First Reply Where the Whispers Take You

[Astrea]

Where the Whispers Take You
​

The whispers always came in the night.

She couldn't remember a time before she heard them. Formless, cloying voices, pricking at the very edge of consciousness. Soft and sharp all at once, bristling with potential and promise as they tried to lure her in with clammy sweetness and gentle temptation. She'd heard them before she'd been Astrea, back when her name was something else and there was nothing to really tempt her with.

Not until her family had been killed. Then the whispers came alive. Then, she vowed to follow them.

They had brought her here. In the madness of a collapsing empire, several systems away from her shattered, former home. A cracked, parched plain of grey sands and swirling gusts. Icy winds slicing through everything, scalpel-sharp. Ancient, jagged hills and mountains lining the sides, with little to adorn them other than the eroded memories of civilizations long passed. A desolate place on an unfortunate world.

She'd never know where to look if it wasn't for the Whispers and the power that they brought.

Astrea's boots scraped across the sands as she moved towards one of those wrecked ruins. Two pillars that still just barely stood, marking an inconsequential place in the sands. Just framing a particular point in the peak beyond. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. But she felt the tug in her stomach, the twitch in her heart, the sweet, sweet promise from the Whispers.

Here. Here, right here. This is the start. This is where they'll show me. This is how it ends for them.

With her nascent grasp of the Force, she reached out. Pale hand held aloft as she felt it swirl around her, eddies of the darkness shocked into life by her presence. Almost like it was curious at the newcomer. Eyes closed, she gathered the energies around herself and raised her hand. Beneath the sand, ancient devices responded and clicked, mechanisms whirring for the first time in generations. The sand parted, cascading into the opening. A gust of rancid, stale air rushed into the open, freed after so long. Then came the tendrils of darkness, leeching out into the air around her. She could feel them.

Yes.

With a thin smile on her face, Astrea made her first steps into the Dark Side ruin.

 

[Darth Vindictus]

Darth Vindictus did not remember the acquiring the ancient book. He had a collection of similar tomes, ancient stories and retellings of great temples and bastions of the Dark Side long lost or simply ignored. There were certainly enough of such places in the galaxy. For every new temple or fortress built there were likely three slowly fading into the obscurity of history. Vindictus had made it a point to try and explore as many of these forgotten ruins as he could.

The strange part was that this specific book, about this specific planet with a specific ruin was not his.

He had been departing his personal library when the tome had fallen from a bookshelf, opening to a seemingly random page. Curious, Vindictus had investigated and, to his surprise, found the book to be unknown to him. There were many questions he likely should have asked, but the burning curiosity dominated all else as he delved into the secrets held within the book. Only a few hours into his work on translations and cross referencing the knowledge within with other records, and Vindictus was sending word for his personal transport to be prepared. In a matter of hours, Vindictus had departed Lao-Mon and set out towards Sith space, still working to finish the book that had inspired such a sudden travel plan.

Now, standing before the ruined temple, Vindictus was certain that the book had been placed before him for a reason. The wind slammed against the Sith Lord as he walked towards the ruin, the cloak he wore around his black and red robes billowing behind him. The glowing red runes along the edges of his cloak seemed to bleed into the wind. Coming to a halt before two half standing pillars in the sand of this forgotten world, Vindictus crouched down. One knee resting on the ground, he drew his gloved hand across the ground before him, finding indentions too straight to be natural. Lifting his eyes, his gaze drifted across the landscape around him, taking in every minor detail.

The sand had been disturbed recently, though the wind made it difficult to tell. Whatever this ruin was, it had been visited very recently, and Vindictus could just feel the tell tale signs of another Force User at the edge of his mind. Rising to his feet, he extended his hand once more, his fingers slowly twisting as he drew upon the Dark Side. His head twitched to the side, a brief flash of annoyance running through his mind. He could not tell who, or what, the presence was that had delved into the ruins. Something was obscuring them, adding further to the curiosity Vindictus felt about this whole situation.

Smiling beneath his helmet, Vindictus took his first steps into the ancient ruin. He was more certain now that he had come to this world for a reason, and he no longer thought it was for the ruins. No, he had come for a person.

He had come for her.

Astrea

 

[Astrea]

​

The ruins stretched out underground. They seemed endless, the darkness never more than a few steps ahead, threatening to overwhelm her. As she stepped deeper into the ancient temple, she felt watched. Judged. Assessed. Small probes of energy, viscous and dark, as if she was being tested. The last remaining remnants of a security system? The lingering remains of what once dwelled there? There was no way to know... but as she felt the sickly energy wash over her, she smiled again.

