Cursed and Buried

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

As much as Maleagant would have preferred Athena walk in front of him, for any number of reasons, she would have only gotten them lost. Not to mention that if she was wearing heels she would only be a liability if they ran into any hostile forces. Maleagant's own attire, not that anyone asked, was much more practical. Loose fitting robes suitable for combat, heavy gloves and boots. Stylish enough on their own (everyone looked good in black) and without the added handicap of making the steep slopes of the tunnel difficult to navigate.

"I have a Morgukai warrior waiting on my shuttle." He replied, tone clearly wary. "He will not be pleased if you resurface without me."

This was a half truth. There was a squad of specialists and a Mandallian Giant also waiting on the shuttle. Maleagant did not travel very many places completely alone. These sorts of expeditions were better conducted privately, but that didn't mean he shouldn't have some form of escort nearby in case things became... Difficult. As Athena methodically, repeatedly seemed to want to promise to make them. His mind was telling him no, he should not humor her any more. But his body? His body was telling him "eh," which might as well have been a yes.

He paused at a fork in the tunnel. "Do you go anywhere without your servants?"

What would her servants do if Maleagant resurfaced without Athena? Probably snap out of the trance and thank him profusely. Paid labor was so much more effective.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]
She bumped against him as he stopped in the darkness. It was hard to say if she did it on purpose. Either way, she didn't apologize as she stepped lightly back.

"A Morgukai, how interesting," she mused. Secret societies usually were along with caste systems. Seemed like there was more to this Mal than those red eyes of his. Fingertips brushed the hilt of her clipped lightsaber but she made no further moves.

Coal-feathered brows lofted at his question. "They're more like loyal followers than servants. And they choose to follow me. I suppose it has something to do with a shared love for knowledge." Pink lips twitched into a smile. "They get rather annoyed when I part from them."

And they did. They cared about their mistress beyond 'hired hands.' Probably because she treated them well and shared learned knowledge and secrets with them. They were well/educated and once her reputation started spreading on how much of a Sith-scroll-nerd she was, they flocked to Athena. Birds of a feather and all that.

Perhaps they were a bit too possessive but she didn't mind. If Mal surfaced without her, they'd likely cut him to pieces or trap his soul in an ancient rune.

"Which way?" She hummed.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

If there were any men in her ranks, Maleagant imagined, they were probably hoping she would share more with them than just knowledge. This was not something he would be faulting them for, it was just a thought that occurred to him. He was listening to what she said, but he didn't appear to look at her or register that she bumped into him. He was trying to remember. It was probably the one on the left, or was it the next fork that took them to the right? Decisions, decisions. No, wait, it was... Yes, he could remember it clearly now. That was settled, but the other reason he had stopped was because the walls of the cavern appeared to be shifting.

It was hard to see in the dark, but there was movement. Only the vague outlines were visible, but as they shuffled forward they could be seen more clearly. Zombies. They were practically mummified from being down here so long. Some of them were plated with durasteel armor or jagged weapons. The pathetic remnants of clothes clung to them, crumbled to dust after eons of waiting. As far as Maleagant knew, getting bitten or clawed at by them wouldn't end with him turning into a zombie. Not that it was a pleasant prospect to begin with. Maleagant turned himself around and, because he was such an upright gentleman, made to move Athena behind him again with his free hand.

"The one on the left." He said, calmly, holding his lightsaber steadfast in the face of the oncoming horde. "You go. I'll deal with this."

And they said chivalry was dead.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

His hand pushed against her hip. He was...surprisingly strong. She took a shuffling step to the side, hawk-like gaze zeroing in on the approaching....dead? Eyes glinted and pink lips curled into a sinister smile.

How marvelous.

Her own palm impatiently pushed his hand away. "And let you have all the fun my dear Mal?" She remained a little behind him but she made no move to run. The tunnels weren't very wide. She didn't want to become a casualty of that lightsaber of his.

And what she planned to do was something a little less...physically exerting.

Coal-like eyes narrowed, flecks of yellow beginning to take over the dark pools. The darkside launched forward, as she plugged into the second row of zombies. Their minds were dead husks and open tools.

A specimen she'd never manipulated before. They were hungry. She made them think that their brethren was food. It wasn't fast. It happened slowly, at first. But one zombie turned to the other and began gnawing on rotted flesh and bones. Ripping and crunching noises filled the tunnels.

