Distractions

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"I thought she would be here," Luke said softly. His brow furrowed in concern. It seemed as if his worldview had been challenged by the simple turn of events.

It wasn't Jacen or Aela that set out first. The young man strode confidently towards the opening they could see. Jacen stayed where he was and turned his head towards Aela.

He preferred the enemy that stood in front of him with a scarlet saber. That was easy. Nice simple lines that you could choose only one side to stand on. When the Dark Lord had drawn his weapons there hasn't been a shred of doubt. Now, as he felt events moving quickly towards a vertex, he wished he could havegreater foresight. They hadn't come to solve a mystery but to give Aela some new surroundings to explore.

"Well. We found your ruins."

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

For a moment she didn't move from her spot on the ground, instead she simply looked after the boy, watching him as he slowly poked around in search of something, or someone. He had mentioned a "she" but that didn't really mean much to Aela. A frown pulled at her lips, and slowly she attempted to extend her senses. She had never been quite good at the sensory aspect of the force, a failing she had tried to compensate for in a hundred different ways.

Still, she tried, and when she failed her eyes wandered over towards Jacen. "You know."

Aela began quietly.

"My father once told me about prophets of the force." She frowned as she watched the boy, the young man peering around several corners of the ruins and then looking back towards the two Jedi Masters. There was almost a hint of...hopelessness in his eyes, as if he was starting to panic that 'she' was not there. Aela recognized the look well, she'd seen it hundreds of times in the faces of men and women abandoned during times of war. "Men and women who could tell the future through the force."

She frowned. "I wish I had that gift."

At least then she'd know what the hell was going on.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen threw up his hands and shook his head. He looked as if he was about to burst out laughing. In truth he very nearly did.

"I was just thinking the same. Should have spent less time fighting and more time working out how to not get into these messes."

Jacen thought back to that cruise ship. Where they had been roused by their captors deep in the bowels of the vessel. He thought of falling through the floor of that ancient sith crypt and then having to steady her back to her feet just to walk away.

"But we keep getting out of them," he said in a different tone. The exasperation was gone. Meeting her gaze he gave a slow nod. Then his train of thought was interrupted by something in the periphery.

The young zabrak had set off in one direction at a more determined pace.

"Where is he going now?" Jacen asked, moving to follow.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"Not sure." She said quietly, walking before she continued. "Let's follow him."

Right now they were practically blind.

They had no idea where they were, what they were searching for, or even really what they would find. This boy, whoever he really was, marked the only lead they really had. Aela wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or not given that he could just as easily lead them into a deadly trap, but he decided it was best to ignore that little fact.

Without waiting for Jacen to respond Aela began to hop down a series of small rocks, following along behind the boy.

She kept her distance for the most part, not wanting to break this odd streak of determination that now seemed to be flowing through the young man. It was clear that he had expected, something, but now that he was moving deeper into the ruins it seemed he was becoming more and more panicked. She could sense a spike of fear from the boy, something she hadn't felt even when Jacen had managed to best him in only a few passing seconds.

That concerned her.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen slowed his pace as they became enclosed on all sides by rocks. This wasn't a natural passage. This had been cut into the rock. It took a few seconds of walking cautiously for his eyes to adapt.

Aela was in front of him and Luke not much further down. The slope became stairs. He started to feel strange. As if the ground was vibrating. Except that it wasn't. Another step and his hand slapped out against the wall. For just a fraction of a second his perception of up and down switched and his brain was preparing for the fall.

He stood still for a few seconds until he was certain that everything was the right way up. It was. He was still standing on the stairs. Aela and Luke were still below him. They had crossed something. That low vibration was gone but there was a sense of presence here. Power. It was smooth now, as if outside that barrier had just been waves of what escaped.

Yet that was all just in his mind. Jacen knew the Force was a power where distance and time had no real bearing. It was all too complicated for a human brain to really fathom. For all he knew he hadn't crossed a barrier but merely been present as something had started.

"It wasn't just me that felt that?"

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Aela frowned, she didn't quite understand what had just happened. Jacen wasn't alone in his odd paranoia, the feeling that had swept over him. For Aela it had been an entirely different sensation, but she had felt something. Her lips thinned as her gaze swept over the inside of the enclosure. The boy ahead of them didn't seem too phased by what had happened, showcasing that likely he had known it would. For a moment she glanced at Jacen.

She felt a pit begin to form in her stomach.

There was something off about this. She couldn't quite tell what. The odd sensation that had swept over her felt almost familiar, not dark and foreboding like she had felt on Kraysis or Korriban, but something else. A deep breath filled her lungs and slowly she looked back towards the boy who was now descending the steps faster than before. "I..."

Aela frowned, then shook her head.

