Dreams of Fire - Chapter 2

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

One thing was certain she did not want to hurt anyone, but sometimes she wasn't sure she was herself, she felt detached watching.

She looked down thinking on Coren's words, thinking about what she felt inside, thinking about Mustafar, the cave, the darkness, the shard. She made a face one that said I have to say this, and I don't want to.

"My dreams they..say..." she looked down, up, not at Coren, like a child admitting some wrong doing, "that he and I will cross the galaxy finding gold and artifacts" She smiled some even though she knew she shouldn't, "you know someone to share wanderlust with, share history with.....someone who..." She looked up the words unspoken were wants me, Coren might assume he knew these words.

Everyone wanted someone who could share the excitement of a life together.

Animus offered her such things, the ship seemed to whisper such things. Oh the things he whispered to her at times her dreams felt on fire, other times so cold that even the cold burned her fingers to where she would wake up and have to look to make sure she was alright.

"Shall we see if we can find the registry for the Cortana Blade?" Should she tell him about the Axe they found? She wasn't sure, she didn't want to lose him he was important to her.


What would [member="Lord Mythos"] say?

 

[Coren Starchaser]

People had to think, and the mind was a tricky situation. Sure, he’d heard horror stories about what the mind could do, and Coren even knew how bad it could get. He, like Wren, was a victim of some kind of mind altering issue. He had his mind wiped, and she… was it amnesia? The pilot had a lot going on and was sometimes losing himself in his hunt to free the galaxy from the control of the dark side.

Wren was the type who followed her heart, and that was something very important to do. Coren was a mind-focused man, almost too much tunnel vision. When she was talking, he was following her. He knew what Wren was doing, she was living, and the best way anyone could, full throttle and getting involved in everything the galaxy, and others, had to offer. He could not fault her for this.

“We can go chasing after it, for sure. Are you going to be okay if we head to where you last saw it?” See if the trail went cold already, but it was the best place to start searching.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

Would she be ok to go to where they were last, "You want to go to Korriban?" she looked at him, she wanted to be sure she understood where they were headed. Coren would only want her to be well, and if the ship had done this to her.

Then yes they ship was to be found.

Was she ready to travel, was she ready to face what was truly happening inside her. Was this trouble? Or was this something else entirely? That was when the whispers began again. The hot sands of Korriban the dig would still be active her team, and Mythos' team were on site. They could go there.

She nodded, even though nothing had been said. She was thinking for certain.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Did he want to go? No, no he really didn’t. Coren looked at Wren and shook his head. “I mean, its not the first place I’d like to go. But if it can help us find answers for you? I’d go into the heart of the Dark Lord’s temple on my own.” A place he probably wouldn’t get out of in one piece, but with the Aing-Tii skills and the instinctive astrogation? Well, who knew what he’d be able to do.

He had his ship, and he could get to Korriban pretty simply. And from there? Who knew where they needed to go. They’d do what they could at the starport.

“Are you okay to fly?” It wasn’t like the Rising was glowing in the light side, or the dark side, or the Force, but he wanted to make sure she would be fine to come to Korriban with him.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

Are you ok to fly?

She nodded, "yes" What would happen when they found the Blade? What would happen with her? what would happen to Coren? to Animus? To...so complex, so confusing. What was it that was in her again, was she just a receptacle for all things that loved the darkness?

Her future she tried to see so many times and each time it changed, each time it shifted between one path and another. Was she putting Coren in danger? The dreams so real, and yet so painful.

I may be lost she thought to herself what if my path is there, can l I live a life with Animus and still be me? Will I lose Coren? Myself? Animus? goddess so many questions.

"Let us go and see to it, get answers"

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

It was important. She was important. If Coren could find what had happened to her, he might be able to find who could reverse it. Starchaser was a soldier, he was a fighter, he didn’t get too far into the Force, save for the Aing-Tii education. He knew that there might not be anything he could do, but destroying the ship responsible for this? Murdering the Sith (because Sith were always the issue in the galaxy) would make him feel better. Then they could get Wren to someone that could help.

There wasn’t a thought to his own fate. Coren was a soldier, he knew that he would fall sooner or later, but falling for the right cause? That was what made all the difference.

