In The Sands

[Darth Ferus]

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Once more to the sandy depths the red man went. But this time, he had a goal. [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] was to meet him on the dunes for an almost final confrentation. He had no idea what went on within her head, only that a message for her to meet him on this planet would be delivered. A top one of the many dunes in the Dune Sea the Zabrak stood. In his hands, Vrasjyme, his Sith Spear. The very tip exuded the darkside like drool from the mouth of a Rancor. ​

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The field before him was empty, sands billowing over sand in the light breezes all across the surface. It was barren as ever. But behind him was a slew of Sand People bodies. Torn asunder, it was clear the Darth had enjoyed his warm up. The hunting party had been no match for the Sith Lord, and Vrasjyme had enjoyed it's taste of blood. But it was not the blood the red man was looking for. Here he would await his opponent, gripping the songsteel shaft of his blade with his left flesh hand. She had better not keep him waiting.​

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[member="Kyra Moonwood"]​

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

That dream was still fresh in her mind. She had changed, grew, learned more about herself from their last two encounters, both physical and ethereal. The Zabrak told her to meet him on Tatooine. But why? Did he simply wish to mock her once more? Or did he plan to finally attempt to kill her? She knew he had plenty of secrets and tricks up his sleeve, while she had revealed a great number of her own, though he knew much of her deep personal feelings and anxieties. Things he could use in the future to force that dream to reality. Would he? Perhaps he would.

The Twi'lek, having grown internally from that prior event, now covered in facial markings and a new resolution would make her way to Tatooine in her A-Type Stiletto starship. While she was unsure of where to find Krest, she knew it wouldn't take long to sniff him out of whatever crevice he was slinking about in. He wanted her here for something, so it would only be a matter of time before he located the prize he was looking for. A short time passed once she entered the atmosphere of the sand planet, touching down in the star port on Mos Espa. She wasn't particularly fond of Tatooine, with its rampant slave trade and lack of anything resembling city life.

Her mind would stretch out, calling toward the Sith as she wandered about, letting the man sense her presence. I'm here. What do you want of me this time?

[member="Darth Ferus"] | [member="Kyra Moonwood"]

 

[Kyra Moonwood]

She had sensed the life-force of someone nearby, a strange occurrence when one is on the Dune Seas of Tatooine. The life-force itself was quite a powerful one and was coupled with the presence of the dark side. She kept far off, far enough to be able to see the figure on the horizon but the presence that it gave off did not make it hard to track. Curiosity was a fickle thing but what else was there to do in a desert under the blazing hot suns.
..Strange, another presence was vaguely near Kyra could barely sense it. Perhaps these two were to meet, or it may be just another coincidence in the events of the universe.

[member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] had certainly taken her time. Ferus, now sitting on that very dune hill he was once standing on, had a bored expression on his face. She wasn't even close to him yet, and the bodies of the sand people behind him had been buried. Now only the occasional Gaderffii in the sand itself was all that was left. Letting his dark presence be felt far and wide, he would call to the pink Twi'lek, a single sentence all she would find as her answer.

"Come to me." This, however, went to [member="Kyra Moonwood"] as well. He did not know the girl, but there was a grin on his face as he felt someone new. Perhaps another student to be had? When they got here, it would all be known.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Cambrian Jedi indeed took her time. Rushing straight in to another confrontation with the most powerful Sith she'd ever witnessed was not something she was going to take lightly. The man invaded her dreams and nearly killed her on Onderon. No, she would take the safe and timely way this time. If nothing else, she learned to pace herself going forward. So with the passing of a few credits she was lent a speeder to traverse out of the city and into the Dune Sea. An endless expanse of sand and heat, with the occasional passage of a dessert creature to gaze upon.

As she continued onwards she felt the presence of the red man, out in the distance, and heard his message. She would erect a barrier in her mind and prevent further intervention, and focused on clearing her mind, masking her Force Signature as she had been taught by Jedi Master Kian Karr not long ago so that the Zabrak would not have a pinpoint detail as to where she was. However as she grew ever nearer to the destination she was to meet this foul Sith lord she felt another presence. It seemed...Confused almost. Lost? Perhaps. She wasn't sure.

