A Blood Trail

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Joon"]

For a few seconds he simply considered leaving her to her death.

The idea seemed a bit cruel, especially considering that she had just agreed to serve him, but still it was rather tempting. After a second though he dismissed the idea, deciding it was better to have her tag along for now. For all he knew there was something far worse waiting for him just down the hall. "Don't move."

Vrak told her plainly.

He knelt on the ground, his fingers running the length of the odd rectangle floor piece that had been depressed. The force flooded through him, and slowly he pulled a blade free from his robes. The sharp end of the knife stabbed through the heavy rock, jamming the plate into place. He motioned for Joon to move.

"This will keep it in place." For a while at least. "Careful where you step."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Watching Vrak move, she was annoyed at how he seemed to deliberate leaving her there but also for getting caught in such an obvious trap so soon after entering.

”This is intolerable!” She hissed at him.

Stepping away gingerly as he wedged the panel, she didn’t move, and pointed at him.

”Alright, Pureblood – you lead the way. Let’s see YOU do any better and then maybe I’ll consider leaving you to rot.”

Her eyes glared at him with a scowl, and she jabbed her finger out to move him forward.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Joon"]

He raised an eyebrow at her.

Vrak, like many other Purebloods held a certain...thought about themselves. It was the simple fact that they were better than others in the galaxy. They were born to rule, to watch over others, and to break them if necessary. That was what Purebloods were created for, they were an apex species.

The Pureblood struck out in an instant.

His hand moved like a viper, striking forward and reaching towards the girl's throat. He sought to wrap his fingers around her neck and haul her off her feet before she could even respond. Disabling her by dragging her up the wall directly behind her.

He would not be spoken to in such a way.

 

[Connor Harrison]

The Pureblood moved without warning, and his grip was cold on her throat and his face set with loathing. Crunching into the rear wall behind her, Joon gasped, struggling with her feet but gripping on with her hands.

Her eyes burned with that corrupted amber rage; the betrayal again had come to her. All she wanted to do was serve, and learn, and destroy the Jedi, but every potential ally turned into another new enemy.

”You need to grow…a backbone if you…can’t take…that!”

The unstable genetics kicked in.

Her fingers dug in and she used his strength holding her to rest the soles of her feet on the stone wall, and pushed forward hard into him, pushing her body out, giving her space between them to claw at his head.

One hand for the neck, another for the temple, and digging into rip the flesh away and bludgeon the being under her own hands.

”WHY!”

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Joon"]

"Respect." That was the only word he said as her fingers dug into his skin.

The pain pierced through his body almost immediately, stabbing into him like a dozen needles. His scowl deepened as he watched her, his eyes setting on her as his fingers tightened. Vrak wouldn't kill her, probably, but he also wouldn't let her get away with talking to him like a friend.

He had no friends.

"Show it." His fingers suddenly crackled with lightning. Power coursed through him, and bright sparks of Force Lightning jumped from him and surged into the girl. "Or die."

It was that simple.

Vrak was better than her, and she needed to acknowledge that.

 

[Connor Harrison]

The word she’d been told to remember in her training - respect.

As she dug in, knowing this was a two way agreement, a thousand needles suddenly tore through her body; in her veins and into her muscles. Blinded by pain and burst of light, Joon was near lifted back and onto the floor as the lighting riddled her body.

Limbs tense but her body shaking, mouth tight but crying out with pain.

It was something she’d never felt before and it was horrifying – like she was being slowly burnt from the inside out. Her eyes stared up at him, and for one she felt fear.

”PleassssseeeeeeeeAHGG……!!”

It hurt to talk, and her scream became a silent one as she gave into the pain and convulsed again the Pureblood stood over her.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Joon"]

The sparks ceased as suddenly as they began, Vrak's lips having turned to a scowl. His gaze fell on the girl, now crumpled and fallen to the ground.

His fingers slowly curled back into a fist, his eyes flicking up from the girl to stare at the blackened tips of his fingers. He frowned for just a moment, then looked down at the crumpled assassin. Slowly he leaned over her, his eyes settling on hers. "Respect."

Vrak repeated the word.

It was the foundation of Pureblood society. Every Sith competed of course, every single one of them planned betrayals and death in the shadows, but to ones face they were always respectful. There was a reason for that. A mix of fear and simply knowing that stepping out of the line earned you quite a bit of pain. Joon had not grown up in the midst of Purebloods, she had not been taught their ways, but it was never too late to learn. Vrak would make sure of that.