When she suggested they get moving, he nodded, getting to his feet. He extended his hand. “Ship isn’t far.”

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

Serena reached up and took his hand, with Coren she was safe, she believed. I"m scared she thought, what if this was to have been my path all along? It would explain so much. Serena walked with Coren.

"Animus would never knowingly harm me Coren" The ship now, who knew what it was capable of, or even if it was alive. Had Animus told her anything about the ship that she couldn't remember? She shook her head, this was worse then losing her memory, this was losing her mind.

"How's everyone at home?" She asked trying to focus the conversation somewhere else for a bit at least till they were on his ship and headed to Korriban.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He wanted to do his best to provide Wren with the type of situation that she felt safe in. The man knew her fairly well, and knew what she was capable of, and that was what made this all the worst. She was a wanderer, she was someone who always went head first into the world around her. And if she was going to the dark side? It couldn’t be a good thing.

Nodding, the pilot was going humor her. “Still, he should know what he’s messing with, in the Force and beyond, he should watch out to the people he considers close to him. I’m not saying he did it on purpose… But if it was happening, it is his responsibility to fix it.” Or, y’know, Coren Starchaser could do what he did best, and clean up the dark side’s incontinence issues.

“Its going well, we’re working on making a move closer to Alliance turf. The Coalition has been doing really well, but I don’t want my choices to inspire people to come after my people, and start to hurt a nation that isn’t supporting my actions.” The man was helping to lead revolutions, after all.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

The pair soon boarded Coren's ship at times they chatted openly about the life around them, changes, and his moving his family. She wanted to know these details to know how to find him, to be able to reach out for him when needed, and yet to give them each the space they needed as was their personalities.

But between them hung the 800 lb rancor growling low to them both the what if, and was it too late?

"Animus ([member="Lord Mythos"]) is a researcher like I am, you will see when you look at the dig on Korriban how much we have discovered together, and the impact it has on history itself." History her love her mind for a moment could hear the gentle lulling of the Blade luring her back to it, promises of endless artifacts, and riches to care for her mother, and always with Animus at her side.

Her blue eyes glazed over but for a brief moment, and then she looked at Coren.

"Korriban has it's own dark energy Coren, will you be ok there?"

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

It wasn’t that the trip was going to be long, but well, sometimes hyperspace was boring. Coren knew what he could do within the state, and was looking forward to make it work for him. A lot of time and energy was put between the worlds, the void and hyperspace may not answer to Coren as well as they answer to Jorus, but it wasn’t a far stretch. The pilot grinned as he was listening to Wren, boarding the craft.

“I’ve been taught, once or twice how to resist the dark side.” He grinned. “I’m not afraid of a few dead Sith.” He was afraid of nearly a dozen dead Sith, or any dead Sith brought to the Alliance capital world. “What we’re going to focus on, is making sure we get you fixed. Don’t worry about me.”

He grinned at her as he set the course for Korriban.

Or Morriband, whatever.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

"how does one resist the dark side? I mean I don't think I've done anything that would make me dark but my emotions are definitely being played like a well tuned fiddle. I just always...long to..." She looked at Coren.

"These sensations are worse than when we were in the box at the bottom of the ocean, though those last moments where i was completely exposed to you comes close, with Animus I'm raw, bare he can see everything and I have no control it just slips away like sand through my fingers." She bit her lip as she remembered that first night, how she had moved in ways she had not thought possible, but that night on the ship.

The dreams were so vivid, so clear, so embedded with all of her wants and desires. She stared at the hull of Coren's ship, love. once again it was love just ike Akala here it was again.

"A single jump and we'll be there...I'll alert the team that its just us" Was it just them? Or would HE be waiting, did he know her thoughts already?

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

How does one resist the dark side? Now that was a lesson Coren learned a long time ago. Not this Coren, no, he never really had that lesson this time around. Sure, it was lost because of the memory wipe that he had undergone, but that one? Well, according to the family datacron, it was a Sith skill that he learned the first time. You needed to burn hotter, not let their influence win. Own your emotions, own who you were. It was always useful when he was fighting off Sith, or Krath, to fight who he was against them, and to burn them out.