Moments later she halted the speeder. [member="Darth Ferus"] stood just on the horizon. Stepping off she would slowly begin to walk towards the figure. A fiery determination in her eyes unlike anything she'd ever felt. This time however, there was no anger, no rage, no hatred. She simply wanted to stop this man from harming anyone else. He was a monster that had to be stopped, lest the galaxy suffer from further darkness.

[member="Kyra Moonwood"]

 

[Kyra Moonwood]

"Come to me." It was a voice for sure, it did not come from any source that Kyra could sense but it gave off a certain signature similar to that of the man in the distance. Sure she could come, but not before the other one arrives. A twi'lek arriving in a speeder, the other presence which she could only now begin to see.
She started approaching, to watch how they would interact and perhaps be close enough to grab the speeder if needs be.
Conveniently enough the twi'lek herself was separating from the speeder quite willingly too, give Kyra enough room for an escape route if required. Confident that it would work out fine she started moving towards the duck between the dunes which themselves were soon o be between the speeder and it's owner.
[member="Darth Ferus"]
[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] [member="Kyra Moonwood"]

As the pink woman finally came into site the Zabrak let out a sigh. It had certainly taken her some time to get here. Pushing himself up though, the red man would pull free the spear in the ground, turning it so the blade was pointed at her. "You almost bored me enough to make me wanna find a poor family and slaughter them or something." It was a joke, if in bad taste, but he wasn't here to care about her feelings. "Shall we get to it now?"

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera's eyes rolled at the snarky comment. "Don't worry I'm sure you've slaughtered plenty of helpless people this week. Perhaps next time, if there is a next time for you, you'll not wait out in the desert for someone who may or may not show up." She continued approaching even as he pointed his mighty spear towards her. "Shall we get to it? What? No dramatic speech about the glory of the Sith?"

Her arms waved about above and in front of her head as she spoke, prodding the man sarcastically. "No more sneaking about whispering in my ear? No further attempts to make me Sith? That's all I get? Lets do this?" The Jedi's cheeks puffed out and a disappointed sigh. "Well, here I am Red, come and claim your prize." The girl smirked. She was fairly certain he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to engage her, especially with her weapons not yet being drawn. He was an opportunist, and if he wanted to kill her today, he'd likely waste no time in getting to the nitty gritty of it .

[member="Darth Ferus"] | [member="Kyra Moonwood"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

With a slight grin the red man's spear would flick back downwards, held in his hand as he looked over her form. So she was looking for a speech? Wasn't that what the dream was for? She had her chance to either join him, die, or run, but she had at least made her choice known to him. Humming lightly, Ferus wouldn't speak any more, just stand at the top of the hill. His spear however would begin to crack with lightning. The tip, made of Sith Steel, would absorb this, and it was clear he was charging the weapon itself.

But that's not even where his attention was. His attention was on her. Well, her left arm. Bracer in fact. Quietly he would stare at the metal band. Something was off about him though. His presence in the force was gone, as if it had simply shrunk away. Yet he made no move for combat. If she wanted to speak however, she was more than welcome to. For now, he would just focus on that lovely left handed bracer of hers. Mostly the chemical make up though, the one he was changing as fast as he could into something far more explosive. Such was the way of Art Of The Small though.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Nothing? Just gonna stand there and play with your electrical stick? Fine then. Have it your way.

With a flash of speed Sera would use the Force to carry her body at ironically speaking lightning speed toward [member="Darth Ferus"]. As she approached the dune where the man stood practicing his statue pose, the Cambrian would call forth a single saber into her right hand, igniting it as she drew ever closer to the single most despicable entity she had ever encountered in her 24 years of life. With her free hand she would transfer the kinetic energy from her legs to slow herself into the palm of her hand as a defensive shield. Should Krest unleash an electrical or ranged attack the girl would have at least an opportunity to deflect or negate his energy.

With her saber arm she would feign a slash towards the red man's stomach, and as she drew close would reverse the blade's direction in her hand, and redirect and pivot the blade back behind him, so as to strike his lower spine in a horizontal fashion.