...funny, things felt different than she expected. Plan B. A hand curved forward, just to the side of Mal's arm, palm flat at the darkside was hurled forward in a precise push. Then another. The undead were jostled back, knocked into others and created bottle-necks in a few pocket areas.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

One zombie lunged for Maleagant, and the Acolyte weaved away from the blow. His saber came up and, in two quick motions, the zombie lost its offending arm and was halved at the torso. It crumbled to the ground, dead as the day it had originally perished. If the vessel became useless, the Sith Magic animating these creatures would disperse and render them dead once more. It was simple, really. Everyone knew that. Except for Athena, apparently, who defied Maleagant's request in order to do... Something? He could feel the Force well up around them as she prepared to do something incredible. He could feel it being manipulated, only for a few pockets of undead to be jostled backwards. They stumbled slightly, but then a few of them began to tumble as she kept up the volley of Telekinetic throws.

Was this really the best she could be doing?

Maleagant was no master of the Force, but come on. Telekinetics? No lightning? She must have been better suited to mentalism or something. Not that it mattered, he liked her just the way she was. More than liked, one would think, but that wasn't what was on Maleagant's mind at the moment. Another two came at Maleagant at once, but the Acolyte adroitly skirted one and sent him flying into the other. Both tumbled to the ground. Then when a third wandered over to him to take another swing, he swung again and took its head off at the neck. Very clean. It was a good thing these were mindless drones, otherwise he might have actually had a problem. He wouldn't have looked very cool, either, which was always an item of concern when hanging around Athena.

"What are you doing?" Maleagant asked, rather bewildered. "Go!"

He could handle this.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

"What a silly question," she sing-songed, just from behind him. It was quite obvious what she was doing, though rare among the sith. She was helping him. Whether it was for the sake of actually helping him or just entertaining herself was hard to say. The very pungent smell of dead flesh hit her nose.

Aged guts and blood sprayed free from one of Mal's latest hits, nearly hitting her dress. That made her take a step back, eyes flashing crimson for a moment. Thumb hit the activation switch, her molten blade humming to life in her hands. She stepped back again, ensuring that Mal wouldn't lose any limbs on her account - though, that idea was a bit tempting.

She backed away slowly, eyes pricked with glowing yellows, darting behind her and back toward the horde and Mal, vigilant and covering their retreat. Ready to spring into action to potentially help Mal again. IF she felt like it.

"Let's wrap this up Mal," she cooed.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Stupid, stupid bird woman. No, she wasn't stupid, and Maleagant supposed that was what annoyed him. It would have been a good bit of deception and he'd get out of his sharing obligations. Or more accurately, her chance to steal from him. There was nothing to suggest Athena wouldn't stab him in the kidney and leave him for dead as soon as the cache was identified. Another few minutes were spent hacking apart the rest of the undead. Maleagant was not turning his back on these things so he could get chased down and cornered in those narrow tunnels. They would be more difficult to deal with in there. Better to clear them out here and now.

The only advantage the undead had were their numbers, and those were draining fast. Simple, stupid creature that they were, the whole exercise was about as mundane and tedious as cutting grass. If the grass happened to be shambling corpses trying to bite and claw at the two interlopers. Once the last one fell over, dead again, Maleagant gave a short sigh. Instinct was to deactivate his lightsaber, but he still needed it for light. "You should have just gone." Maleagant said, annoyance tainting his voice. "Hope you're not getting sentimental with me already."

That was a lie, it would be infinitely better if she were getting sentimental. Maleagant took the lead again, choosing the tunnel on the right.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

"The smell of gore and rot turns me on," she dead-panned as he snuck into the lead again. Her own lightsaber remained lit in her one-handed grip. Long-legged strides followed silently after him. Head turned behind them every now and again, just to make sure there were no stragglers or other surprises.

Mind reached forward, sensing, looking for a fellow darksider. Pink lips frowned slightly. There seemed to be some sort of barrier. Someone perhaps more powerful.

Perhaps they weren't alone. Meanwhile, charcoal-gaze drifted to Mal's backside.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

"The smell of gore and rot turns me on."

Maleagant's stride was broken and he abruptly paused, hesitating. Well, if that were the case, perhaps they should have stayed in that room a little longer... No, no. He needed to keep his eyes on the prize. That is, the prize he had originally arrived here to retrieve, not for the avian one trailing after him. Maleagant returned his attention to walking, just soon enough so that Athena didn't bump into him by mistake.

"We can always come back." Maleagant dryly returned, eyes focused ahead. If he sensed anything in particular, there was no sign that he noticed. Perhaps he already had knowledge of what was to happen next. "But I'm sure there will be more where they came from."

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

"And WHY are you so sure?" Her own lightsaber hummed in her grip, red casting shifting shadows along her skin. It was clear he hadn't told her everything. She of course, expected that. But something had definitely changed since they turned those statues together.

It was throwing her off a bit.