With the light side, the way he learned it now was to accept it. Accept what they were saying, accept and rise above. It was a conscious effort, not something primal. You needed to understand that the dark side could and will kill you. You took it, you looked the dark side in the face and you threw the fight away. You didn’t give it a target, you gave it no quarter and no place to latch onto.

But in Wren’s position? He wasn’t sure what would work. “I don’t think you could do anything that would make you dark, Wren. Emotions are just that, emotions. They’re not an action, its intrusive.” He considered his own words for a moment. He knew the feeling when they were connected, they still had a bit of that connection, but it was different now. Time? Distance?

“I don’t know if this Animus is a good influence, for one.” He tried to smile.

“The team?”

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

Wren nodded, "Yes we had to leave an archeology team on site to continue excavations of the tomb, and the surrounding area." She smiled when she spoke of things like this she felt more like who she had been then, and not so much of the who am I thing.

"You will have to meet Animus if he is on site on Korriban you will be able to" She smiled again, "I don't know [member="Coren Starchaser"] I feel......" She stared straight ahead just thinking for a moment "I think we should go boating again" She looked at him.

"I know we aren't as connected as before, but you're still here" Wren pointed to her temple, "and you're always here" She pointed to her heart. "Remember you were my friend when I didn't know who I was." For a moment she laid her head on his arm.

What would Animus say about Coren? Would they like each other? She hoped so. But then again, whatever was happening might cause them both to come out on different sides of Wren.

[member="Lord Mythos"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

So, little Wren was not running a team? Good for her. That was very exciting. Working alone was always nice, but the second you could start working with more people? It made it a bit more fun, and you couldn’t help but learn a few things. Hopefully it wasn’t all bad for Wren. The dark side was… it was addicting, and hedonistic. It was heady and felt good. He should know, he used to use it to chase people down.

“Yeah, if he’s there, but if he’s… if he’s a Sith?” He couldn’t make any promises. Coren might be a bit of a chaotic story, but he was definitely certain and lawful on a few factors, one being the existence and death of all Sith. “We should, get away from the galaxy for a bit.” He smiled as she took to laying on his arm. He kissed the top of your head.

“Shouldn’t be so long of a flight.” He nodded, looking at the blonde.

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]​

​

"I don't mind long flights anymore, I even miss flying seems I could do that, I just couldn't remember that I could" She laughed, "bits and bits more come to me, and I'm always marveling at what I've done, and who I've met." She had not lifted her head, Coren was more than a friend, he was a confidant, he was........well Coren.

She rested her eyes for a bit leaving some silence between them but not an uncomfortable need to talk silence. This was comfort, trust, and nothing could really break that between them. Even with all the churning of her emotions, the not knowing, the horrible dreams, the constant had by Animus and Coren. She could not imagine life without either.

Korriban would come up a lot quicker than she expected, Ren had stayed awake the entire flight watching the viewport and counting off moments in her mind.

"The Valley of the Dark Lord Coren, there should be an elevated site. That would be the dig" She smiled, she could already feel something tugging at her.

Was [member="Lord Mythos"] on the surface?

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The amnesia work was always tricky to get through. Coren completely understood that. Looking at the blonde, he nodded. “It all starts to come back. Most of it. Still missing things that my old datacrons said I could do, but…” He shrugged and waved a hand off. “Water under the bridge, I suppose.”

Small talk definitely took most of the flight up. Coren was find being awake in hyperspace, he could sleep during the trips too, but mostly he just kind of… did his thing. But with Wren, the talking and catching up just flowed, and for Coren, he could still see the old friend in there, despite the dark influence.

Korriban was dark, Coren could feel it, but he knew he could rise above. Sometimes the pilot sank, just a little, below the surface, to remember who he was, and what it was like, but the over/under would be to beat the dark side, not join it. He knew what was going on. "Sounds like a great place for a vacation, hun."

[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

"It was great, I love finding things, and this was so unexpected. I was just here to observe, I wasn't suppose to reveal my Jedi status, just..." She made that face, the one that said some things just happen.

"I could never turn down the change to work a dig Coren..and to come to Korriban, I don't know how they got the dispensation but I knew I had to come" Was that the force working? Had it led her here? She didn't know sometimes.

