Belsavis: Watch Your Back

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer looked back at Anaya who seemed to have picked up on the message she sent to Ashin. She would have to be mindful of what she thought and gave the Twi’lek a half smirk. She figured the woman didn’t know and understand Dathormian which was in favor for Spencer. Though, she wondered if Ashin understood anything of the language. Spencer decided to try and do her best to only speak to Ashin when it was safe.

I am a shadow that’s all.

She looked away from Twi’lek as she sent her message. Spencer focused on her thoughts to have a bit of a Dathomirian accent, she didn’t need Anaya remembering who she was and blowing her cover in front of the Grand Master. The saddle for the Taun Taun as well as the equipment hovered and started to assemble upon the beast. Spencer wasn’t one for manual labor and used the force to help load it. Pulling on her jacket, she climbed on the creature and followed quickly. She dug her heels into the smelly beast while petting its neck coaxing it to go faster. She took her place next to Ashin and used a free hand to adjust the mask a little. From the corner of her eye she looked back at Anaya and at the Grand Master.

Their interaction would be quite interesting…

 

[Darron Wraith]

At Ashin's words, the GrandMaster quickly picked up the gear and carried it with his hands all the way to the tauntaun. After a few moments of getting the saddle situated, and making sure everything was correctly tied. Darron made sure to stay close to his as everyone was going about their business. Ashin was quickly doing the work on hers, as was her companion. Who are you? His curiosity was once more piqued, yet every chance he could get at getting his senses around her, they where blocked. By what means the Jedi didn't know, but whatever it was, it was powerful. Force users of Darron's caliber didn't just pop up, or were trained. They were born once in a lifetime, even rarer that another such as him existed. Ashin was the other side of the coin, guess I can attribute that one to Je'gan freezing me for so long. We were never meant to exist in the same time with each other, and whatever his plan was for made that a reality.

Taking a break from his heavy thoughts, he fed the tauntaun some rations while keeping one part of his mind attuned to the Sith.

No way in hell was she getting close to him, or his mount.

The creature seemed to revolt at so many darksiders, limited mental capabilities could still pick up evil. "It's okay buddy, you're safe with me I promise." Placing his left hand on the creatures furry back, he pressed calming feelings into the creature. Almost instantly it relaxed, and even tried to nuzzle a little against Darron. The Jedi reciprocated with some pets on the head before mounting the beast, and motioning it to follow the party. He allowed the three women in front of him, he had no problems taking up the rear. The better to keep them from stabbing him in the back, and that Twi'lek from doing foul things to him with her eyes. Force knows what would happen if she ever could chain me up and have me to herself for a day. The GrandMaster shuddered at the thought, and instead though of Rosa for a moment before cleansing his mind and centering himself in the Force.

After all, any mission with this type of group assembled, rarely ended up going smoothly.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"No, Anaya, I doubt Omni had our comfort in mind."

Ashin took the lead as their tauntauns descended into the rift. The crevice was angled, jammed with fallen chunks of ice. A rough path led deep into the glacier, then angled back, still descending. After a couple of hours, their path terminated in an ice canyon with a gaping chasm for a floor. They passed along a natural ledge on the canyon wall. Ashin reined in the tauntaun as a driving wind carried more than a little snow.

"Our target is about thirty miles down the canyon," she shouted back, and the ledge collapsed under her -- and under the rest of the party. She and the tauntaun fell, landing heavily on another narrow ledge. At least one of the tauntauns went over the edge, whuffling madly.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anay bowed her head against the cold winds, her mood souring with every passing minute, her anger pulsating off her like she was a beacon. With Darron behind her she had nothing to look at save the back of the other sith's head. A shadow should have a name. That accent of yours make me think your not so far from a nightsister, no? Maybe I should just call you Witch. Anaya wasn't looking for a response, just a distraction.

A fresh wave of cold wind and snow silenced her and saw her ducking as far behind her tauntauns head as she could. Ashin was shouting something but something else screamed louder than her voice and that was the twang and crack of ice. The ledge shifted beneath them her tauntaun cried out in fright as its legs slipped off the edge. Cursing Anaya dislodged herself from the saddle as she went with it, standing on it she used it as a point of launch leaping to the ledge Ashin had landed on. She fell short catching the ledge with gloved hands, and hanging there for a split second.

