Private And in the darkness...bind them

[Darth Strosius]

"Hey!" No actual anger was evident in his voice though, more slightly pouting if anything. "More than just a couple seconds...at least a minute longer." That may have been a bit generous, depending on the situation, but he was still working on it. He didn't mind the attention from Alina Tremiru either of course. Not that he was going to mention that, the kiss on his cheek making a smile grow on his face.

Well, he didn't mind the attention until she mentioned the shower. "Alina!" He muttered with a quiet yet almost scolding tone as his face flushed with heat. After a moment though, he did look back at her. "...you already had me at 'I want you to live there to.'"

 

[Alina Tremiru]

His scolding was her laughter. Alina full on giggled as she watched him look away with those beet red cheeks again. The coy grin stayed as wide as ever, even when Darth Strosius managed to look back. "I'm just listing off some benefits. You can't stay that embarrassed forever. Well, at least in public. So think of it like a test." She glanced towards the direction the pilot was before leaning up to whisper in his ear. "Don't worry though, no one will know what actually happened. That's our little secret."

Then she pulled away, getting far more comfortable as she leaned against him. As fun as it was teasing him, she did know what they were doing. How important it was for him. Rather than let the teasing continue she changed the subject. "Do you have any details on this vault? What might be guarding it? What might be there in terms of traps? Trials? Sith don't just leave things out for others to take."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri merely rolled his eyes in response to her laughter, a small smile cropping up on his face even as he did so. He just couldn't resist smiling when she was laughing like that, not with the light and fluttery feelings it left in his chest. "I'm not the fondest of tests if I'm honest..." His words were muttered but he knew she had a point, even as he resisted the urge to shiver slightly from Alina Tremiru whispering in his ear. She really does have that effect on me...

Not that he minded of course.

He shifted slightly as she got more confortable, his arm still resting on her other side. "This vault hasn't been opened since the latter days of the ancient Sith Empire, thousands of years ago. I can only assume that it's being guarded by some of their machines from that time. I don't think there should be any traps so long as we do the trials. As for those...well that's where the information got vague and fuzzy."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Vague trials.. I've always hated those the most." Alina groaned slightly as she thought about the other temples and tombs she'd been through. At least the holocron she got was easier to retrieve. If a pain to find. "We'll just have to make sure we stick together through it. I doubt there's anything in there we can't handle side by side." That she truly believed. Even if Darth Strosius didn't think of himself as that strong, she'd seen first hand just how powerful he'd get to keep her safe.

It gave her both a warm feeling, and helped her understand just what Taeli Raaf meant when Alina told her about the blooming relationship. They could very well fast track each other to new heights.

"When do we get there?"

 

[Darth Strosius]

A small chuckle left him as she groaned, shrugging even though he shared her attitude. "The old Sith don't like making it easy for the new ones evidently." It was far from the first time he had dealt with the mysterious and confusing matters of the Sith. Even his master had a habit of giving him riddles more than orders. Alisteri had mixed feelings on such things. He smiled slightly and nodded in agreement as she spoke, he was fairly confident as well. "Well of course. It is us together after all."

Even before they had gotten together as they were now, they were an effective pair in the few times they worked together. Now they had both gotten stronger, with Alisteri owing almost all of his new power to her. Suffice to say, he almost pitied whatever was going to get in their way in the vault. He blinked at the question and his head turned towards the cockpit.

"Barlan, have an ETA for us?" "Landing zone is in sight. You've got two minutes until we land." The Acolyte glanced back at Alina Tremiru and shrugged. "The ship is faster than I thought."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Two minutes? An actual pout formed on Alina's lips as she stared up at Darth Strosius . She had honestly hoped for some more time for them both to just sit there together. Of course the ship would be faster. When they got there, he'd likely but on his mask and everything. Alina let out a sigh as she closed her eyes. "Then we'd better get ready to depart, huh.." Though she obviously had no intention of moving. Not yet.

"That mask will go back on, right?"

 

[Darth Strosius]

The pout on Alina Tremiru 's face caused him a small smile, finding the expression rather adorable. It wasn't until she spoke again that he realized they'd have to move. I just got comfortable too... The question caused him a moment of pause however, merely blinking in confusion. Of course he would, he wore it everywhere after all. Well, almost everywhere.

There were only two people that he took it off around, and she was one of them. He knew that she had mixed feelings about him wearing it all the time, of course to him he saw no issue. After a moment, a small smile returned to his face and he leant in to press his lips to her forehead. "Well...how else am I supposed to keep this face of mine exclusive to you hm?" He joked, although he was tempted to leave the mask behind this time. Just this once wouldn't hurt.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Exclusive to her? A faint smile formed at the thought, but she didn't make a comment on it. Instead she leaned up, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before standing up. "When we're done, I expect you to take me on another date. The best one you can think of for being so absorbed into your studies." It was a tease, but with some truth. She had missed spending time with Darth Strosius . She pulled on her own mask, clicking it into place. If they were about to arrive, better to be ready.

