Bump In the Night

[Anara Valnor]

Byss​

​

The night was chill and mist clung to the ground, but otherwise it was just a typical night in the large manor that the youngest of the Talith children called home. As was becoming fairly normal Anwen was alone in the manor as everyone else was off doing one thing or another across the galaxy. It was late and she had been asleep for several hours when something pulled her from her slumber.

Shifting beneath her warm blankets she sleepily mumbled to herself as she attempted to get comfortable once more and go back to sleep. However, she was unable to as a strange feeling came over her. Something wasn't right. Frowning she slipped from her bed with one of her blankets wrapped around her and wandered from her room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her feet made no noise as she traversed the dark manor, the chill night air finding its way into the house as she looked for the source of her sleeplessness.

 

[Disciple]

A chill wind beckoned a beast, through the night and across the stars. Amber eyes snapped open as a sharp breath was pulled through thin lips which curled upward into the barest bit of a smirk. Taking in his surroundings, the ancient creature raised it's brows and ran a sharp nail across the arm of the chair it found itself in.

As if recognizing something, it began to laugh, quietly at first, before it built up volume and then stopped abruptly as it's head snapped towards the side. Set on the hat rack by the door was his floppy brimmed hat, and dark brows furrowed beneath black hair as it felt someone coming.

Frost began to appear along the edges of windows as Disciple's Force aura set itself to work. A wound in the Force, feelings of pain, misery and terror followed him where he went, the sound of a thousand souls crying out in pain the barest fraction of the torment his soul put out.

"Who...", he breathes, the last letter dragging out like wind whistling through the crack of a wooden door.

This wasn't his house, but from the way he acted, you'd never know.

 

[Anara Valnor]

A tired yawn was pulled from her lips as she wandered into an area of the manor she rarely frequented. Something was guiding her footsteps it seemed, but she wasn't of the mind to fight against the unseen force as she was to tired. Pulling her blanket tighter around her, Anwen continued on until she reached a room with larger than normal doors. Brow knit together she looked up at the massive doors, surmising that the room was one of the un-used sitting rooms she reached out to push the door open. Why? She couldn't fathom a reason for going into the room and yet she didn't stop.

As her hand made contact with the ornately carved wood she pulled it back suddenly, the coldness of the wood surprising her. Frowning she covered her hand with her blanket and pushed the door open. It creaked heavily upon its hinges from disuse and revealed a darkened room within, the only light the light provided from the moon. "Hello?" Her rational mind told her there was no one in the room and yet, something told her otherwise. Fear was not an emotion she was familiar with, but unease settled over her nonetheless. Stepping into the freezing room she slowly moved forward, her eyes slowly adjusting to the inky blackness as a shape slowly began to appear. There was a man seated in a chair...in her house. Stopping dead in her tracks, still frowning, Anwen peered at the man severely.

"What are you doing in here?"

 

[Disciple]

Bright yellow eyes, almost feline in nature, locked onto the door as the small girl stepped into it. A white gloved hand gripped the arm of the chair tightly as she invaded what he had deemed his space, and he narrowed his gaze momentarily at her. "What are you doing in here?", he retorts sharply.

"Can't you see I'm sitting." He says, voice quiet and yet easy to hear. Whoever this was, however he'd gotten here, it was clear he thought he belonged.

Long ago having given up his desire to know why he appeared anywhere, Disciple had simply taken to enjoying the break-up of daily monotony in any way he could. "Get out.", he snaps. "I'm resting."

 

[Anara Valnor]

Completely caught off-guard by the man's reaction she paused, before squaring her shoulders. She didn't like being ordered around and she certainly didn't want this man in her home. "Excuse you!" She sounded like a petulant child, but in this case she was. As far as anyone was concerned, it seemed, she was a child and she was grumpy. She would much rather be back in her warm bed instead of having to chase a strange man from her home.

"You can't rest here, this is my house. You leave."

It sounded as though she were actually angry, but again that was an emotion that simply wasn't within her grasp. However, she was perfectly within her right to be a grouchy 17 year old. Pulling her blanket a little tighter around her small frame she frowned at the man, her tired eyes not nearly as bright as was normal. She simply wanted to go back to bed.

 

[Disciple]

"I'm not leaving, I don't even know how I got here in the first place." Disciple retorts quickly and vehemently, voice sharp as a blades edge. No way was he going to be ordered about by a grouchy toddler who hadn't had her evening milk. Slowly, he stands, revealing a long red duster that hung across narrow shoulders.

Long, slender arms extended from his torso, ending in stark white gloves. Appearing as though he would be better off billowing in the wind, the figure is suddenly directly in front of her despite not having visibly moved. "So I propose, if it means that much to you...", Disciple says quietly, leaning his head down to lock gazes with her as his lips curl upward to reveal his fangs...

"You make me."

 

[Anara Valnor]

Reflexively her body tensed when suddenly the lanky man was suddenly invading her personal space, however, if he had been aiming to frighten her he failed. He towered over her easily by a foot and so she was forced to tilt her head back a good bit to meet his gaze. She frowned up at him, but held her ground as Sven had taught her. For a moment she held his gaze, but as he revealed his fangs her attention was suddenly drawn away and she found herself mesmerized. She had never met a being with fangs before.