A long stream of curses slipped from her lips and she called upon the force to give her the strength to haul herself and her heavy pack up. For a minute she lay in the snow, a wild manic laugh escaping her as the adrenaline coarsed through her. "One down, one to go." she muttered with a small grin, climbing to her feet Ashin, mischief flashing in her eyes "Who wants to double up?" she shouted to them, though her eyes shifted to Darron.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Sanctuary shrugged at the comment of the Sith. Though the anger that rose from the twi'lek made her cringe. She didnt care what the red one called her as long as she kept her emotions to herself. Quickly Spencer guided her beast behind Ashin's. The commotion of Anaya's animal crashing caused Spencer's to freak out. Though gaining the control the animal landed.

Seeing that they were down a taun taun, Sanctuary adjusted her mask as she looked down at the woman and sighed. She looked towards Ashin and nodded towards the Jedi.

 

[Darron Wraith]

As the ice crashed down around them, Darron's connection to his tauntaun allowed him to keep it's footing . Slowly but surely, the pair made their way down to join the others, and what he saw made his heart drop.

One of the beasts had died.

"Are you that callous towards life that you couldn't help guide your mount? I know that you think all things besides yourself aren't important, but that creatures life holds value too."

The Jedi Master's normally calm face pressed in a little as his brow furrowed at the tw'lek. Seeing that the other two had managed to keep their mounts, he knew what that meant. Rosa is going to fething kill me over this, Force help me. He slowly led his tauntaun over to the Sith standing by herself, and his beast seemed fearful of her. Forcing more calm waves into the creature, it obliged him and headed towards her. Although, a lot more slowly, and with less enthusiasm than it had previously. If a tauntaun doesn't like you, there isn't much hope for you, he thought to himself.

"You can ride with me, touch me inappropriately or do anything I don't like. You will walk the rest of the way, and if you hurt the tauntaun you will have to deal with me personally. I will not accept anymore cruelty from you, this is a joint mission, if you test me you will not find me lacking Sith."

As the Sith got on his mount, he yelled ahead to the Sith Empress and her companion.

"Can we please try to avoid anymore accidents, I don't think we will make thirty miles in this weather under such conditions." What he didn't say was the fact that they had to make the return trip as well, and they might need a faster means of escape. I sure hope I'm not the only one considering the options...

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin turned around and shouted back through the wind and driving snow.

"Yes, of course, because I've been deliberately trying to cause accidents up to this point!"

Her eyes narrowed as she noted his invitation to Anaya. Interesting...

"Let's go have another accident, shall we?"

She faced forward again and urged her tauntaun on, down the accidental trail on the side of the canyon.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya threw her head back and laughed at the grandmaster. "Not anymore it doesn't!" she called back at his complaint about the tauntaun. It's life was a sacrifice for her short term objective. To get as close as she could to the Grandmaster as possible and have some fun. His words however stirred another thought in her mind.

"Everything I do, you will not like. That is what puts us at other ends of the spectrum! You seek to serve the galaxy. I seek to serve myself! For example," Turning to the shadows tauntaun she reached out in the force wrapping it around the creatures leg and squeezing it. Several cracks could be heard over the wind, coupled with the creatures agonising cries as the leg crumbled underneath it, giving the sith only one choice, and that was to jump off or be thrown over the edge.

"Hurting the creature, makes you angry, thus serving its purpose of bringing me delight." She cackled and clapped her hands before giving a mocking bow "The real question is, grandmaster. Is there any conviction behind those words of yours? Will you truly make me walk and risk me freezing to death? hmmm?"

 

[Darron Wraith]

"That's it..."

Darron quickly unsaddled himself from his mount, as he wrapped the Force around it. Just in case she got stupid and tried to kill off all of them to make an example of how crazy she was. Crossing the distance to the tauntaun, Darron helped the one known as "Sanctuary" up. In his peripheral vision he saw Anaya sitting atop their mount reveling in her glory. He also picked up on Sanctuary heading towards the Sith Empresses tauntaun. The temper that Darron possessed, the very demon he had wrestled with his whole entire life, was demanding blood. Instead of giving in, he simply gave a sad smile to her while standing over the screaming animal. Yelling so his words could be heard, he managed to keep his tone even.

