In Search of the Devil Touched By an Angel

[Jairdain]

In the time following her grueling mental battle with the Sith Lord Lykos, Jairdain had been having interrupted sleep and even sometimes meditation. These dreams and visions would bring her from deep dreams and full meditation. The form, a man, a zabrak...Darth Lykos haunted her. This did not happen all the time and because it was never expected, she was growing worried about falling asleep or into deep meditation. Both of which she needed.

At first, she had given it very little thought thinking it was just her recovering from the battle. After a week or so of not sleeping well and having her meditations disturbed, she went to speak to the head Master in the library at the Voss temple. While she did not exactly explain her situation to the Jedi, she did tell him what she wanted. They had all heard of the battle between the Dominion Sith, Silver Jedi and the other Sith. So when Jairdain said she wanted to learn more about the culture of zabrak she fought, the gladly assisted her.

Describing the what she had seen in the vision granted to her, they quickly narrowed down what type of facial tattoo he had. It gave her a starting location on Iridonia. In the hopes of working through what are now almost mental issues, she goes in search of Lykos. Not to fight him again, she didn't feel she would survive that, but to seek a form of closure to their battle.

Landing her ship on where she feels he will be found, she waits for him to come to her.

[member="Darth Lykos"]

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

Hunched over, Lykos' entire weight was supported upon his forearms and knees as he knelt beneath the glare of the Iridonian sun. Clothed in what could only be called a loincloth, his entire scar riddled and tattoo covered torso exposed, he could keenly feel the sensation of the sunlight heating his back, warming his flesh while the sand bellow him, having been cooked under the sun since the early morning, radiated its heat against the front side of his body. Shifting ever so slightly, he could keenly feel the tiny grains of heat that were the individual grains of sand roll across his biological limbs. The sensation was not unpleasant to the Iridonian, having been a feeling he had experienced often during his youth, but it served as an anchor point. The reason behind his need for an anchor point was actually the same reason he body was hunched over as it was with his head bowed: his mind wasn't truly present.

Within the Force, Lykos' mind flowed along an ebbing thread of the Force, subtly nudging it in one direction before guiding it in a totally different direction. The technique, called Onis Fahde Meni, or Void Walking, by his people, was a technique that he had been trained to use in his youth after he had taken the title of Jath. Through slackening and unraveling the bonds the mind and soul held to the body and allowing them to be carried off into the ether - so long as a physical anchor point was maintained so that mind and soul could find their way back to their shell - the Jath could pull themselves along a single thread of the Force while manipulating it and be capable of view scenes from either across the galaxy or in a different time entirely. When lost within the Onis Fahde, they would be lost to the world, keeping a sense of what was happening around them only on the smallest of scales, but, in return for this vulnerability, Reality itself - its past, present and all possible futures - unfolded before them.

So, Lykos observed, visions flashing past his mental gaze as he wound his way around the waves of the Force. However, despite the soundless rush of the Force around him, despite the intensity with which he sought out the secrets of the galaxy, everything came across as blurred and unfocused for the usual unyielding strength of will that guided his Onis Fahde wasn't present. Incessant whispers drifted from the back of his mind, disrupting concentration and focus, originating from the scars of burning Light that had been left upon his soul since his visit to Vjun. The ever present throb of pain from those Light Scars had been haunting him since his soul had come into conflict with the soul of one Jairdain Ismet, driving his head to constantly pulse with pain, pain brought upon by incessant whispers that tore apart most attempts to slumber.

Dropping out of the Onis Fahde, eyelids fluttering slightly as he fought off the slight nausea brought on by the sudden reunification of body, mind and soul, Lykos glared down at the sand beneath him in anger. The whispers that chased his every moment had progressed to the point that the fire of the Light Scars were consuming even his personal form of meditation, his Onis Fahde Meni. That fact suddenly solidified within his mind and a spark of rage illuminated his amber gaze while a sneer twisted at his lips. Soon, that rage blossomed into an explosive roar that, empowered by the Force itself, leading to a billowing cloud of sand to be forced up into the air around him.