Pink lips curved into a frown. If Mal wanted to trap her, ditch, or kill her, he would've done it already. It was clear he still needed her. But for what reasons, she wasn't entirely sure.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

It was entirely possible that he had already tried to ditch her several minutes ago. Athena had just failed to notice. As for why he was so sure... "I read. Girawn's followers liked to write. Everything." All Maleagant had done was find the right documents and pour over them endlessly. The solution to open the secret passage had been encoded into one scroll. The others made constant messages of undead guardians in the lower levels. Considering there had been no zombie corpses laying around in Maleagant's earlier jaunt through the ruins, he could only imagine they had been kept deeper down.

Besides, that had been a relatively small horde. There must be others elsewhere, otherwise...

"You sound concerned," he continued. "Tell me how you really feel."

There was no real reason Maleagant took anything greater than passive attempts to confuse or ditch her. Except perhaps the fact that he had not had not been in the same room as Athena Heron before, and now that he had, those were the only rooms he wanted to be in.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

"Concerned?" A low, dark chuckle escaped her throat. "You tell me, Mal." Maybe she had noticed the whole left vs right thing. She just chose not to call him out on it beyond subtlety and undertones (but really we can all thank stupid discord, Skype 5eva).

"Should I be?" Lightsaber snapped off and she clipped the hilt back to the belt around her waist. The thing was? She hated being underground. Must've been a bird thing. Her wings had been cut off long ago but....the feeling of being trapped was still there.

Grounded.

Keen-eyes glanced behind them again, noticing Sith markings etched along the cave's rough walls.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Maleagant could read Sith now. Mostly. Since the expedition to Graush's citadel, he had begun teaching himself the finer points of that ancient language. Particularly it's written form. He understood the broad senses of what was scrawled on the wall, but some of the grammar and verb tenses eluded him. Maleagant was still only a novice in these matters. That said, the etchings must not have been anything of great importance, because he did not comment on them or attempt to woo Athena with his impressive knowledge of an obscure, dead language.

Although that would have probably backfired, all things considering.

"Don't get concerned on my account."

This was probably intended to sound somewhat reassuring, not that it was.

"​You'll lose your charm."

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

"Oh, you think I'm charming?"
Tongue clucked against the roof of her mouth as a sinister smile followed on the curve of her lips. Would that be his downfall? Perhaps. Even though staring at Mal's backside was somewhat pleasant, she wanted to see and know what was coming.

And their pace was a little too slow for her long and light legs. The tunnel was narrow but she turned her body to the side and slipped forward, bumping into Mal's hip with her own, along with her own side as she made a fluid move to step past him. On the non-saber wielding side.

Didn't want to get burned.

"How about I take the lead for awhile, dear?"

His favorite nickname. And for a moment, the half omwati wondered if the bulk of his body would keep her from passing at all. Didn't stop her from noticing the light at the end of the tunnel, ahead.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Maleagant gave a soft, bemused snort. "Depends on where you're standing," he replied, yielding the lead to her after she brushed past. "Go right ahead."

They were getting close to the next chamber anyway. It was good that Athena took the lead, otherwise she might have noticed Maleagant's confused look when he noted the chamber up ahead was emitting light. If he had expected anything down here to even be partially illuminated, he wouldn't have been marching around with his lightsaber activated. Athena, with her long strides, did not appear readily concerned about whatever abnormality was waiting ahead of them. Then again, he had mentioned she would lose her charm if she did. Look at her, throwing caution to the wind just to keep him charmed. Such sacrifice this early on in their relationship could only be a good thing.

A man could dream.

Abruptly, Maleagant grabbed her by the elbow before she could blatantly sashay through the archway. "Wait."

Suddenly he was in front again. A clear sign of his sexism or chivalry, depending on who you asked. Cautiously, the Shi'ido edged forward and poked his head around the corner. There was a flood light set up in the center, hooked up to a large generator that was running softly. One cord connected to the floodlight, but several more ran off down one of the other tunnels connected to the room. Perhaps more disconcerting were the corpses: all zombies, all exhibiting blaster marks. There were some scorch marks marring the walls. There had been a battle here, but now no one else was around.

Observantly, Maleagant made the following comment. "That's not good."

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

Fingers curled into a fist at his grasp along her arm. Reminded her slightly of Vrak's grip around her throat. That had been rougher and less well-intentioned. So, this time she decided not to claw Mal's flesh off with her fingernails.

She moved around his side, booted toe nudging into one of the stilled, rotting corpses. "Shame the dead didn't win," she mused, ignoring the gore that decided to stick slightly to those nice boots of hers. Dark orbs tracked to the other chord that disappeared down the hall.

What fun.