"There's something down there." She said it softly, keeping her voice low.

She could feel the force begin to bubble within her, an odd sort of sensation that really made no sense. Her fingers clutched at her clothes for a moment, sweat beginning to bead down the back of her neck. Eyes closed for a moment, another breath filling her lungs before she slowly began to follow after Luke once more.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen took several steps at a time in a few bounds to catch up to Aela. Whilst he was quite content to let her mind the relatively harmless Padawan they were now venturing into the unknown. He sensed power here, something on the cusp of being released. It was a potential building in the air around them, like static before the strike of lightning.

"There is. I think I'll go first," he said. Her pride could hold out for the time being.

There was something familiar about what he could sense. As they descended further he started to realise what that was.

"It's like a focusing crystal," he remarked. Some used them in lightsabers but he'd seen Jedi use them for a variety of other purposes too.

The stairs leveled out and Luke marched through an opening. Jacen wasn't sure how far they had come down but the rock opened out into a far larger chamber than he had expected. They were statues smoothed out by time on either side of them, but it was clear they were humanoid. Standing straight and holding something skyward. Had those been swords? Lightsabers.

Luke broke into a run as they neared an open set of doors on the other side. A shimmering field seemed to envelope him as he ran though. Jacen began to call out.

Then everything went bright white. Where the Padawan had passed through he was repulsed with a loud clang. Like a bell being rung.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"Jacen!" Aela rushed forward, dashing through the hall and coming down next to her friends side. Her hand immediately went to where his head had smashed against the rock once the field had repulsed him, her fingers deftly checking for blood.

When she found none a sigh of relief escaped her.

Her eyes glanced up and down Jacen for half a second, checking if he had any other wounds and luckily finding none. Her lips thinned and an inquisitive look formed over her features as she glanced up at the odd shimmering field that sat within the doorway. She tried to peer through, to spot Luke to someone else moving beyond, but all she saw was an odd sort of blur shifting constantly throughout the light. Her lips thinned and she looked back to Jacen.

"Let's not run into strange ruins at full speed." Aela told Jacen as she patted his head. "You're too old to be getting thrown around Ancient Tombs."

She smiled, though her concern was clear.

The last time the two of them had explored an ancient ruin things hadn't exactly gone well, and while this place felt decidedly more...friendly, she still wasn't entirely sure about their surroundings. It was odd that the Field had allowed Luke to pass but thrown away Jacen. Was it something to do with the boys markings? No, that seemed far too obvious.

She looked back towards the field, consternation forming on her face.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"That was mean," he grunted from the floor. Had he not just been bounced from an invisible wall he might have had a comeback. He was a little stunned but otherwise unharmed.

With a grunt he rolled onto his side and pushed himself back up to his feet. Just as Aela couldn't sense any dark forces at work neither could he. But there was power. It was almost tangible. The hairs on the backs of his arms stood on end.

Had 'she' let Luke through before blocking him off? The Padawan had been confused not to meet anyone above ground.

Jacen was about to raise his hand towards the barrier when he saw Aela looking at it intently. He kept his hand at his side. This was a challenge she was well suited to her. Perhaps one she needed. For the time being he left her to it in silence.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

For a moment Aela simply stared at the barrier.

There was something...off about it. Not in the same sense as Kraysis had been, not in the same sense as any one of a hundred darkside artifacts Aela had encountered, but something else entirely. She frowned for a moment, stepping towards the field. She glanced back at Jacen for just a moment, then gently pulled the blaster from it's holster. Almost immediately the young Jedi master flipped the weapon around, holding it by the barrel and extending it.

She lightly tapped the barrier, the end of the weapon sending out water like ripples across the barrier.

Lips thinned further and she glanced back at Jacen, her eyes wandering up the barrier to stare at the odd moving blur beyond it. She let out a sigh, holstering the weapon before she slowly turned back towards the barrier. Bright orange eyes scanned it one more time, and then they closed. She took in a deep breath, reaching out towards that odd source of power that seemed to linger throughout the entirety of the ancient ruin. In an instant she felt a rush of power flooding through her.

It was a like a tsunami crashing over her, a maelstrom that ran throughout her entire being.

And before she could do anything about it, she felt herself get yanked through the barrier.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen tried ever so hard to keep a smile from his face. Not because she was concentrating on a challenge so intently. But because he'd thought of a quip to throw back for the old comment.

"Aela..." he growled in warning as he sensed the connection forming. The sudden surge through the Force had him mentally scrambled to try and find the connection and break it.

He should have focused on the physical.

But the time he realised she was moving it wad too late. He desperately snatched for her hand and missed. Jacen very nearly over balanced but managed to save himself another headache inducing collision.