 

[Kyra Moonwood]

The Zabrak's dark presence was receding ultimately disappearing, but his life force still remained. That was the thing about all creatures, they all possessed their life-force, those who trained in what was called "The Force" just strengthened their connection to their life force. Making them all the more delectable whenever Kyra ever felt a little peckish. The problem always was though that they were always more dangerous than the rest but Kyra was willing to wait for when she was able to be open to a new course of meals.
The red man stood still, even with all hostility shown he did not act offensively. Perhaps he was the more confident of the two or insightful enough to counterattack. At least if a fight were to break out she was close enough to the speeder now to make a run for it.
[member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

His gaze shifted rather quickly to [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] as a whole as she began to move. Rather than move from his spot though, the red man decided sitting still was his best idea. No longer channeling the force into his spear, Ferus would instead channel it into his limbs. As she got close, a faint grin would form on his face. She always seemed to want to come running in.

A repulse would explode outwards, and rather suddenly he would go to blow away not only her, but the sand around his form. With a grin, he would practically be floating above where the sand once was. This was a temporary effect as he would drop slowly back to the ground, and with a light twist of his wrist the red man would wait to see how effective his blast was before moving.

[member="Kyra Moonwood"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Not this time, Red.

The Repulse erupted forth as she closed the gap, sending sand and dust into the air in all directions, the wave of Force energy radiating outwards like ripples in the ocean, but she would not be deterred. This was her forte, and a bit of telekinetic energy would not be her undoing this time. With her free hand she directed the energy already radiating through her and poured a vast influx more into the palm of her hand, releasing a monstrous Force Blast to cut through the center of the Repulse, carving a straight and narrow path 20-30 meters in front of her and behind Krest, leaving the Twi'lek standing as she had been moments ago while the Sith dropped slowly back to his position.

Normally she would speak in the small lull of the action, but not anymore, not to him. She had learned her lesson back on Onderon, and would give him no chance to pause or back away. Instead she moved in again, activating her secondary saber as she slashed with her right handed blade across his midsection, cautious of both Cortosis limbs this time. With the other saber active she would feign a slash for his Cortosis laced arm, but instead of colliding with it, would deactivate the blade and instead thrust a powerful Force Push towards him to try and knock him off balance.

[member="Kyra Moonwood"]

 

[Kyra Moonwood]

The woman had leap forward at a surprisingly fast rate alongside the activation of her weapons it appeared too. Dashing in she was met with a powerful pulse of energy throwing sand is every direction. Kyra had just enough time to pull her head under the dune to dodge the incoming blast. She heard another powerful blast again and once looking up saw that the twi'lek had released a wall of air into the zabrak and blowing clear any sand up to a distance behind. Seemingly taking advantage of her situation the twi'lek had too reengaged with her blades. A dangerous group of people these bunch are...
[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] [member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Settling back onto the ground, the grin on the red mans face would only become much more genuine. [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] had been proving herself again and again within just the beginning of this fight, and it was just a thrill for the Zabrak. Of course, he already knew the female knew about his cortosis limbs, and he would be quick to defend the limbs like he would his own flesh and blood. His body would slide back from the first strike, and his spear shaft would go about to catch the second blade, kept in both hands.

But instead he was met with a push. Sliding back in his defensive position, he would have to bite his heels forcibly into the sand to stop his forced retreat. Now a slight distance away though, he would rip out his spear, gripping it near the lower end to swing the bladed end between him and her. It's superior reach would be utilized now, and the blade itself would go to strike at her chest.

[member="Kyra Moonwood"]

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The caution and determination in Sera's eyes was clear. Every move she made was now calculated and focused. She had well learned from Onderon, a broken arm had a way of teaching a few valuable lessons about rushing head on into things. The spear he was now wielding had a massive reach on it, and was surely resistant to llightsabers, but was it also another Cortosis trick? She couldn't be sure, but she had to get in closer to make the spear unusable. At a distance it was easy to manipulate, but closer towards the shaft would be nothing more than a staff.

Her left arm would slash toward the incoming swipe of the Vrasjyme, using her own kinetic energy to halt the direction of the spear, while she twisted inwards toward [member="Darth Ferus"]. As she got closer her right arm would thrust quickly toward his side, while her left hand, once released from the spear would follow forward, the blade reversing in her hand to face away defensively while her fist aimed to make contact with the Zabrak directly against his nose.

[member="Kyra Moonwood"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Rather suddenly the red man would release his spear as [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] decided to roll in. An odd tactic for sure, but there was a reason to his seeming madness. The weapon itself would continue to float, gripped with a telekinetic arm of Ferus's own. But it was his other two hands that were more of a focus. Channeling into his limbs themselves, he would use the same ability utilized to make an item lightsaber resistant on his flesh.