Her grouchy demeanor seemed to slip away as quickly as it had come, her mood suddenly changing as quickly as was normal for any teenager. Ignoring her better judgment and instead allowing her curiosity to guide her, she slowly reached one small hand upward with the intent to touch on of his fangs. He had invaded her personal space so it was only right that she do the same, at least that was her reasoning.

"What are you?"

Her voice was as soft as his, but it was full of wonder and innocence. Her eyes suddenly shone brightly in the darkened room, her sapphire orbs sparkling in fascination.

 

[Disciple]

A tongue appeared, slowly sliding its way across his teeth in a way that clearly implied she seemed more like food than anything else. "Me...?", he asks with a chuckle that was more dry air than amusement. "I am everything... and I am nothing." An enigmatic response from what was clearly an enigmatic man.

"But that is neither here... nor there.", he says, straightening himself and then brushing his hands down the front of his coat. "They call me Disciple, and I am the beginning and the end."

While most would chalk that up to ego, anyone who knew Disciple knew the atrocities he'd committed in his long lifespan. You could hardly blame someone for thinking themselves above a mere regular being after more than sixteen millenia of life.

"Do you know of me?"

 

[Anara Valnor]

He pulled away before she could make contact with one of his fangs which caused her to pout ever so slightly. Tilting her head back farther still as he stood to his full height she only shook her head, canting her head to the side a bit. She couldn't recall her father ever mentioning a man named Disciple. In fact she had never heard his name before, though, if he was all he claimed to be she felt that she should have.

Not yet fully versed in the history of the galaxy she shrugged, her brow coming together in thought. "Should I have?"

 

[Disciple]

"Oh, good, you haven't.", he says with a smile. "Excellent, excellent." It clapped its hands together and then turned towards the dark maw of an empty fireplace. Slowly, its hands slipped into the pockets of his coat.

"Innocence is good, very good. It insulates you."

 

[Anara Valnor]

Completely lost by the man's antics she followed after him, stopping just a short distance behind him. "From what?" More than once she had heard others refer to her as being truly innocent, but as of yet she did not understand their meaning.

 

[Disciple]

Staring down at the empty pit of the fireplace, the figure grinned faintly. "Reality." It chuckles darkly. "When you're young, truly young, everything seems grand. Your parents take care of you, pay for everything you need. You go to school, you come home, you spend time with friends. All you really need to worry about is what to wear and getting your work done."

This time, it laughs louder. "But as you grow older, you get responsibility. You learn how to pilot a speeder. Suddenly, you have to work a job. Now you've got to juggle school and that. You get bills that eat into your cash flow, meaning that you have to earn more money in order to maintain the life you're used to. Then you move out of your parents house, taking on all the responsibilities for yourself."

Smiling, fangs gleaming, it cackles. "Sometimes, if you're unlucky, you get to see war. No one actually likes war. No matter what they tell you. It's nothing but blood, death and tears. I don't like war. I love it. It ruins lives. Innocence is not knowing any of that. Innocence is a lack of experience."

It turns to her. "Innocence is still believing that life is fair."

 

[Anara Valnor]

She blinked and stared up at the man, her head titled to the side. "I understand that life is not fair. If it was I would not be as I am." Her brow knit together slowly and she took a small step back from the man, her gaze traveling up and down his lanky frame. He was like the planet she called home, Darkness to the very core. His presence was not unnerving for her as she was used to the constant rhythms of the darkside lashing against her pure aura.

"Life is cold as space, some are just better equipped to deal with it than others..."

Her eyes held his predatory gaze and in that moment she felt as though she were the Dark one of the two. She realized how cold and calculated she sounded, but it was the absolute truth and she saw no point in denying it.

 

[Disciple]

"Oh good, you aren't stupid." It laughed again, a gloved hand reaching out to ruffle her hair in a decidedly condescending manner. "You do your family proud. Which is your family, anyway? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with this place."

 

[Anara Valnor]

She waved his hand away immediately, frowning as she stepped out of his reach or so she hoped. Running a hand through her hair to undo the damage he had done she pulled her blanket around her tighter, tilting her head back just a bit as she smiled proudly. "Talith. Anwen Talith." She was proud of her roots, though, few people actually knew who her parents or brother was. If Disciple was all he claimed to be, perhaps he would know who she was and then maybe he would leave as she had commanded.

 

[Disciple]

The man just grinned, grinned some more... and disappeared, just like that. Disciple appeared on a whim, and left on a whim.

So it went.

 

[Anara Valnor]

Startled by the man's sudden disappearance she stood there in the dark for a long while, waiting to see if he would return. When it became clear that he was indeed gone she left the room, quietly closing the door behind her before she returned to her bed. Her bed was cold by the time she returned to it and the hour was late; in only a few hours the sun would rise. Grumbling to herself she slipped into her chilled bed and closed her bright eyes, her mind easily slipping back into the land of dreams.