"Let's get this holocron."

 

[Darth Strosius]

A small blink of surprise followed by a smile was the only response he offer to her. A date sounded wonderful after spending a couple of days scouring a musty library. He welcomed any excuse to spend time with Alina Tremiru of course. Score one for Ali. He soon donned his mask as well, taking a moment to fiddle with the holoprojector as the ship landed.

By the time the landing ramp hissed open and touched the ground to allow them an exit, he had managed to get some sort of incomplete map on the device before he switched it off. "Feel free to take a look around the place Miss Barlan, this may take awhile." The acolyte strode out of the ship, his head on a swivel as he searched for something.

They had landed in a small clearing in some sort of forest, Alisteri muttering something under his breath as his gaze flickered over the trees around them. "The planet has healed since the days of the old Sith. This used to be a wasteland." Unfortunately, for all he knew the entrance to the vault could've been covered by one of the many trees around them.

Time to hope that his senses in the Force had improved.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina followed behind Darth Strosius , sparing the pilot a glance on the way down before focusing on the task at hand. Ali quite the trust in the woman. Where exactly did she come from? Who exactly was she? A servant of Ali's master, but who was his master anyway? A number of questions went through her mind, but they were a topic for later.

"Or, perhaps, it only adapted." Much as they had to recover what was lost, perhaps the planet hadn't simply healed, but become something new. the Sith breed a need for evolution, less stagnation become death.

"Tell me, can you feel it? A pull of the darkness?" Truthfully, she couldn't. She could feel when someone plucked the strings of Anima around them, but to actually find the source wasn't something so easily done. Her lips thinned into a frown behind her mask. "Why must it always be so hidden."

 

[Darth Strosius]

As the pair left the ship, the pilot turned her chair to glance back at them. Her gaze met Alina Tremiru 's for a brief moment, a small incline of her head almost as if in acknowledgement, before the pilot turned back to looking out of the cockpit.

"Adapted, healed, evolved, whatever you would call it. Let's just hope there's still something to find." Alisteri took another moment to glance around the forest before a sigh escaped him. He'd have to rely on his senses after all. "I can feel it yes. The planet has tried to move past it but one little peek beyond the veil..." He dropped to one knee, laying one of his palms flat on the ground as he focused. For a brief moment, he could feel the way that it was so long ago. Barren and scarred by the ancient Sith.

"So many millenia ago and yet..." His eyes slid closed as he focused and did his best to still his mind.

The darkness of the past was prevalent, especially on this part of the planet. All he had to do was try and locate the largest and most obvious source nearby. After a few moments of silence, he exhaled and the sound of stone moving could be heard. "Found it." Sure enough, not too far from the edge of the clearing a small part of the ground had moved, revealing a staircase leading to some dark depths below.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

She hovered around Darth Strosius , more watching him and what he'd do. Alina was quite aware of the difference between them both. Her power and his, the level of training, all of it. She'd started to advance well past him. But that's not what she wanted. They were supposed to be strong together. There was a silent thankfulness for the mask. She understood immediately why Ali kept his so often. To hide the worry in her gaze made her feel much more comfortable about even making such an expression.

Impatiently she watched him feel the world around them. Her ability to feel the Force was drastically different from his, but did that mean she was better? Relief washed over her as he spoke. Then surprise. Did he just open the way himself? Her head tilted a little. Was she worried for nothing?

"Lead on then. This is your expedition."

 

[Darth Strosius]

"All that searching and all there was to do was flip a switch." Alisteri spoke with a small chuckle as he got to his feet and turned to look at the newly revealed staircase. It had taken a good minute to find the accursed thing of course, trying to feel through solid objects and manipulate something on the other side was difficult. Well, for him anyway. He idly wondered if Alina Tremiru could have done it faster, if she was even able to. She was stronger and more knowledgeable than he was after all. Don't look winded, look confident. Just breathe.

He stopped short of the first step and glanced back at her. "Watch your step, I can't see the bottom."

Whether it be from the lack of light or something more sinister, he didn't bother wondering. Thankfully, seeing in the dark wasn't much of an issue. Still, as he began to descend into the vault, he unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and ignited the blade. He had no idea what was down here, but he was hardly going to be caught empty handed whenever something did rear its head.

Better to be prepared, just in case.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Oh. A button. Alina snickered into her helm. She was overthinking all of this. Worried for nothing, right? At least that's how it felt. She followed in kind to Darth Strosius , igniting her blade as she looked over the walls they passed as they descended. Sith scrawling, but nothing of real substance. Praising the owner of this tomb, warning those foolish to enter. The usual. Well, until one part.