"Aela?" he called out. "Are you there?" He paced before the barrier. Damnit. He'd come to Aela to try and be a reassuring presence. Because he cared. And because the sudden shift in her demeanour had genuinely perturbed him. This wasn't helping her. It was damned reckless on his part.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

A heavy breath flooded into her lungs, her eyes snapped open, and she was met with nothing save for bright white. Panic instantly flooded into her system, her head whipped around and the blaster was yanked from it's holster.

Her ears rang, almost as though the sound she gave off was reverberating in upon herself. Her gaze jumped from place to place, attempting to find anything, a curved surface, a wall, something, but all she found was a great expanse of white. Her lips thinned, her breaths grew labored, and the thundering of her heart began to echo throughout her entire body. Without her even realizing it her finger had slipped onto the trigger of her blaster, she tensed, and then suddenly a voice boomed in her head.

"There is no need for that."​

​

Aela nearly jumped out of her skin as the voice echoed in her skull, the blaster dropping from her fingers as her head whipped around to spot where the voice was coming from. Her skin crawled, her lips thinned, and her eyes grew to the size of saucers.

Where the kark is Jacen. It was the only thought that crossed into her mind as the voice rang out once more.

"No harm will come to you here."​

​

Her fingers scrunched, and finally she realized that she'd dropped her weapon. The young Jedi Master knelt down to grab the blaster only to realize that the weapon had completely disappeared. Her lips thinned, she frowned, turning back towards where the Barrier should have been only to find...nothing. A groan escaped her, face scrunching as she realized that the force had left her as well. She was caught...trapped in whatever this was.

No weapon. No Jacen. No force.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"Aela?" he only called it once more. She either could not hear him or could not reply. Neither of those possibilities were good. There was no point thinking about any of that when there was something to be done. Jacen could be that single minded at times. When he decided something achieving and his mind was focused he approached the task with intense determination. It was why he had faced down the Dark Lord and countless other Sith. Why his own path never seemed to find happiness.

His fingers grazed the edge of the barrier. It was almost d soft to touch. A gradual resistance that went for a gentle push to a firm and unmoving threshold. At least that meant his head had not split open the first time.

Jacen realised he wasn't going to pass through the barrier with brute force. Not physically, but with using the Force itself to push back. Aela had been concentrating on it and found something there. He had to do the same.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Slowly her head swiveled around, looking around the expanse of whiteness that seemed to surround her in every direction. Her lips thinned and she found that she was barely breathing. Slowly she took a step forward, half paranoid that she would fall into some great pit or canyon. When her foot hit solid ground she let out sigh of relief. Her eyes closed, and she allowed herself to take in a deep breath. "Okay."

She centered herself.

"This isn't the strangest thing that's ever happened." Aela told herself quietly. "You can do this."

"You are lost."​

​

The voice echoed within her skull once more, resounding and reverberating. It forced her to wince, the intrusion into her mind being more than unwelcome. She frowned and her head whipped around, looking for someone, anyone that might be the source. When she found nothing but the white abyss she called out. "WHO ARE YOU?!

The sound of her voice seemed to die just beyond the reach of her.

"My name is Nialla Veneth."​

​

She blinked. For some reason Aela hadn't expected to actually hear an answer from the voice, just more vague nonsensical talk about how she wasn't in any danger. It was almost refreshing, though once again she found that no sense of harm lingered around her. She still felt that odd source of power from the force, it was simply more...distant.

"Where am I?" She called out. "Where's Jacen?"

"You are within the Lost Temple Hyleea, your friend remains within the ruins."​

​

Confusion slid across her features. So the ruins hadn't been the Temple?

"You are lost, Aela Talith."​

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen tried to find the undercurrent of power Aela had tapped, but he could not. He had always been a relative straightforward Jedi. He did the basics well and made very few mistakes. It had served him well against Sith that learned lots of flashy abilities and used them poorly.

He started to question whether Aela had reached out or whether something had pulled her in. Before he could get far on that pondering the barrier vanished.

Jacen leapt through, saber in hand.

"Aela?"

But she wasn't here. He could not sense her. He reached out through the Force and did the equivalent of bellowing her name.

With a grimace plastered to his face he stepped back over the threshold. There had been little more than a shallow cave on the other side. He walked back up the corridor hoping that he had missed something.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"Well obviously I'm lost. I have no idea where I am." She was being pedantic of course, but she didn't exactly like not knowing exactly where she was or what had happened to Jacen. Isolation was not what she had counted for, and this? This was something entirely new.

A breath flowed through her lungs, her eyes wandered across the great expanse of white and she couldn't help but wonder if she had somehow stepped into some sort of mind trap. She had read about them before in her fathers library, ancient technology from a lost species that could sunder ones soul and thoughts. It was a terrifying thought, the idea that the barrier had been some sort of device that trapped her within this expanse of white for all eternity.