"It's important to know where you stand." He told her quietly. "Remember that."

He turned away from her, once again heading down the hall. She would either follow, or attack him, either way it didn't matter.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon heard his words just about, notwithstanding the ringing in her ears. It felt like her flesh was on fire, and she was too scared to look down. When she eventually did, her muscles ached and her skin was slightly pink, but nothing else. Such a strange sensation, and it certainly left its mark.

She moved to the rear wall and carefully pushed up on it to stand, wobbly on her feet, and not even wanting to look at the Sith who had bruised her ego and embarrassed her. Hopefully he would just…die.

Wincing, she followed on, taking the lesson and remembering the word. Respect.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out except the taste of dry blood.

Swallowing, and coughing, she spoke again.

”Teach me that,” she whispered.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Joon"]

A small smile touched his lips.

Vrak couldn't help but feel a small bit of nostalgia. On Athiss it was most often the parents that first taught their child. His own father had never really been a powerful force user, he'd only had half the potential that Vrak held and most of his studies had been in the history of the Sith rather than applications of the force. Yet the old man had still made it clear on more than one ocassion that he had been stronger that Vrak, or at least better taught.

He remembered the singeing smell of his own burnt flesh, the taste of blood in his mouth, the swelling of his muscles. He remembered all of it quite well, the first time his father had punished him with a burst of force lightning.

More so he remembered his desire for vengeance. The drive that had been instilled in him that very moment. Vrak had wanted to know it all, to become more powerful than his father simply so that he could one day kill the man. It had taken him years of course, almost a decade of study, learning, and training, but eventually he'd done it. The Pureblood could remember that moment well, better than any other in his already long life. He smiled. "Eventually."

Vrak said as they passed from the tight narrow corridors into a grand hall.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon closed her eyes and pulled the Force around her as best she could to support her body. She felt wobbly on her feet, and her legs ached. Everything ached and tingled. Even breathing hurt, but she was standing and she was alive. A survivor.

The girl nodded as the Sith at least gave some hope this would lead to more knowledge, and she followed on through the passageway, watching her step still, but holding out on the wall for support.

A grand hall opened up around them, and Joon was impressed at how it looked. Buried within a fortress that was otherwise decaying by the day, this hall seemed to have stood the test of time. She took a few steps forward before Vrak and looked around, noting inscriptions and decadent statues around the side.

”What is this place?” She asked.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Joon"]

"A tomb, of a sort." His people had always pulled towards Grandness. Even in death they insisted on displaying their power. This was no exception to the rule. Ancient and built in the traditions of the old ways he could spot half a dozen identifying markers around the hall.

"Not for a person." He said quietly. "For a thing."

He gestured towards the end of the hall. "A great many of my people cared too much about how they were viewed in the afterlife. They created tombs, great fortresses, signs of power that would leave them respected even after they were long dead."

It never quite worked that way of course.

Grave Robbers most often stripped the tombs.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon looked ahead what they were trying to find – a tomb.

”So something so powerful it is buried in its own tomb. I see. A relic of the past to shape a future.”

Stepping forward, she took in all the architecture and strange – what looked strange to her – languages and imagery carved into the wall. Careful steps after both the trap and the effects of the Force Lightning took her along the hall and she stopped, looking up at a carving of some beast that was looking down on them.

She blinked a few times, working out what it was.

”The Jedi told you this item is here?” The carving perplexed her. ”May I ask what it does?”

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Joon"]

"It is a Holocron, of a sort." He told her simply.

Most holocrons were created by a single being. They were meant to contain the knowledge of that being, a way to pass on knowledge without ever actually meeting the student. There was something worthwhile in that, but it still meant knowledge was eventually lost, mostly because certain people creating certain holocrons were...unwanted. That meant they were either, destroyed, captured, or lost. Not exactly conducive to passing down valuable knowledge.

"This one has several authors." He continued on. "Various Alchemists that have over the centuries created Various things."

He glanced towards her. "All of them useful in some way."

The Jedi's mind had been most helpful in learning all of this.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Holocrons. She's heard of such things but never seen one. Butterflies tickled her tummy at the thought of actually seeing one here and just what they did.

”Alchemy?” Joon frowned. ”That's like...a form of science, isn't it? Don't they form or blend various elements or matters to try and make another?”