"I like places with water for vacation, you know that"She smiled broadly she thought for a moment, "Not too close, the sand gets into everything, the dig, people...don't want to hurt the dig." She was excited to tell Coren what was found, "We found some ancient lord tomb, it nearly killed us, but I was able to prove that the Sith are worshiped after death their tombs are like temples. Its...so different from the Jedi tombs"

How long had it been now since she had been here? Or from the time of discovery? She...didn't know...but she did know one thing.........[member="Lord Mythos"] was somewhere near she could feel him through the force.

"Ready to go see?" She looked at [member="Coren Starchaser"], "Animus is here...I know it"

 

[Mythos]

The Valley of the Dark Lords.
It was a place Mythos continuously visited throughout his years in the order of the sith yet this time he was here not searching for a particular artifact but instead he was here for his meditation. The planet itself rushed with dark energies that had lingered for millennials since the birth of the dark side. High above the very ceiling of the monolith temple crossed legged and with his eyes closed Mythos sat against the searing winds of Korriban at a massive altitude, his mind clearing with nothing but darkness and the pursuit of unlimited power. The axe upon his back pulsed like a beating heart and throbbed upon his body, shooting the visions that were imprisoned within it's alchemized metal into his mind as he tried to put them all together to lessen the negative effects of the weapon by trying to purposely activate it's effects.

He saw the warzones of the past, heard the screams of those that have died long ago and yet he understood very little of what the vision tried to impart upon him. He knew that different tribes conflicted over resources, that when the vision came he saw the side of Adas and the part that his eyes saw... but everything else just flew to fast before his eyes and even in the focusing iris that was Korriban the secret of the illusions prevailed.

When he opened his eyes he slowly fell into the force to search the lands for signatures as he always did in his long hours of meditation, sometimes he would feel the force of primeval dark jedi in the work or sometimes he would feel the lingering presence of the Zambrano hutt who ruled over the primeval, sometimes he would feel Javik the wise Shift within his cave yet what he felt in the force now was.... Serena?

His eyes narrowed... and she was not alone. Quickly he focused, he reached out through the force to her, using the dark tendrils of Korriban as a web of strings in the force to reach her across the valley of the dark lords. When she sensed him through the force so would her companion, the ever familiar bathing sense of darkness and foreboding doom that the gaze of a sith lord brought upon would be cast upon them. A simple intent could be felt through the force... a dark invitation.
He spoke through it, as his mind enmeshed with magic and the darkside he was able to impart a single sentence in the ancient Sith language that Serena would have accustomed herself to by now.

"Welcome to Korriban..."

[member="Serena Bouie"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He understood Wren all too well. Coren was an explorer, himself, he was a member of a family built from the Jedi Explor- and later Frontiers Corps. What he did was look around the galaxy for answers, it was what lead him to Wren in the first place, that time ago on that water world. The pilot still carried the amulet when he was going anywhere, a reminder of what he had done, as well as one hell of a protective enchantment.

“The Jedi have respect for the living, the Sith, they respect power, no matter how they see it appearing.” Stepping foot on KorriMoraband was an interesting feeling, and the pilot immediately felt out of place.

There was the man that was approaching, and Coren’s attention changed from the world to this man. He quirked up an eyebrow and looked over at Wren. That was not a safe language, whatever it was, even less safe that Wren understood it. He nodded, waiting for more words, in something that wasn’t a cursed language.

[member="Lord Mythos"]
[member="Serena Bouie"]

 

[Darth Ren Malgus]

She hesitated for a moment in her step she could not help but smile, using telepathy she answered [member="Lord Mythos"] You mean welcome back don't you?

She looked up at Coren, "Are all Sith the same? Could not one, or two be different?" She had met only Mythos as a Sith, and Tara who had become a Sith and neither of them had ever..acted in a way that was not provoked. She never saw him in battle. Did she live in a bubble where he was concerned?

She could not help but to feel the tendrils of darkness slowly wrapping around her, slowly pulling her to its heart and reminding her of all that was offered.

"[member="Coren Starchaser"] , he's coming" She took Coren's hand and lead him on the path, "See the up there" She pointed, "That's the dig..." That was where it started..all of it.