"Play your petty games then, I didn't get my title from being baited by the likes of you. The rank of Master doesn't just mean I'm powerful, or that I can kill the most Sith. It means I have Mastered my own emotions, my own spirit, and I will follow the code. You may think it petty, but it's what makes me who I am."

A shiver went up the Jedi's spine as he knelt down in the snow to look at the tauntaun's leg. As he had feared it was a compound fracture, she had broken it in several places. Even if he would have been allowed to heal it, the process would have taken too long. A tauntaun could stay warm enough to function, but if left to sit still and get wet. Hypothermia would set in, and thus kill the creature even slower. The last thing on his mind in the brief seconds that he comforted the beast was the clockwork rebellion, Omni's control of the galaxy, or the fact that he was surrounded by Sith. Instead he allowed his calm and respect for the animal to flow through the Force into the poor creature. It responded by trying to nuzzle up to him, it's whimpers subsiding as it allowed itself to be doted on. He contined this for a few seconds as he reached for his lightsaber hilt. Deftly positiong the hilt, to where the emiiter would allow the blade to instantaneously fire through the center of it's brain. Darron moved his torso away, and he calmed the creature even more before he pressed the activation switch.

Snap-hiss.

The blue blade was quickly de-activated as he laid the dead tauntaun's head down respectfully. It had died instantly from the blow.

"I'm sorry, you deserved better innocent creature."

Rising to his feet, he didn't utter another word in response as he mounted his tauntaun.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Darron saved her, she hadn’t expected anyone too. Moving towards Ashin’s Taun taun she watched as Darron put the poor creature out of its misery. She had planned on doing so before the creature passed; it’s never a good thing to pass with pain in your heart. She wanted to cry, the animal was so innocent and she enjoyed the chance to ride a Taun taun for the first time in her life. The creatures were her favorite of all the Force’s beings. Once the deed was done, she wandered over and ran her fingers through its fur. So at peace…

Looking up towards Darron, she nodded showing him the new respect. This was why the man was chosen to be the Grand Master, not because of his strength within in the force, but for his compassion. Sighing softly, her voice quiet and heavy with the Dathomirian accent she had known from her mother.

“Thank you, Grand Master.”

She adjusted her mask, the thing had become slightly askew still keeping her identity a secret though. Sanctuary moved back towards Ashin’s Taun taun and climbed up with her pack attached to her back. Putting her face, the part that was visible down against Ashin’s back, a soft blush rolled over her face no matter how hard she tried to keep it from happening. Her eyes closed, and she focused on the force drawing it into them. A technique she learned from Ashin, she drew the force to keep their body temperatures warm so that they didn’t feel the chill in the air.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

As Darron dismounted, Anaya leapt into his tauntauns saddle, and merely observed. It was important that she tested others, it was her duty to seek out weaknesses. In the eyes of the sith, his compassion was a weakness, but he was not a sith he was a Jedi and as such his restraint in not rising to her bait increased her respect for him. That did not mean she was finished with her games, merely that she would give him some reprieve.

But there was more to be seen in front of her, in the form of the shadow. The touch, the compassion, that was not sith like. She frowned watching the woman closely as she joined Ashin not missing the sign of affection as she dew close to Ashin' body. A low hiss escaped her and she glowered at the woman's back. Ashin did not keep pets, it was not in her nature to keep pets. She made mental notes and turned her attention to Darron as he mounted behind her.

"Every day is a test, Grandmaster. How you react to those tests, is what makes you who you are." She smirked "I would take my hat off to you, but its too fething cold."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

The stars were aligned, it seemed -- thanks to bad luck and Anaya Fen, the purest example of a Sith that Ashin had ever seen. Almost uncontrollably so, from time to time. Her baiting of Darron was ruthless and theologically perfect, as Sith measured such things. To Ashin's surprise, it engendered a spark of pride.

Because Darron's fate might not precisely be in their hands, but Ashin couldn't help laying the groundwork for certain possibilities. The instincts were as deeply ingrained in her as the tendency to lean back as Spencer nestled into her spine. She purred by instinct, low in her throat and gut, and left Darron and Anaya to their...acquaintance. The tauntaun's death had a measured amount of impact on her, less than it might have once.