His right hand would come around to slam his flesh arm against her own saber, intent on smashing her saber away. His left hand would remain at his side though, he channeling the force through it to hold up the spear itself. But this would leave him open to the sudden punch to the face, and his connection to his weapon would sever, causing the spear to drop to the sand below. Ferus would stumble back a step or two, but he would be quick to regain his composure and bring up his hands again.

Gripping at his staff, he would lift the blade up with the Force, and he would use it to have the spear itself slash at her back. All the while his right hand would play the defense, a small grin on his face. Not often did he have to use the Force in this way, and it excited him.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Telekinetic weapon fighting? Hmph.

As [member="Darth Ferus"] began to employ a tactic to withstand her strikes, seemingly blocking her saber with bare flesh, the blade would slide harmlessly away from the red man, though upon return her fist would make contact with his face. An umistakable sound of knuckles colliding against facial bones could be heard, and the deep grin of satisfaction in returning the favor she received back on Onderon was nearly palpable. If nothing else, that hit would remain in her memory for the rest of her life, however long or short it was.

While Krest lost his momentary solid footing and stepped back a pace, she would move in again, her left hand carving a V shape down and up towards his body while the right hand twirled into a reverse grip, her lekku warning her of an imminent attack towards her back where Ferus' spear now levitated once more, making a strike towards her. With a quick shift of her positioning the two blades would collide, eliciting a loud crack and pop. The Zabrak now essentially had three weapons and she was at the disadvantage there. The Cambrian was now permanently faced with a single offensive and defensive saber unless she managed to keep his focus off of the spear.

Adaptation was required to counter-balance this, and so once the spear was deflected away from her in the spare moment she had she would twist and twirl that hand back and thrust it forward, releasing a wealth of energy in another attempt to bind Krest as if in the grip of a mighty python before it devoured its' prey. She would tighten the grip as much as possible, nearly to the point of suffocation but not quite, enough to induce a moderate amount of panic if she succeeded, to break his focus on the telekinetic spear once more and bind him in place. If that were within her power, then and only then would she speak two words to him. "Concede, Sith."

[member="Kyra Moonwood"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Ferus kept up with her, still using his arm to deflect [member="Seraphina Shel'tah"] 's sabers as they cut at him. For now, he kept the Spear itself on the back burner, letting the one attack he did be it for the moment. Rather, he was focused on her. Especially after he deflected her attack and she went instead to grip his form. A sick thought traveled through his plan as another idea began to form. Once more he would let the spear drop, but this time it was on purpose. Her grip prevented him from moving, but not from using the Force.

His signature, small as ever, would remain as such as she spoke. His gaze once more traveled to her left wrist, and with the straightest face he could muster he would once more go about changing the bracer into a small bomb. But this time he would speak back, intent on distracting her long enough to complete his little side task.

"Concede? Now why would I do that? You and I both know you're here to kill me, not to capture. Is that not correct?" He was trying to taunt her as he did before. But this time, he was preparing for if she charged in, or if she stayed still. One side focused on the bracer, the other ready to form a wall of fire to intercept. His ever signature grin would widen as he felt the pressure on his form, he simply loving how angry she was.

"You will never be true Jedi."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Cambrian was all too used to his trickery and mind games at this point. Her desire for him to concede was not so that she could kill him, but to prove that she was the truest Jedi he would ever meet. He would respect her, she would claim that from him whether he wished it or not. And so as he glanced down at her hand her eyes caught a glimpse of his momentary shift in focus, appearing not to struggle against her grip as he had so many times in the past. Odd. Which means he's planned something. Rather than wait for him to act again she simply ignored the Zabrak's attempt to get a rise out of her.

With the man secured in her grasp she would throw back her right hand and send forth a Force Blast, simultaneously as she released the grip on him, intending to knock him back and stumble over on to the soft sand beneath his footing. With both sabers called to her hands she would close the distance and attempt to lock his chest down against the grains with her left leg as she hovered the left saber directly above his face, merely inches away, while the other would be directed at his midsection.

Her forest green eyes burned with a fiery determination to best him. She wanted him dead, so badly she wanted him dead. But he was much more valuable as a prisoner. There was no saving someone this corrupt from their darkness, so she would not even offer it to him.

[member="Darth Ferus"]