Panting from the sudden surge of adrenaline, Lykos allowed his rage to settle down from a burning inferno to a river of frozen water. Grunting in slight annoyance, Lykos pushed himself back from his hunched over position to rest upon his knees solely as he brought his biological hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose as the incessant pain behind his eyes flared for a moment. However, that annoyance soon stopped as Lykos realised that, for the first time, the pulsating headache seemed to be resonating with something that was beginning to brush against his Force Sense; a Force Presence, to be precise.

A low chuckle would fall from his lips. "Now, why have you come, little bird?"

The question that he had first asked himself would soon be repeated as Lykos emerged from the shadows cast by the towering structure of stone and rock behind him, still bereft of the majority of clothing, as the howling of the wind rushed across the sun brushed landscape, kicking up sand and dust as the heat continued to bare down with an intensity that matched the intensity of Lykos' stare at Jairdain. It was only because of the echoing sensations reaching from the Light Scars that Lykos' hand was stayed, sensations that spoke of Jairdain's purpose to invade upon his home.

Pacing around her, feeling the loose grains of sand roll beneath his feet and curiosity swelling within his chest, he spoke again. "Be warned, Zirial," the word, Ul'Zabrak for Sparrow, was pronounced Zer-ee-al, "your survival does depend heavily upon your answer."


[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Jairdain had known where he would find her and that he did. While she had not expected he would be so near when she picked her landing location. Their fight had brought them closer together in many more ways than she had ever been with anybody. That may have been the reason her choice had been so accurate. The dark spark he had left within her called to him and through that she connection had found Lykos.

He came out from a pillar of stone at odds with the desert landscape around it. Her ship almost dwarfed by its height. The sun beat down on it, but not on her. She welcomed the light and the heat, given time and too much though and it would be a danger. Right now, she was safe and did not fear getting ill. The dust of the area and sand flew around her, but it did not bother her.

She knew what he looked like having been granted vision while they fought. Her parents faces were a memory and he had met them. This too was shared with her then. A form in the Force now only stalked around her. Lykos had come.

He would sense no anger or hostility directed at him, only her own feeling of calm and security. Jairdain stood up and faced one that could be considered an enemy. They were not meeting in battle though and that made this different. Until the moment came, she was here in peace. She wore a serene almost smile on her face as she looked at the sith for the first time in person.

Giving him a small bow of respect before breaking her silence, "Lord Lykos." Jairdain had learned since Vjun that she had fought a Lord of the Sith and would treat him with the proper respect. Their ideals may not agree with one another, she hoped they could converse and not come to fighting. "You are why I have come."

While she knew it wasn't wise to allow an opponent to get behind her, Jairdain allowed him to circle. She did not want to give him the idea she was here to fight. Far from it, she wanted to only speak with him. Through the Force, she watched him move. Graceful as a bird in flight and as deadly as a wolf on the ground.

[member="Darth Lykos"]

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

A rumbling growl of annoyance would escape from the Zabrak's throat as Jairdain bowed to him. How he hated simpering sycophants that bowed and doggedly stuck to the side of those above them in power, instead of bettering themselves, instead of partaking in the great game of evolution and reaching out to grasp power, they assumed that because they bowed and whimpered in the presence of those above them, they somehow stood within a sphere of influence. And, for Lykos, that hatred extended to bows even outside of those situations. Yes, some of his fellow Sith demanded people bow to them, but they were either the ones that delighted and breaking people before them, taunting them, or, they were the kind that Lykos despised: those that came upon their strength through accident and now used the bows of others to stroke their egos, to sooth their worries and justify to themselves that they deserved their power.

Still, he did not speak out against Jairdain bowing to him. Why would he? He had no need to reveal to her his opinions, no need to speak to her beyond the little he would need to. His silence would be held, broken only when necessary and not for a word more, for, after all, in the end she was still the enemy; albeit one he would be confident in fighting, especially considering the fact that she had wandered into his den, his domain.