She paused at it, staring blankly at the word. There was no translation in galactic basic, but what it meant could still be roughly translated. The intent behind the word.

"A planet killer." She spoke aloud before turning her helmed gaze to Ali again.

"There's a planet killer here."

 

[Darth Strosius]

The darkness seemed to be constant, even as they moved forward. He chalked it up to the holocron or whatever else was stored here having that affect, but in truth he had no idea what was causing it. The Force worked in mysterious ways after all. His eyes ran over the various writings and inscriptions as he passed them. He could discern a good few of them, but nothing out of the ordinary from what he could tell.

When Alina Tremiru spoke however, he stopped and turned to look back at her in confusion. "A planet killer?" Alisteri didn't care much for how the question echoed for a moment. He shrugged and shook his head. "It's probably just a title or an embellishment Alina. Planet killers aren't a thing, they're just an old myth. Like ghosts."

He waved his hand dismissively, but he tried to sound helpful.

The records that he had managed to get for this vault were plenty vague of course, so for all he knew some weapon or device of power besides the holocron could very well be down here. Planet killers were surely just a myth though, something that the slaves and acolytes liked to spread around to talk up the empires of old.

Nothing like that could ever exist...right?

"I wouldn't worry about it regardless."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"You're going to have to stop believing what you do. Ghosts, planet killers, they're all real. The Force can do many, many things." Perhaps that's what was holding Darth Strosius back so much. His lack of belief in what the Force could do. What he could do. She had hoped that by showing him some of the power of the dark side with the lightning, he might better be able to accept that his world isn't what he thinks it is. But now Alina realized he still was limiting himself.

This excursion should hopefully change that.

"You've seen beings like Vulcanus. The power they wield. Creating waves of lava of all things to burn everything around them. We ourselves can regrow our body with blood. Anima. You're more capable than you think."

 

[Darth Strosius]

There was another moment of silence as Alisteri simply stared at her, in equal parts surprise and disbelief. He supposed that she did make a good point. After all, he could shoot lightning from his fingertips and lift objects without touching them. That wasn't even counting his Sangnir abilities, chief among them the regeneration of course.

Growing new limbs was certainly the stuff of legends, or it had been anyway.

"Ah...I mean you aren't wrong I guess." He had seen first hand what the likes of Vulcanus could do, and that paled in comparison to the stories that circulated about him and other powerful Sith.

Even still, he had his doubts. The blessings and powers of the Force were mighty indeed, but even he could only believe so much.

A sigh left him as he glanced back at Alina Tremiru before continuing down the steps. "Okay, I'll let you have the planet killers. But ghosts? Seriously? I just don't believe in them, I hate to tell you but that's still a bit far fetched." All of a sudden he reached what was apparently the bottom of the stairs, finding a wide room open before them. It was dark, much like the stairway was. Well it was dark. Until ancient lights along the walls began to flicker to life and illuminate the room.

".....The feth...."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

A soft giggle escaped her at his continued denial of ghosts. The Sith were notorious for refusing to become one with the Force and remain as specters. If she was right about how this tomb felt, Darth Strosius would learn soon enough. Step one, the ominous glow. She stepped beside him as the lights burned into existence, nodding once.

"The Force can do many terrible and wonderful things, Ali. What you believe and what can truly happen are two vastly different things."

 

[Darth Strosius]

"I....noted..." In reality it was probably just motion activated lights. Probably. Hopefully. Regardless they had a vault to explore, whether he and Alina Tremiru happened to be the only occupants or not.

The room was surprisingly wide yet empty, probably some sort of storage room once upon a time. At the far end on the other side however, seemed to be some form of large door. In front of it was a small pedestal with a bowl or basin atop it, the pedestal surrounded by deep carvings into the floor. Some of them seemed to be writing, others were lines forming some manner of a shape around it.

Alisteri pulled the holoprojector from his pocket and turned it on, displaying what map he had managed to get of the vault. "This...is not supposed to be here...chit." More Sith puzzles, he supposed. Nothing was ever simple with these old Sith. "Any idea how to open it?"

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina shifted over to the pedestal once it came into sight. The writing she could understand. Ancient Sith, the Sorcerers language. "Welcome to the trials of the Sith." She muttered mostly under her breath before crouching down to run her hands over the writing. She muttered the language under her breath, trying to make sense of it. Well, it did make sense. She laughed as she stood up before nodding to the bowl.

"Spill the blood of the gifted to enter. Pretty normal, in tombs like this. C'mere." Her mask turned to his as she held out a hand for him to take. "We get to see if you've any aptitude for sorcery and alchemy sooner rather than later."