The darkside shifted within her, like spreading slick oil and tar. There were definitely others. "I sense four down that way." Dark hair was casually flicked over the curve of her shoulder as she glanced at Mal. "Let's go say hello." Hips angled toward the corridor as she took a step forward and then another.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Maleagant shook his head. "But not surprising."

The undead were only token guards at best. Girawn's disciples would have received roughly the same level of security if they had installed a bunch of unarmed, low-cost cargo droids in each of the rooms. Perhaps the general competency of the undead was linked to their proximity to the necromancer responsible for raising them. Or maybe they had just been left down here too long. Either way, Maleagant was certain more powerful traps and opponents would be waiting for them in this tunnel. Aside from the apparent excavation they stumbled upon, anyway. That was a different beast entirely.

One that would need to be dealt with carefully.

"Let's not." The Acolyte quickly said. Fortunately for them both he did not move to grab her again. "They should come to us."

Having wandered over to the rear of the generator, Maleagant took a fistful of cords in hand and yanked them out. Whatever was being powered elsewhere would fall inactive, and those four souls Athena had sensed would probably come to investigate. Maleagant had no intentions of running head first into foes he had not yet identified. It would be safer to view them from hiding first. Get a grip on their equipment and demeanor... And then strike. Maleagant went back towards the passageway they had emerged from, gesturing for Athena to follow.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

She paused. A very strong part of her wanted to defy him. But the wiser part recognized it would be foolish to go in alone. Unfortunately, she needed Mal. For now.

"Must you always ruin my fun?" She twittered and turned around. "At least with MY plan," it was loosely a plan, "we'd have the element of surprise." With the plugs out, they'd know someone or something else was here. Lower lip puffed in a mock pout but she followed him anyway.

Long form eased to the other side of the doorframe, shoulder brushing lightly against Mal. From their vantage, they could see inside without immediate detection. Wasn't long before three being emerged: two male twileks and a potential humanoid whose figure was hidden by some type of bounty armor-gear and mask.

Eyes glittered as her mind immediately dipped into the male twileks. Slowly, they began to itch. Then jump. Then scream as an illusion of being eaten alive by scarabs was firmly planted in their minds.

Pretty soon they'd claw out their own eyes. Pity.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Red eyes rolled in annoyance. In a low voice, he whispered to the Heron woman. "Clearly it was jostled out on its own."

Four pairs of footsteps came marching briskly down the corridor. They looked like bounty hunters, but bounty hunters wouldn't be digging around in these caves of their own accord. Someone had hired them. Someone with a vested interest in these sorts of treasures, which would have explained the powerful presence that had been sensed earlier. Very curious. There were only three of the four present, so they were going to have to move quickly if they didn't want them to set off an alarm. The one in the mask walked around to the generator to fix the plugs, saying something snide under his breath.

Suddenly the Twi'leks started getting twitchy. Their friend seemed to notice, standing back up straight and putting a hand on his sidearm. Maleagant could feel the Force being drawn upon by Athena. Then the Twi'leks dropped their weapons, clawing at themselves, trying to scratch things that weren't there. The screaming started, prompting a grimace from Maleagant. Someone else was going to hear those screams now. For someone so light on their feet, Athena Heron seemed to have no talent for stealth.

Maybe she just liked being looked at.

Maleagant could have obliged that if she really wanted. Especially in private.

The Shi'ido darted forward from where he was, saber cracking back to life in his hand. He was never one to enjoy prolonged suffering, usually because it was pointless. He hacked one Twi'lek in half at the waste and cut a deep gash diagonally across the chest of the other, killing him too. The masked hunter had his pistol out and fired twice at Maleagant. One went wide, smacking into one of the walls of the cave and adding another scorch mark. Maleagant caught the next one with his lightsaber, the blaster bolt reflecting into the bounty hunter's shoulder. He staggered backwards, dropping his weapon, and Maleagant quickly knocked him out with a decisive Force Push that sent him hard into the nearest wall.

"Was the screaming necessary?"

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

With devilish innocence upon her blue-face, she turned to Mal. "I cannot help how patrons react to my art." Feathered brows fluttered slightly as she stepped dispassionately over the expertly sliced and diced bodies. As if she was to blame. If anything he cut the show short even if his skill with a lightsaber was somewhat impressive.

Pink lips pursed as she knelt by the one with the armor.

She made a tsk tsk sound. "Hmm. Seems you broke his back. Now we have no one to interrogate." Dark-orbs snapped up still flecked with yellow from her earlier fun. "Looks like we have to find lucky number four." Long-legs straightened. "Perhaps you should plug the generator back in?"

They'd still have the element of surprise unless he'd heard the screams. But that was okay. She, unlike Mal, enjoyed a challenge and getting her hands a bit dirty. As long as it didn't ruin her dress.