Letting the silence between them once more return after the Jedi's final words, feeling no embarrassment or awkwardness as the air grew heavy from his quiet, he continued to pace around the still form of Jairdain - practiced eased meaning that no sound came from his footfalls upon dry sand. Sniffing sharply, Lykos scented the air as the circle he had been pacing grew a tiny bit shorter as he stepped a tiny bit closer to the Jedi. Jairdain's scent, carried easily upon the wind, assaulted his senses and he took a moment to ensure that he memorised it before beginning to analyse it.

'Little amount of adrenaline. Sweat nominal for someone not used to the climate. If she is lying or nervous, she is hiding it well. Interesting.'

Huffing slightly, Lykos drew to a stop before Jairdain, the distance between the pair barely five meters in length as, in silence, they stood beneath the shadow of the stone monolith behind them; one staring at and examining the facial features of the other whole the second saw nothing apart from what they gazed at through the Force. Eventually, however, the thick, gravelly voice of the Zabrak would shatter the silence as he spoke lowly and quietly; enough so that his words would be barely audible over the soft howl of the wind and would cause Jairdain to strain to hear him.

"You bow to me, Zirial? I wonder what your Masters, those that hold your chains, would say to that? A Jedi, sublimated their dignity out of what? Fear of reprisal? Of death? But then I thought 'There Is No Death'?" As he quoted the Jedi Code, his tone would become twisted and mocking, followed by a harsh rasp of a chuckle before he would speak again, his voice once more cold and stoic. "So what would you have to be afraid of? Hm? Or is it that you, subconsciously, despite the dogma you Jedi preach, recognise the strength of the Dark? And, through that, Passion? Did you consdier why you chose to bow when meeting me, Zirial?

"But, no matter. You did not come to discuss the mind, surely. You came for me, after all. So why?" He would hold up a hand to fall stall an answer out of habit, but the sensation of 'Do Not Answer' would be broadcasted clearly through the Force. "I can only assume that Vjun brings you to me as that is the only time we have interacted and yet you search for me. Is it your parents that drive your quest? Ah, but what am I saying, you Jedi have no attachments - 'There Is No Emotion'," again the mocking came, "so of course, you would not be Jedi if that was the case. So, that means you suffer as I do, yes? Our meeting of the soul left an effect on you also?" Lykos held no reservation about revealing that he too was suffering, it was a needed sacrifice of information. "How novel. And I thought you lot preached that the Light overcomes Dark."

​Rolling, raw chuckles would echo off of the stone monolith and into the empty void of the desert. It was enjoyable, he had to admit, to begin to pick apart his Zirial's reasoning behind her visit, after all, it was always amusing to see evidence that those that follow the Light do not acknowledge how hypocritical they are.


[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Jairdain could tell her bow of respect even if it just a small one at least irritated Lykos as he let low growl at her. Why she did not know and he kept his opinion to himself. Though they believed in different ideals, the bow was simply a sign of respect.

She watched and waited in the silence after speaking. Though he made no sound, Jairdain could see where he moved. The atmosphere around them was not one of any tenseness, just heavy. He was making his observations of her as he circled her. Each rotation brought him a little closer. He stopped in front of her and even then remained silent.

The arid wind blew her hair behind her and violet eyes would appear to be looking at Lykos. They both knew this was a false impression as she was physically blind. This being the case, allowed her use her other physical senses better than somebody that could see. The smells of the planet, borne on the wind filled her nose. The sounds of nature brought a touch of curiosity to her ears. In a different time and situation, she would want to indulge in that, but that was not why she was here. Her reason for being here was the man in front of her.

When he spoke, his words were low and quiet, the wind almost stealing them away before they reached her ears. The carefully chosen message may have meant to be taunting. She got the impression everything Lykos said or did all had a purpose. Maybe he meant to make her angry by challenging the beliefs of the Jedi. Little did he know she actually grew up differently and had the ideals of her people still. Well, he knew where she was from, but not what ideals were taught there. She chose not to reveal all of them to him, they were not the purpose for her being here.

