of her brows, the Lorrdian suggested the one she stood by with a cant of her head.

"Come on, let's try this one." she shone the light inside, the path illuminating the stone floor.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He didn't suppose it really mattered which tunnel they chose. At one point newcomers to this temple had likely been given some kind of map or reference markers to help them actually get around, but without that he and Kira would simply have to make their way as best as they possibly could. He frowned for a moment, and then nodded to his wife. This place was still incredibly...empty. He felt that there should have been something else, something more, but he couldn't put his finger on what.

He beckoned her. "Ladies first."

"That way If something scary comes I can use you as a shield." Offering a smile Soliael gently pressed a hand on Kira's buttocks, pushing her forward into the dark hallway. He was joking of course, but there was a ring of truth to the strategy. Kira wore a necklace that could deflect anything short of a super-laser, not that Soliael would ever actually use his wife as a human shield.

He doubted anything would attack them anyway. Soliael hadn't sensed a single thing since entering the temple.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Kira's snort and a half circle of her eyes detailed just what she thought about her husband's silly shield comment. At the most, the petite Jedi Master's head reached her husband's mid chest. She was such a tiny thing, certainly not a large physical shield. However, size could be misleading, and the power that the woman carried around her neck as well as with the defensive practices of the Force made her a woman not to be reckoned with.

The dark hallway would be barely illuminated by the rays of their flashlights. Along the way the intricate carvings of various murals made the Jedi Master wonder at the story they told.

Were they depictions of this Jedi Temple's past? A frown crossed as her brows furrowed forward in contemplation. Could be anything really.

"Do any of these seem familiar to you?" her voice held a slight echoing effect within the dark hallway. This particular one would lead to another chamber and a stone stairwell that lead further underground. Again, it felt as if simply the inhabitants had vanished. Nothing was out of place, no furniture overturned.

As if something had simply made them vanish.

"It is just so strange."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

The temple, as he had expected, was bigger than anyone would have guessed from just seeing its entrance. Apparently the Jedi who had once dwelled here had been keen on expansion into the earth itself. He could understand why, digging down left less of a footprint and allowed for more secrecy, though as he and Kira continued on he couldn’t help but question the...grandeur.

It all seemed a little much, at least for Jedi.

”Reminds me of the way The Temple on Coruscant was.” Soliael didn’t add ‘before the Sith destroyed it’. The Jedi Temple on Coruscant had always been somewhat...ostentatious, a bright glowing marvel of what every Jedi aspired to be. He had visited it once or twice in his many years, and always he’d been reminded of the Temples built by the Sith.

In a weird way, he had always thought Jedi should have been less...grand.

More like his Wife, really.

”I wonder how far it goes. He said quietly. ”For that matter, I wonder why they dug so deep.”

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Hearing him mention the temple on Coruscant brought a shaft of melancholy to Kira. She'd been there when it had been attacked by one of the many Sith Empires and the Graug Invasion, had been caught up in the fight and in securing the evacuation of the younglings.

"Yeah... I can see that," she added, peering curiously at a particular scene etched upon the wall.

"I know it is in the process of being rebuilt for like... the twelfth time." a shoulder shrug and gesture. "But it still has memories you know?"

The spotlight swept back to flicker on the former False God.

"Could be anything." Kira elaborated. "I mean, look at the temple on Lothal." that one had been rather inconspicuous, but one would be surprised how far deep it went into the earth.

"Maybe a way to safe guard things?" one reason.

"I hear that the temple on Sullust is half underground in several caverns."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael nodded, the theory was a good one really. A place to hide their secrets. The Jedi had many secrets, many things that they would rather hide. They didn’t do it out of malice of course, but simply because they thought it was better for the galaxy...ignorance. Soliael didn’t know about that, but he had once called himself the god of knowledge, so perhaps he too was guilty of the same crime.

”We’ll see.” He answered with a shrug.

”The deeper we go.” Soliael made sure to stay close to Kira. He doubted that the Jedi had booby-trapped their own Temple, but in truth he hardly knew what to expect anymore. ”The more we’ll find out.”

As they entered the lower levels Soliael began to crinkle his nose.

There was an odd sort of stench that sat within the bowels of the Temple, the air seeming to sit stale. There was no ventilation of course, so it would make sense that after all of this time there would be a stench, but something felt very...off. ”Stay close, honey.”

His words were quiet, almost cautious.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Devin had a better sense of these things than her. While the Jedi Master had the capability of sensing when things were out of sorts, the former false god had a higher affinity to it. Kira drew closer to her husband, walking alongside as much as the corridor would permit.

"It feels as if no one has passed by through here for some time." a few decades? Longer? They had no timeline to the history of this temple.

"Stale," along the walls were dusty, almost mildewed covered silver circles. Frowning, the blonde took a step closer.

"This isn't stone," she told him, reaching out to touch. Her fingertips swept over the surface, coating them in a thick film. However, more curious was the way that her flashlight reflected the light upon the four streaks left behind.

It was a mirror.

Kira leaned closer, studying it. When the rays of light hit the mirror and reflected the beam towards another circle across the corridor, an idea came to mind.

"Huh..." moving to the other dusty mirror, Kira wiped away a small coat of film on that too.

"Look at this. That mirror shines upon this one..." turning she let the flashlight sweep over the rest of the corridor.

"Then reflects upon the other. " could very well be how they kept this area illuminated.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Again he was reminded of ancient Sith Tombs.

That wasn’t really surprising of course, Jedi and Sith were from the exact same stock after all and it was true that Sith still clung to some very old Jedi Traditions. It wouldn’t surprise him to learn that this place had once been occupied by Jedi that had later become Sith, and those Sith had taken their knowledge of Jedi Architecture with them into the greater galaxy. It was a cause and effect sort of thing.

History was often carved in such interesting manners. He frowned for a moment and moved down the path a bit, heading beyond where Kira was standing and moving more towards the end of the grand hall. There was something iffy about this place, something that reminded him...he frowned and then turned to his wife.

”Spin that mirror.” He motioned in the direction and then pointed towards another.

Soliael already guessed what the strange apparatus was for, creating a certain amount of illumination within these halls. ”You may have to wipe it off first…”

He suddenly realized.

”You should use your shirt.” Soliael pitched. ”Most effective if taken off and…”