The idea made her stomach turn, though almost as if on cue the voice answered her.

​

"No harm will come to you here."​

​

The voice repeated once more, but now Aela was finding it more and more difficult to believe. She scowled slightly, grasping at her trousers in anger and keeping herself from shouting. Her brow knit together and she called out in frustration. "Then where are y-"

Aela was suddenly cut off as she turned and found a figure standing behind her, a tall woman in dark brown robes. Her eyes were covered by an odd sort of cloth wrapped around her face, her hair was tied back into a ponytail, and years of age creased her skin. There was nothing particularly distinguishing about her, but for some reason Aela guessed that she was a Miraluka. The odd markings upon the cloth on her eyes reminded her of a book she had once read. "You."

She finished.

"I do not mean you any harm Aela, I only wish to help you."​

​

Weariness flowed across Aela's features. Her mother had always been rather accepting of most people, no matter their age, species, or background. As long as their intent was good, she accepted them. Her father however? Her father had filled her with a healthy dose of cynicism. She frowned for a moment, looking at the woman before slowly answering.

"And." She began quietly. "How exactly do you propose to do that?"

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Just a smooth corridor. It wasn't actually easy to keep his emotions in check. The gnawing doubt that he had placed Aela in this situation was trying to push its way forwards.

She had seemed almost enthusiastic for the challenge and he had encouraged it. Overconfident in his own ability to see her from harm. As capable as she was it wasn't fair to have placed her in harm's way. Even now Trextan was off somewhere probably fighting in some quiet Alliance operation.

It was always the people around him that seemed to suffer the most for his choices. There were few people he had developed connections with over the years. Especially since Prakith and his men being overrun by Sith. Aela was one of the few.

The Jedi Master took a breath. He sensed little darkness here. Nothing that would confused his senses. In the absence of anywhere to go he came to a stop and lowered himself to the ground and crossed his legs.

There was no magic. There was the Force and the connection between all living things. That was a Jedi's strength. Not always living things.

He reached for the boy's lightsaber.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"Simple, I will show you the truth."​

Aela gave the woman a flat look, glancing around the white abyss for a moment before she simply let out a loud shrug. She believed in the force, she believed in the power of the lightside, and most important she believed that she didn't know everything.

Yet she couldn't help but feel weary.

"Truth is subjective." Aela said with a frown. "Is it your truth? My truth? The truth of the Sith? What kind of Tru-"

Aela would have continued to talk, would have continued to argue and say whatever came to her mind in that moment, but the Miraluka reached out and very suddenly poked her forehead. The instant that the woman did, the moment that their skin touched, Aela felt a surge of a thousand different emotions. It was a torrent of senses that overwhelmed her. Sight, hearing, touch, tease, the force itself seemed to crash down upon her all at once.

Everything fell into place, a bell rung within her skull.

Then suddenly she collapsed into a heap.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

There was a connection. As he pulled the saber free from his pack and he narrowed his focus it became more clear. A lightsaber was a weapon, but one with a heart of kyber.

That core felt different now. Attuned to something. Jacen followed the threads, his eyes closed. He come to his feet and reached out. Fingers brushed the wall. Noting but smooth rock.

And a slightly smoother patch.

Jacen opened his eyes, keeping his finger on that spot. He rubbed his finger over it, pushing away a thin layer of rock dust. It was smooth and glassy. It was more crystal. Crystal was running throughout the rocks around them. This lightsaber had been forged from a shard taken from these caves. It felt as if they had all become attuned to each other, aligned. That power he had felt building seemed to be ready for a great crescendo. Yet none of this helped him find Aela.

In frustration he pushed back at the building harmonics through the Force. There was a clearly audible hiss, then a snap. Blue light was once more coming for the end of the path. Jacen turned and ran.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

The touch, the spike of power, the flow of her senses, whatever it was sent Aela into what could only be described as a coma like state. She couldn't have guessed how long it lasted, she couldn't have guessed if she actually went somewhere or if time itself stood still, but she felt as though a life time had passed.

Her collapse after the touch had pushed her throat the opened gate that Jacen had once again unsealed, her unconscious form tumbling to the hard surface of the ruin with the barrier still shimmering behind her. She struck the ground with a loud thud that seemed to echo through the the empty chamber. The strike was enough to jar her back into consciousness, her eyes fluttering open for a moment before a spike or pain ran along her spine.

"Ow." Aela muttered quietly.

She couldn't move, or more to the point, she didn't want to move.

Her entire body felt heavy, her head ached, and every muscle was screaming at her as though she had just run a marathon and a half.