A calm façade met his words and inside Jairdain there was consideration as she very carefully picked her own response. She held no fear at this conversation or of him. He would feel no sense of argument emanating from her. No anger or hostility either. Lykos continued to almost assault Jairdain with questions as to why she would come searching for him. Bringing into them more of the code the Jedi followed. A small and almost bitter smile crossed her face for moment to be replaced by her calm demeanor. Her voice was quiet as well, but would be heard over the breeze blowing past and between them.

"I bow to show respect, not because I fear you or fear that you would lash out if I didn't. I'm not here to feed an ego that doesn't deserve it, it is almost an honor to actually speak with you. When have you heard me preach of the ideals and code of the Jedi?"

Placing her hands behind her back and standing straight, her voice and body filled with her own conviction and beliefs. Those of her people, not the Jedi. She did not voice them to him nor would she. They were for her alone to know and follow.

"Nobody holds chains to me," that wasn't entirely true and he would likely pick up on that, but for the purpose of this conversation about ideals, it was the truth. "You speak quite often of the Jedi code, drag it through the dirt and dispute what it says. You are correct, Lord Lykos, I am not here to talk about codes or beliefs."

Briefly pausing in her words, he would feel both sorrow and joy coming from her before she spoke again. A slight nod was seen by him if he was paying attention and a small sigh escaped her mouth. For him to admit she had a lasting effect on him came as a surprise, but she kept that hidden. Jairdain knew she had injured him in as much the same way as he had her. Both of them had come out of the battle scarred, but not broken. Wounded, not disabled.

The Knight took a small step closer to him and could have almost touched him if she reached out. It would have felt natural to do so, but she maintained her physical distance only that single step closer.

"That day on Vjun, you gave me both a gift and a curse." She raised a hand to her head and placing it to the side of her eyes. "The gift of actually having vision for a short time while we fought and the curse of a scar within my mind."

Another nod happened after she spoke her words in agreement with those of Lykos. Their souls, the light and dark had met and breeched the other. They had become entwined and met on an intimate level. The baring of their souls happened that day. Their true forms revealed to the other and Jairdain felt that even after today, they would be forever bound. United through the Force, connected by a bond so deep that she doubted it would ever go away.

Giving him a true and honest smile she would speak again and raise one of her eye brows.

"Come now, when have you heard me preach?" It wasn't asked in a serious manner, but if he chose to answer, Jairdain would listen to what he had to say. She did not join him in his laughter, but he would tell his words did not bother her as it might have somebody else.
​
[member="Darth Lykos"]

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

When Lykos' chuckles faded and he turned to listening to Jairdain's replies to his words and pokes at her title of Jedi, Lykos presented an aura of casual disinterest within the Force and through his body language as he called upon a mask to do so, a persona built upon a single emotion through Quey'tek Meditation. However, the disinterest that Jairdain would feel would not come close to the truth. For, behind that mask, that false emotion being broadcaster into the Force and body language - an ultimately useless attempt considering the Jedi's blindness but something that the Assassin preformed out of habit more than anything - the Zabrak was examining every word spoken, everything left unsaid and his Zirial's emotions within the Force, searching, as he constantly was in any conversation, for a weak point to strike upon as well as the strong points to catalog.

As such, a new sense of amusement soon began to smolder within him. After all, it was not every day that one encountered a Jedi who did not seem to stake much pride within the Order they had sworn themselves to nor to the code that they so religiously and zealously followed. Either she was a Jedi who stood at odds with her own Order or the Code itself, although he had not perceived any such opinion or strife during the time he had peered directly into the core of her being, or, more likely considering the insight about her he had achieved on Vjun, she simply held a different Code, allowed a separate creed to guide her within the Light.

That fact and the fact that when she had spoke of being held down by no chain he had felt that the statement itself was only a half truth was what settled the decision within Lykos' mind. He had proven he could overwhelm her mentally or gift her the gift of sight within his mind, he had set that score already and now, due to the bond they felt, it would be infinitely more easier to inflict the same intrusion again and with his curiosity raised by what was left unspoken within her words, Lykos would permanently still his hand against his little Zireal unless in battle.

