[Chapter Six] The Thing That Should Not Be

[Lief]

Unknown World​

The Outer Rim​

​

A calling.

That was all that he could describe it as.

A distinct sense that the journey simply had to be made. The catalyst had come in the form of a conversation with [member='Darth Carnifex'] concerning Sith Alchemy, something which was admittedly far from his priorities where Kobe's training was concerned, and yet it had intrigued the boy all the same. From there he had spiraled, searching for information in the far reaches of the Galaxy.

And while he had found plenty, in old tombs and ruins, in stone tablets and tomes, he was incapable of acting upon it for the most part. Kaine was not aware of his Ward's meddling. At least, not as far as Kobe was aware. Each mission which had sent him away from Panatha he had used as just another excuse to find out more. The journey to Dxun had led him to the tomb of Freedon Nadd, intentionally so on Carnifex's part. But the boy had sought more than originally greeted the eye. More than was intended.

Now he was left with a name. One which his Master had uttered, one which had been mentioned countless times during his journey, Disciple.

Only the being was dead, or so he had been led to believe; he had not graced the Galaxy in quite some time. Yet Kobe felt the call all the same. The urge to follow, to find out more... And so he did exactly that. He left Panatha, with a promised return, and began his first solo venture since returning to Kaine's side.

Now... Now he found himself lost amidst yet another jungle. More boggy ground to traverse, blood sucking insects, animals which would love nothing more than to gnaw on his bones... There was no name attributed to this place, it was not mapped, the Force had guided him to it pure and simple.

And the Force was the one which was seemingly leading him in circles.

All this way, only to become lost. Great work, truly astounding...

He ran a hand through his hair, before wiping off his brow. He hated the way he reacted to such climates, the way the heat clung to his skin, and moisture lingered in the air.

He hoped this wasn't all for nothing.

 

[Elenviel]

Visitors to the world were rare, and rarer still were the times they were allowed to live. Yet, the newcomer had landed and begun his journey free of the interference of Her people. That didn't meant he'd gone unnoticed, however. Far from it. It was commonplace for the greatest Alchemists to guard themselves behind barriers of fleshy creation.

But, while Elen had not created the beasts, they were now her Children.

A fluttering of leaves overhead sounded like a bird taking flight, interrupting the grumbling the man was no doubt doing about being stuck in such humid climes. The undergrowth was nearly as dense as the canopy, and little light filtered through the interlocked barrier of branches and leaves.

Yet, the further he traveled, the more quiet the jungle would become, as though the trees themselves were holding their breath, waiting for that next shoe to drop. The drop came slow, like dew gathering at the tip of a frond after a particularly violent monsoon. Tension kept it from falling, but the barest shift in the air would send it toppling to the jungle floor beneath.

First came the silence, and then, the sensation of being watched. No trees were disturbed, no branches crunched, but there was a heartbeat to the shadows hidden between the trunks, a heartbeat that panted like an overworked dog, panting out it's exertions into humid summer air. A rustle of branches, purposefully, let Kobe know he wasn't alone.

Perhaps he had never been alone, but whomever was out there wasn't showing themselves just yet.

 

[Lief]

Onward he ventured, as the thin slithers of light which had broken through the canopy became dimmer and the air somehow heavier. Each step he took seemed to alter the world around him; the crunching under his own foot was accompanied by flutters overhead, the shaking of leaves far from his reach, and a strong sensation that he was not alone.

Truth be told, on a world such as this who could ever say they were? It was eerie to say the least, who knew what monsters lay within the undergrowth. It reminded him of Dxun, the moon with the crazy bat-fiends and hostility around every corner. Only strangely... He had yet to encounter anything more than the pesky bugs. Everything else had been limited to mere noise.

And then that noise was gone. Dissipated into nothingness.

Kobe slowed his path, and turned his head left, then right. The darkness made it difficult to spot anything that might have been lingering, but with the silence came an intensified feeling of being watched. Eyes were on him, causing his skin to prickle, and he did not enjoy the sensation. It reminded him of the day he had stormed Panatha as a child, hellbent on vengeance against the Butcher King. Mist had descended, silence spread, until all that remained was the grim hand of his oppressor.

The boy lowered one hand, touching the lightsaber Kaine had given him. No memories were unearthed this time, no torment of his mother's final moments. But he felt it strengthening him all the same.

Then, and only then, did he continue onward, with the sudden shaking of branches his only accompaniment.

[member="Elenviel"]

 

[Elenviel]

The silence was a shroud, a mist that crawled and gathered around the shins, thickening the air with it's presence and yet no more ominous than any other act of nature. It was the abnormality, of course, that always set the biological alarm bells ringing; the lack of vision, the promise of the unknown.

That fear, visceral and real, buried deep in the strands of life that comprised his being, given to him by his ancestors; that predators waited until times like this to strike.

It was always there, just at the back of the head, no matter the height of civilization. A hearkening to the days a crocodile could lunge from a watering hole and end your life in the barest of heartbeats. How, apt, then, that he was standing at a metaphorical watering hole.

As [member="Raseri Sarosh"] stepped into a small clearing, he'd find himself staring at a distinctly reptilian creature. It's snout was a fanged maw, and it's narrow eyes glowed with a violence backed up by muscle that looked capable of tearing a bulkhead door from it's hinges. A shield hung from it's left hand, covered in scales and decorated with the brilliant blue plumes of some majestic bird. It's sword was flat, with what appeared to be serrated teeth set into the edge to make a blade.

It snarled, but made no aggressive mood, sniffing at the air.

In the darkness, size was hard to discern, but given their proximity it would be easy to tell the reptile was easily over two and a half meters tall. Bipedal, it's clawed feet dug into the moist dirt underfoot and it huffed. When it spoke, it's Basic was guttural, halting, as though unused to the pronunciation.