The Whispers chittered softly in her head, begging her to welcome it.

She moved deeper, the dark energies growing thicker. The trickle became a stream, then a surge of it. Astrea could almost see it, ghostly twists and swirls in the corner of her vision. A haze in the gloomy half-light, a displacement in the air. A numb tingling began in her extremities, in the tips of her fingers and the tops of her toes. Pinpricks of something she couldn't describe in words, but she knew what it could be.

The darkness was beginning to wash more and more over her.

Moving forwards, the long passage opened up into a vast, circular room. It was unclear what was above, the roof hidden by the lack of light. The sands from the outside had all but faded now, leaving the dull, dark stone underfoot. All around the walls, a strange script was etched in deep. Even in the gloom, there was a dull hint of dark crimson about them, almost as if they glowed. Almost as if they still lived. Spaced out around the room were statues, rendered in heavy stone. Figures standing tall and featureless, glaring down. Imperial, almost sneering looks upon their alien faces. The same symbols and writing, carved into them.

It was only then that Astrea felt the presence of another approaching, a shifting ripple in the unconscious, intangible darkness around her. Turning towards the way she came in, she waited in expectation and mild curiosity. She had no clue who it could be. Another person drawn by something deeper? A guide that'd show her the way? Or another crusader, come to save the Galaxy whether it wanted it or not?

She stood in the center, watching and waiting, slender arms by her side.

Darth Vindictus

 

[Darth Vindictus]

The ruins proved to be far larger than the surface section had hinted at, Vindictus found. This was often the case with Sith ruins, Vindictus had found during his journey across the galaxy. For all the flaws of their kind, architectural ambition was certainly not one of them. From the moment his path led him beneath the surface of the world, and his footsteps began to echo in the catacombs beneath, he knew this was a place of true power. His helmet adjusted to the change in lighting, a brief moment of blindness gripping the Vindictus before the world around him was illuminated. While everything had taken on a new light, literally, he could hardly make out the details, obscured as if by some thick mist.

Reaching up, Vindictus tapped the side of his helmet, and the dark glass of his visor slid open, revealing his glowing yellow eyes beneath. He was cast back into darkness, but he could see far more than he could a moment ago. Vindictus began to move further into the underground ruin, the cloak he wore catching and dragging a thin trail of sand and dust behind him, but in time there was only the dust. countless centuries this ruin had stood on this world, but only at the entrance had sand managed to seep inside. This told Vindictus that despite its long abandonment, it was in remarkable condition still. He would need to delve further into the secrets held here another day, but for now his mind was focused on the task at hand.

He moved further and further into the depths of the temple, the presence he had felt before growing nearer, drawing him ever onwards. As he searched, his eyes traced the walls and floor around him. Runes were set into the wall, ancient text that he could not understand at a mere glance. The letters contained inside them a power of their own, seeming to glow to the eyes of Vindictus as he passed. He began to feel other things then, traces of connections that lingered at the edge of his mind. Mental barriers were thrown up in his mind at once, unwilling to allow the potential dangers of an unknown ruin inside unchecked, but Vindictus eventually lowered them. He could feel no singular presence or entity behind the connections, instead, they were more simplistic, animalistic even. The cold, heavy feeling of the Dark Side of the Force began to soak his body, making his steps heavy as he continued on to his destination.

Finally, Vindictus came face to face with the presence that he had felt upon entering the ruins, and he was certain had been the one that led him to this world. He came to a halt several meters away from her, his black cloak drifting about his shadowy form, red runes of his own glowing along the edges. The hood of his cloak was pulled upon, covering the helmet he wore, casting his head into shadows. His eyes, though, glowing with a malevolent yellow strength, were visible from within the darkness. Vindictus took in Astrea before him, with both his eyes and the Force. He folded his hands behind his back, the action revealing the black and silver hilt of his lightsaber hanging on his hip for but a moment, before the cloak obscured it once again.

"I had not thought to meet another being on this world, especially not one so...young. What do you call yourself, and what has guided you here."

 

[Astrea]

​

She didn't have to wait very long. It was almost pleasant in the cool, sickly air. The eddies of the darkness around her were simple and wild, buffeting off herself and the other presence that descended, getting closer and closer. Strange and wrong and half-violent... but Astrea had never felt a more beautiful tug and pull towards anything like that.

When they arrived, Astrea cast her eye over them curiously. A dark, hooded cloak covering part of the helmet. Features hidden, aside from those eyes. Staring at her like glowing, yellow daggers that pierced through the gloom. They spoke of danger, power and potential. Jealousy tingled in her stomach, though she did not show it.