Her voice wavered, for fear of another strike.

She was genuinely curious, as she was on the cusp of something mighty, whatever this holocron held for them to discover.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member=Joon]

"Not when it comes to Sith, not always anyway." This was difficult to describe.

Vrak was no Sorcerer, he didn't have the talent for it and had always been rather jealous of those who did. He was a strategist and a blademaster above everything else. He could fight with a lightsaber better than most, use the force in more precise means, and even dominate the minds of entire armies, but he could not do what even the most apprentice of Sorcerer's could do.

It had made for an embarrassing childhood.

"Alchemy describes the creation of artifacts, creatures, and yes sometimes elements." He slowly began to cross the hall. "Sith Sorcerer's are capable of doing grand, and terrifying things through the Darkside of the force."

He frowned. "Bending, sometimes even breaking reality itself to serve their purpose."

 

[Connor Harrison]

With each reply to her question, Vrak fed her another from another angle. It was something her former Master grew tired of quickly, so apprehension in asking was rife, but so much was happening in these moments that she just had to.

”So what do you want to use this for? I imagine the possibilities are endless. Powerful. Far reaching.”

She glanced sideways at his peculiar complexion and physical appearance. Not in a judgmental way, but a simply curious one.

”What do you see, Vrak. What is going to help you? Let me help you.”

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Joon"]

"It will help me conquer." He told her simply.

The Sith had always sought to do so, and Vrak was no different. Some would claim him to just be another repeat of the cycle, another turn of the wheel, and perhaps they weren't wrong. The Pureblood didn't see it that way of course, but he didn't particularly care about history or even the future.

All he cared for was his own base of power.

"What they buried here will grow my Empire." He glanced towards her. "Outfit my soldiers and allow them to better fight."

Finally Vrak moved forward.

The Grand hall seemed to ebb and flow with power and The Pureblood stepped forward, the darkside reverberating slightly.

 

[Connor Harrison]

At the mention of an Empire, Joon’s eyes lit up, even behind that permanently corrupted amber. It gave her a more angelic yet demonic glow.

”Your Empire? You are forging an Empire based on this and your legacy?”

Hurriedly, she stepped forward to stand beside him, and glanced forward at the hall as the Dark Side made her physically shiver as it passed her by and seemed to wrap around her being.

”I will serve and fight for the glory of it. From humble beginnings to a mighty dominance and rule across systems. I can see it now…” she trailed off, looking beyond the hall and the fortress and out into what could be in the future.”…the likes of what the galaxy has never seen before. Something beyond the Sith and Jedi Knights. Something born of the Dark Side itself.”

She turned to Vrak.

”The galaxy is yours for the taking.”

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Joon"]

"It will be." Whether it was self delusion or assurance was impossible to tell at this point. Vrak was confident he could forge his Empire, he was confident that he would have the power he had so long thought himself destined to have.

Power was fleeting.

It was something one could quest for lifetimes to achieve, yet Vrak stood on the cusp of it. He could all but feel it. Just a few short months, just a few more acts, and then he would have everything that he had sought for so long. His fingers tightened for a moment, his hand reaching out to grasp the small pyramid that had been left on the pedestal within the center of the grand hall. With it he turned towards Joon, a small smile decorating his face.

"Here." A pulse of the darkside ran through his palm, the pyramid began to give off a soft glow. "See what lays ahead."

Slowly the holocron folded open, revealing the knowledge within.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Walking near side by side with Vrak, Joon was lost in a trance. Transfixed by the dream of power and the formation of an Empire to serve with again; to understand Dark Side secrets and become something more than just a left over clone.

Looking at the pedestal that emerged from the dark shadow of the hall, Vrak took the small pyramid object from atop it and held it there.

Joon looked at him, and then at it, and as it peeled open, she held her hands out and closed her eyes to take what she could from what this holocron held inside.

She felt warmth over her skin that wasn’t covered, and she felt calm. Her eyes opened to see the holocron glowing and a wealth of information poured into her mind’s eye. Some conflicting and worrying, some decisive and powerful in its vision. Images of war, images of baying crowds, huge star ships cutting through the skies, ancient throne rooms and dark Lords.

What she was seeing or feeling she didn’t understand – was it her own thoughts clashing with the source of the holocron? Was it truth? Lies? Hopes?

”What is this?” She asked with a gasp, unable to take her eyes from the tendrils and light that seemed to emit from his palm.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]