"Lock it down," she called back. "Think Omni. Think Dromund Kaas and Coruscant."

A touch of despondency wouldn't hurt, after all.

 

[Darron Wraith]

"Thank you, we do have a job to do."

He only nodded to Anaya's words, while they did have merit, he didn't appreciate her tests. If she wanted to test his Jedi resolve, so be it, take on the guy with the Force and lightsaber training. Don't mess with innocent creatures who would have been just fine had they never crossed paths with you. He was deep in thought for a few moments as his tauntaun started to move again, then he glimpsed something. Sanctuary leaned in to Ashin, and she reciprocated the affectionate gesture as well. She's not prone to keeping pets, if so the tw'ilek behind me would be the one all over her. Reaching out with the Force he once more felt nothing of who Sanctuary was, but he could feel her using the Force on both her and Ashin.

Well now that's just interesting.

The ride went on for quite some while, and Darron was still trying to fit everything together. The pairings seemed off, he wasn't allowed to bring a single Jedi with him. Yet, here was Ashin with what appeared to be the very definition of Sith, and a lover? Blue eyes never left the pair before him, both where covering their feelings well. Ashin through sheer skill of the Force, the other was simply blank, as if something else was blocking her signal out. A theory began to blossom in his mind, yet the chill kept it at bay. Reaching with his senses, he wrapped himself and his tauntaun in a blanket of warmth. The human side of him wanted to let Anaya freeze, but he gave in to his compassion and wrapped her in the same warmth. It wasn't an affectionate gesture in the least, just making sure someone else didn't lose their life needlessly on this day.

After some time, a thought creeped in to his mind. Could this be a trap?

The GrandMaster sure hoped not, but he had come prepared just in case.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

They reached the bottom of the crevasse, a surface of broken glaciers and driving snow. Only dim light filtered down from the top of the canyon, far overhead. The wind cut through Ashin's cold-weather gear, even with Spencer's Force aid. It was cold down here, and the wind was picking up.

It seemed like they had made good time. They might even have been half-way to Plawal, but there was no way to tell. Her wrist comm couldn't punch a signal through this storm, and this particular model had no inertial guidance.

The blizzard grew more ferocious by the minute, and the tauntauns began to tremble, even considering how much strength they were putting into keeping the animals warm. The tauntauns faltered in their forward progress, but plowed on through deepening snow.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anger flashed from Anaya as Ashin responded to the shadows affection, and perhaps the tiniest hint of jealousy. The flash of anger made the tauntaun beneath her nervous and the bizarre mix of emotions that followed at her mention of Dromund Kaas did not help either as thought of Kaine rushed through her mind. Closing her eyes she reeled them back in and as Ashin said, locked it down.

They did have a job to do and as much fun as she could have aggravating the Grandmaster, she was here to help melt down some tin cans. As the wind howled around Anaya snuggled closer into Darron for warmth more than anything else, helping as best she could with creating a bubble of warmth around them.

As the strom rose, the temperature plummeted further, and Anay beagn to feel a twinge of regret at killing the other tauntauns, as if these died because of the cold they would have no other transport. She became vaguely awar of the fact that she was shivering herself despite her many layers. "We need to find shelter." she shouted to Darron, her words swallowed instantly by the wind "Wait out the storm."

No matter how loud she shouted, Ashin would not hear her. Lady Desmius, if we are not close to our destination we should stop. The blizzard will throw us off course if it doesn't freeze us to death first.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Sanctuary could feel the fire from Anaya’s anger, doing her best to block it out she focused on trying to keep Ashin, the taun taun and herself warm. The wind became harsher than before and Spencer tightened her grip on Ashin. Her arms wrapped tightly as her hands also gripped Ashin’s winter gear. The wind threatened to push her off, but with the steady grip she remained. The cold cut into her and she sighed burrowing her face into Ashin's back.

“Sorry.”

She mumbled remembering the metal of the mask. Spencer did her best to increase the heat between them. Removing one of her hands she placed it on Ashin’s back, focusing the heat surrounding them, she pushed it into the Empress’ body. If anything Sanctuary could be warmed up afterwards, but Ashin was in charge of all of the she needed to continue forward. Fingers touched caressing the woman’s back as she focused the heat source into Ashin’s core.