Breaking out of his musing, only subconciously recognising that silence had been the answer to Jairdain's lighthearted question for close to half a minuet as he let the false Quey'tek persona fall, Lykos would act as the Jedi had not. His hand would raise across that small gap that she had left so that a single fingertip would run along Jairdain's jaw, thick and ruff skin catching slightly on much smoother and less weathered skin. As this contact was made, she would hear, once more, Lykos' voice within her mind, however, unlike the last time on Vjun, his mental representation of his voice was much more softer, carrying a sense of curiosity and even slight possessiveness. For, now, within Lykos' mind, she was his intriguing Jedi to investigate, let along the one that he was now platonically - for he felt no stirring within his chest at her scent meaning that it was impossible for him to react to her as a Mate would - Force Bound to.

"You are certainly an interesting one."

Breaking the contact that he had initiated, Lykos turned, gesturing without physically doing so but through a slight tug at their Bond for Jairdain to follow after him. As he did so, his voice would float over his shoulder, at his standard volume and, as such, louder than when he had spoke just before. "I suppose, Zireal, that that is true. I have not heard you preach before. You must truly be an anomaly among your people, yes? Now, you are within my land, so, you are now a ward of the Clan and it would not do for me to spurn tradition and manners, no?" While no emotion could be felt from the Zabrak through the Force, the sound of humour equaling the lightheartedness of the question just answer could be heard within his voice.


[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

After speaking, the silence between the Knight and Lord stretched out. It was at least half a minute before Lykos spoke and even then it was only in her mind. His hand came up to break the physical distance between them and a single rough finger touched her cheek. While his skin was more weathered than that of her face, its touch was almost gentle and tender. She closed her eyes though she didn't need to do that to asses how it made her feel. It was not a romantic touch and it did not effect Jairdain in that manner, but it was almost just as intimate. Like the day on Vjun, their souls open to the other with no romance involved, but the heat of battle. The intimate connection between them mentally was formed that day and today, a physical one. No matter where their respective futures went, they would forever be a part of each other.

At his mental comment, she would open her eyes, his touch leaving her cheek to again gaze at the sith. She made him curious and somehow possessive of her. Though there was nothing romantic between them and that made her curious about that within him. This would clearly carry across both the connection between them and the Force. There was no reason for her to hide this from him. His previous façade of disinterest faded, but she could still feel no real emotion of his through the Force.

Lykos broke the physical connection and turned away from her, beckoning her to follow him. As he walked away, he spoke over his shoulder, answering her twice asked question on if he had ever heard her preach. With a half smile, Jairdain would indeed follow him around the base of the rock spire. He called her an anomaly among her people, but her people were no more so in a way she was an anomaly alone.

When he extended that he considered her to be a ward of the clan, she knew she would be safe from both him and any of his people around. From now on, unless they engaged in battle, no violence would occur between them. Even if he couldn't admit it, she felt this to be a sign of a form of respect from him. Manners and tradition were important rituals in many ways and she would honor what he offered and fell into step behind him.

Speaking quietly and almost neutral, though the curiosity would still be felt by him, "I myself am an anomaly, Lykos. Eraton is gone and I am the last of my people." When he had been there, she had been a child and was gone before its destruction. Very likely he didn't even know. "My own traditions will likely go with to my grave, but manners I will pass on if I am able to."

When they had battled, he would seen her connection to two people. Both potential futures for her and any children she might have with them.

[member="Darth Lykos"]

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

Leading Jairdain around the base of the spire of rock, Lykos hummed in acknowledgement to her words as he stepped from the shade and into the direct light of the sun, almost relishing the immediate feeling of intense warmth that he had grown up experiencing throughout his childhood. Before them now stretched the desert plains of Iridonia, burnt and scorched, dry and starved of water and, yet, as Jairdain would stare out at what he could see with his eyes through the eyes given to her by the Force, she would feel life and energy running through the sands as the residents of Iridonia, those that were birthed by Ath and had managed to survive the harsh craddle that she had set them in and those that had proven that they deserved to live, would scurry within the sands.