"You enter River City lands, Outlander." It's voice was a muddy rockslide, deep as an ocean trench and rough as the Tattooine sands. To say it struggled to speak was to do it a disservice; it struggled to speak like a starship struggles against a black hole. "What is it..." it takes it a few moments to come up with the words, it's face contorting as it thought. "...you seek."

 

[Lief]

Kobe rolled first his neck, then his shoulders, as the muscles seemed to tighten uncomfortably; he could feel the thickness of the air pressing down upon him, the eeriness seeping into his skin; this place was unnatural. Then again what he sought was too, was it not? Perhaps this was the price he paid, though no doubt there would be more to come.

The ground seemed to firm slightly as he stepped into a clearing; there remained a canopy overhead, but few trees dotted the space in between... Now he could see what he had sensed through the haze, a reptilian stood across from him, a guttural snarl and an accompanying sniff of the air drawing his attention.

Yet oddly enough, it made no advance toward him. As though pondering on what he was looking at, or perhaps the words that were about to leave his maw. Kobe could understand that, he struggled with some of the more simpler interactions too. Speaking was no forte of his.

Broken, laced with pauses, the beast finally expressed itself, and Kobe mulled over his own response for a solid few moments. He ran his tongue against the back of his teeth, sucked in a small breath of air, and finally his answer came. Just one word, though he knew one word would never suffice.

"Knowledge."

He had been led here, and he did not know entirely why... But part of him felt certain it was to do with his own journey, and not the one Kaine had planned for him. Perhaps enlightenment was more the word, but his mouth would not cooperate with his mind, so he left it at that and regarded the creature from afar. He made no move for his weapons, no move at all really, he just watched and waited...

[member="Elenviel"]

 

[Elenviel]

It's scales shifted along it's arms where densely corded muscle contracted to the tune of it's knuckles tightening along the handle of it's sword. Letting the blade drop to the dirt, the point digging into the mud, it gave a snort not dissimilar to a bull about to charge. Finally, though, it's head tilted to some unheard sound - reptile hearing, perhaps. Slowly, it took a step backwards, to the edge of the clearing, keeping [member="Raseri Sarosh"] in sight for the time being.

"Knowledge...." it rumbles in that same halting rumble, "....you seek, knowledge."

Jawline contorting, it grinned, though it was more a shark baring it's teeth than a friendly smile. "You not know... knowledge seeks you."

Finally turning it's broad back, it disappeared into the treeline, naturally assuming the boy would follow. The deeper into the jungle they went, the more the sounds of wildlife returned, until finally he could begin to hear a great many waterfalls in the distance - that incessant babbling of running water slowly growing in volume from quiet gossip to stadium concert.

 

[Lief]

Whatever the unseen sound in the distance was, even when he turned his head in the same direction as the reptilian Kobe remained in the dark. Was something whispering to the being before him? Giving orders? Was there an ambush waiting for him just beyond the trees?

It was hard to tell such things, but he made a point of returning his gaze to the creature and allowing his senses to expand beyond them. He did not enjoy being caught unawares, the helplessness which accompanied it was something he'd been forced to endure throughout his youth. For a time he had broken free from Kaine's chains, but the memories remained. Even if he was less captive and more servant these days.

The stranger grinned, baring its teeth, and in a way it seemed as though it was mocking him for his hollow answer. Kobe did not care. If the creature knew why he was here, and if the fact that it was turning now to lead him away meant he was going to find answers, then he could face a little ridicule.

Knowledge is Power. But who knows what it is I am willingly stepping into.

The Force was a fickle Master, it gave very little information yet expected his servitude regardless. Why he had even followed it on this mad chase through the stars he did not know. Surely there were better ways of learning what he sought. Surely his Master had other contacts.

But I am here, this path is one away from his plans. So it should be.

Without hesitation, he made his way through the trees; wildlife sputtered back into life around them, sounds he hadn't even realized had been missing, and a small breeze picked up through the underbrush. A spray of water was the first visceral indication of where they were nearing, but the sound overwhelmed even it.

Where they were headed was anyone's guess, truth be told Kobe was just grateful that they were away from the eerie silence he'd been made to endure.

"Where... Are we?" the boy managed, glancing around himself in mild awe and suppressed irritation. What was this place? This world? Did it even have a name?

[member="Elenviel"]

 

[Elenviel]

This time, it wasn't the reptile that answered, though the beast was still serving as a guide.

The River City. It was a feminine voice that answered him, sultry and calm, velvet brushing across his mind.

A great clearing lay before them, where a city sat atop a series of canyons into which fed a vast number of waterfalls, which was the source of the tremendous noise he'd heard earlier. High above, screeching pteradons floated on updrafts, their membrane-wings held aloft by the air currents, and visible, even from below, were small blue reptiles that acted as their riders. From a distance, they appeared to be the much smaller cousins of his guide.

Pyramids formed the bulk of the city, and small, squat, sandstone structures formed the rest. It was, very much, an ancient city of myth, possessed of a technology level so low as to be functionally hilarious. It was not an empty, city, however. Currents of beasts moved around, hauling goods or using them for their work. Blacksmiths, butchers, masons; all were busy. All were blue. Other colors were present, but they held the demeanor of guests.

Red and green reptiles moved around, unarmed, from stall to stall, purchasing goods as they could. The baseline beast stood at roughly two meters tall, but even that seemed to change with the color. If the blue were 'average,' then the red were taller, broader, and stronger built. The green were smaller, leaner, and more athletic.

But they all skirted a vast temple complex in the middle, the trio of stone pyramids clawing for the sky, and the Dark Side seemed to emanate from between them like a pulsating tumor. Welcome to my home.

[member="Kobe Seren"]