The Empress was her main concern.

 

[Darron Wraith]

The blizzard was intensifying, it didn't take a Jedi or a Sith to notice that. It didn't mean Darron had to like or agree with the Sith that was sitting behind him, although her logic was terribly sound. So not only is she crazy, but she's smart too? That thought actually annoyed the GrandMaster somewhat, part of what made forgiving Sith so easy was the fact that he had accepted they had been trained for such barbarism. To see one display sound logic after displaying such cruelty, it just displayed that there wasn't a soul in the tw'ileks body. No, she couldn't ever be saved. She wasn't a lost cause per say as some Sith where, this was exactly what she wanted in life, and Darron pitied her for that. She could have been so much more, he thought.

"Fine, guess we need to stop here then."

The bond he had forged with his tauntaun caused it to instantly stop at his words, and he quickly dismounted.

Moving to grab the tent strapped to the back of the beast, he quickly began to set up their camp. All the while keeping his senses on his mount to make sure no harm came to it.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

As Darron set up their survival tent, Ashin pitched the other one and ushered the tauntauns into its shelter. She put the beasts to sleep, nestled up against each other; they might ruin the tent, but they would survive the storm. That done, she got to work preparing the inside of the tent Darron had just pitched. Snowdrifts already reached high on the windward tent wall, bowing it in slightly. Groundlayers and sleeping bags crammed into the tent, making it a cozy little bubble of not-quite-warm-enough. Tapas would help, such as they had already been using.

"Nothing to do but wait it out," she said as they gathered in the tent. "Wise counsel, Anaya. I know I can always count on you for that. If we don't freeze to death, and if the storm stops, my gut says we'll make it to Plawal early tomorrow."

There was a tension, a powerful tension in the Force. As if many potential actions and outside influences were coming together -- tomorrow, or tonight."

She settled into her bedroll.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Sanctuary looked around seeing where everyone was laying. Quickly she took the opportunity to place her bedroll next to Ashin's. The last thing she wanted was to get smooshed between the grand master and the twi'lek. It would be a horrible especially when Anaya wanted to torment the man a bit more. Shaking her head, she adjusted the mask. It was going to be weird to sleep in it, but she would have too. Crawling into the bed roll she, she laid down and curled into a little ball. She worried about the Taun Tauns and wished she could have slept with them to keep them warm, but then her eyes fell towards Ashin who had already crawlled into her bed roll.

A hand reached out and ran her fingertips delicately along the woman's shoulder. It was odd having to fight the urge to be close. She had never wanted to be close to anyone like this before. Looking over her shoulder, she waited till everyone settled in. Using the Tapas she warmed her body and forced it outward to the group. Though her focus was still Ashin. Moving closer, she snaked her arms around the woman's waist the best she could and pulled her close. She couldn't fight it anymore. Spencer tried to be as subtle about it as she could, the last thing she needed was someone seeing this affection.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya assisted as best she could with the tent but her fingers were numb and useless. Once inside she sat down and wrapped a blanket round her smirking at Ashin's praise "Someone has to keep a smart head on them." she retorted, watching as the shadow made her bed roll up beside Ashin. Snapping her attention away from it she gave the grandmaster a wide smile, and inched closed to him as he settled down, breathing in his ear.

"Rest well, grandmaster. I don't sleep, so i'll be watching over you."

She left him with whatever dark images that brought to mind and sat on her own bedroll, a thick blanket wrapped around her, relishing in the warmth that was coming from the shadow. Looking down at her and Ashin she spotted the girl arm around the Dark Lords waist and scowled. So the dark lord was keeping pets, yet the only being that Anaya had known that was as close to a pet as they came, was Spencer, the naïve and fragile Jedi girl.

Sinking into a meditative trance Anaya, no longer felt the cold nor heard the howling winds, but as the hours passed, she became acutely aware that a calm had settled over them. Opening her eyes she blinked, surprised by the oppressive silence that had settled over them. Silently and without disturbing the others, she rose, pulled on her thick coat once more and slipped from the tent to investigate the white world beyond.