​Grains of the heated sand scratching at his bared feet, the wear of his soles protecting him from the heat of the sand, Lykos expertly and gracefully paced across the desert, the loose sands that would sometimes slip beneath his footfalls doing nothing to hnder his progress as each near-stumbled transitioned into an effortless recovery. He had trained, sweated bled and gritted his teeth until his gums ached throughout his youth and now the effort he had put into his training, for both Res'selenoren and to become a part of the upper levels of the food chain of Iridonia, was now being shown as he prowled his way across lands that were now his under his reign as Patriarch.

"It is a shame," his words would follow on the tail of her final ones, leaving almost no silence between them, his voice much more at ease even if it still carried the emotionless tinge that he commonly spoke with, "that Eraton was lost. Now that I am more stable, at a greater understanding of who am I and who I am to become, I might have quite liked to return. For one, I must admit that I much prefer locations where nature can be seen, not sprawling cities. With nature before you you get to see the basic rules of the Galaxy play out before you, the strong consuming the weak, with no interface from society born reservations. I would have quite liked to have studied the Dark on Eraton."

He paused for a moment, slowing his long strides so that Jairdain could walk closer to him, before resuming both his prowling walk and words. "You see, I do like to investigate the Dark, not Sorcery or Alchemy or any other expression of it, but the Dark itself, that which is woven within the Force and Reality itself. To divinate its secrets. Imagine what could have been unraveled on a planet where to reach out to it, to surrender yourself to it as equally as it does to you. The relaxation of chains and limitation, the shrugging off of subjection to conformity and acceptance of unshackled freedom that the Dark grants. I imagine that that leaves an interesting reflection upon the Dark. But, then, what of those executed? Do they, in their final moment, try to repent for what the populous saw as Sin, revert to conformity? Or did they fully embrace the Dark in that final moment. The secrets that could have been revealed in my study would have been fascinating."

Lykos possessed no hesitance in what he spoke, saw no need to hide. For, in the end, other than the fact that he studied the Dark and the speculation of what he might have tried to study, he had revealed no secrets. He had given any no great insight into his person other than, maybe, the fact that he was somewhat of a scholar despite his brutish and scarred appearance. "But, alas, that opportunity is gone. Leaving you alone..." His final word trailed off into an amused hum.



[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Jairdain fell into step behind Lykos as he lead the way around the spire and out of the shade it provided. The heat hit her like a freight train, but there was life in this "dead" desert in front of them. The life was different, but it was there. She wasn't given much time to observe as Lykos strode on, out into the sands.

His feet were secure on his path and he moved easily across the sands. Jairdain on the other hand wasn't quite as smooth in her walk and while she never fell, she did stumble around a bit as the sand attempted to make her fall. It didn't irritate the Jedi or upset her in any way. A new location took time to get used to and she hoped that by the time she left, she would handle the sands better. Not as well as her companion did though.

He spoke as soon as she finished, continuing their conversation. His voice more at ease, but not showing much expression. Mentioned the fact her home wasn't one of the sprawling city planets. With nature more allowed to take its natural course and she understood this. She didn't see it as something dark or light related though.

Lykos paused to allow her the opportunity to catch up with him. He then continued both walking and speaking to her. About his observations and wishing her planet was still around so he could return and investigate the Dark there. Mentioning what her people did to those Force users that went destructive and if they tried to repent before they died. Having witnessed an execution of one while he was there. Those were done by the council and only when a person went down that path after they graduated from the school were executions held within towns. It was likely this was how he witnessed one.

"There is no feeling of dark or light within the course of nature to me. The strong don't seek to bully the weak in an dark way. They don't go out of their way to crush them. Once they have gained victory, they let the weak go on or die as nature would intend.
"The ones executed that I personally witnessed never repented and stayed the way they were until the end. There was no chance at redemption given to them and once they went that direction, they never came back."

She nodded at his last comment and had a sad smile on her face. His words were true, she was the last of her people and that left her alone in the galaxy. He was the last of his tribe. In that aspect, they both understood the loss of their people.

"We all face times of being alone. You have been through such a similar loss as well though."

[member="Darth Lykos"]