"Astrea." Her voice was gentle, almost soft, sounding so very young. It was a new name for a new person, one cast aside from the broken shell that'd been discarded a few weeks before. The anger though, that was still there. Roiling deep, deep within herself.

"They spoke to me. The Whispers," she explained. A little awkwardness at how she described it but she knew that this person could understand that. After all, how had they brought themselves to the ruins? "They pulled me here. Told me I could find something. Told me this was where I needed to come." Her hand waved through the murk, towards the glowing symbols that surrounded them both.

"They were right. I can feel it. I don't know what it is, but I need it."

Darth Vindictus

 

[Darth Vindictus]

Vindictus did not react to her words other than a small, sideways jerk of his head. This girl, Astrea, peeked his interest. She spoke of whispers, as she called them. Whispers that guided her, directed her, gave her purpose. It was a rare gift that she had, though not one completely unknown to Vindictus. The Force worked in mysterious ways, his own arrival on the world indeed proved that fact. But her gift, or perhaps curse depending on ones point of view, was an entirely different matter. That single statement held more value to Vindictus than the entire temple did. Ruins were everywhere, but she was a oddity.

Turning, Vindictus looked towards one corner of the wall. The floating, dark mist they had both noticed hung along the walls. This world was particularly strong with the Dark Side, it seemed. It bled through reality to become visible to those connected to it, coating this ancient ruin in its presence. Extending his gloved hand, Vindictus exerted a small use of the Force, gathering the darkness around his hand. Turning to face, Vindictus extended his hand out, the blackness coiling around his palm as if it was a serpent.

"These voices have led you true, Astrea. This world, this ruin, this very room, are all connected to the Dark Side of the Force. You have felt it, both physically and spiritually. It is both a key to greater power, and a gateway to control. It is the ocean that dominates the galaxy, and the boat by which we use to navigate it. It is a tool for construction, and a weapon of destruction." To accent his last point, Vindictus contorted his hand and the roiling serpent of shadows suddenly shot across the room. It slammed into a pillar, slicing it in two and crashing into the wall behind it. The stone monolith toppled over, crashing into the floor of the ruins and sending up a great storm of dust.

A second usage of the Force saw the dust drift together, taking shape, and forming a shadow image of the monolith that had just been toppled. Vindictus turned his eyes fully on Astrea, releasing the dust and letting it fall in a crashing wave back to the ground. "You are strong in the Dark Side, Astrea, of that I can tell already. The Dark Side resonates with you, calls to you, and offers its secrets to you. It offers you a path that you must merely choose to begin walking down."

He brought his hand up to the side of his helmet, tapping it briefly and the visor slid closed. His eyes vanished beneath the black glass. "I am Darth Vindictus, Astrea, and the Dark Side has led me here to this meeting. It has guided me to you, and I am certain, wishes for me to aid you in your journey."

Astrea

 

[Astrea]

​

Astrea felt nervous. The man before her spoke of so much she'd hoped for. Control. Power. Domination. Words that held so much promise within them, words that sounded so sweet to her. Words that made the Whispers chitter happily, urging her to take them. It was only emphasised by what he did next. Astrea took a step back as the pillar fell, disturbing stone and dust that'd stood there for countless years. Just to show his power. Just to show what could be done.

It was a lesson that was heeded well.

Having watched his hand gestures with the shadow, she attempted to do the same. Her hand held out, she tried to concentrate. Tried to draw on that slippery, cold-beyond-cold energy that filled the place. Darkness shifted, swirling slowly around her pale fingers. It moved, danced for her, but only roughly. The coils and swishes of it could not be controlled well, it seemed to defy her finer movements. With a glare of frustration, she waved through the air with her hand. The coiled darkness shoved off her, slamming into the stone with an audible punch.

"Darth Vindictus." Repeating his name with a hint of familiarity at his title. "One of the Lords. They used to rule here, until the Alliance came." She'd known them only through the fearful talk of her family and friends, the ones who should be avoided at best, and obeyed always. "They came and they ended them. Ended everyone." Her voice faltered in her last statement as the darkness around her fizzed with energy, starting to roil and feed on her anguish and hate.

"You said I can use this? You said I was strong? You said there is a path I can go down?" she asked, taking a few cautious steps towards the taller man, staring at his featureless visor. A hint of begging in her voice. A hint of hunger.

"Show me. I want this. I want it all."
Darth Vindictus