Lost Embrace

[Jsc]

Grandmaster's Chamber,
Lothal Hidden Temple

It was a quiet night among the endless fields of Lothal. The Jedi Temple sat peacefully slumbering in it's deep roots. Nearer the surface, a singular living chamber had gone undisturbed for quite some time. Yet tonight it's doorway stood open. The lingering lights of the hallway peering into the quiet room. Watching the shadows flicker.

Corvus Raaf had disappeared. And here, in her bedroom, in the middle of the night; another missing person was searching. Karen Roberts of Denon. Recently thought assassinated by Republic Clones on this very planet. Yet it was not so. Roberts had destroyed her assailants and fled to Sanctum Space. Hoping to wait out whatever troubles the Republic was having on Chazwa. Clones, companies, and all.

"That's strange. All the documents are here. She didn't even bother to hide them? Everything is just as she left it. This cup is still cold. Sitting by her bedside."

Karen frowned as she moved her small flashlight about the room. Cloaked in a black catsuit and wearing naught but a brown cloak. She appeared almost a Jedi and even more the cunning thief. For Roberts dared not be seen alive by any of the Temple Staff. Not after the GA had taken the planet. Not after a spy had given her away.

"Oh my? But what is this?"

More among her intimate objects and desk-side trophies there lay a silver jewelry stand. Enclosed in a perfectly engraved glass case.

"Oh my..."

Expertly displayed were three small objects. A perfectly cut pink Pontite crystal, a gold ring with an ebony stone, (and a potent Darkside Aura,) as well as a slender silver necklace that seemed to sing to Karen's eyes. No. Not sing. Charm. A charmed necklace. A necklace that none other than [member="Braith Achlys"] had made for Corvus. Oh my, indeed.

Alas. Karen did not have time to discover which of these artifacts was the one she had come to collect. There was noise in the hallways had she did not have time to choose.

"Drats!"

So the blue-haired thief grabbed all of the artifacts and disappeared back into her invisibility cloak. Carefully slipping out the door and creeping outwards. Back into the night.


___

The Tarmac
Only a moment later...

A heliport nestled amongst the endless waves of grain. Dark now but for the moon. A single black Interceptor lay waiting for her. Not far from the underground exit to the hidden Temple. Karen had almost made her escape.

"Good. Now. Let's see what we've got."

She cast off her cloak and knelled down to sort her new belongings. Three special objects she had looted from the Jedi Temple with great care. The crystal she hid in her boot. The ring she kept in her pocket. Both safe and firmly sound. So now, she withdrew the necklace and held it up to the light. Standing up and peering closer still. Mm. A strong silver string glowing in the moonlight. Forged from magic and from love. Like a magical serpent clutching it's tail. Almost hungry for red blood.

"Well well well. ...What have we here?"

Encapsulated by it's beauty, Karen stood easily under the moon. Could this slender gift be the sacred object she had been sent here to recover? Was this the secret Keystone that Corvus had been guarding from the Dark Nom Allom Seers? Mmm. She just couldn't be sure. Oh... Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear.

And as the moonlight shifted to reveal the presence of another? ...It appeared our blue-haired mistress wouldn't have the time to find out either,

...

 

[Ellie Mors]

Lothal - Beyond Temple Grounds

It wasn't quite that Braith wasn't allowed to visit the Jedi temple... well it was, really. There hadn't been some official notice, but it hadn't taken a rocket scientist to discover that Braith was rather unanimously disliked by pretty much every single Jedi she'd came into contact with. The first, and only, time that Braith had even made her way into the temple grounds was during the founding of it with Corvus - back when the First Order had launched an assault on the planet in some minor fashion. She had only been along for the ride, said hardly anything, and still managed to attract the wrong kind of attention from her girlfriend's - former girlfriend's - friends and colleagues. At first it was just the looks cast her way, but eventually she could almost hear the thoughts aimed at her, wondering what an ancient "spirit" had to do with their beloved Grandmaster of the order.

It hadn't taken being asked for Braith to decide she wasn't going to return to visit the temple, she knew when she wasn't welcome, and perhaps the lack of communication was part of what led to the vanishing Jedi Master. Honestly, Braith didn't care what had pulled, driven, or spirited the woman away - she had wanted her back, the reasons why she was gone were outweighed by the simple fact that she was gone. It was clear, however, that Corvus wasn't coming back and that there was nothing the ten-thousand year old witch could do about it. And it wasn't until tonight that she was angry over her leaving.

Not until she tracked down the necklace to some thief, to find it wasn't on Corvus's neck.

--

Tarmac

Braith had been observing the thief, [member="Karen Roberts"], from the moment she had revealed herself. It wasn't that she'd known she was there, if anything it happened to be a coincidence more than anything, and she wouldn't have paid her any mind if not for the fact that the necklace she was holding was bleeding Braith's own force signature, a blood trail that she had placed on it so she could find Corvus in exactly these kinds of situations. There had been some cloud cover behind her, not of her own making this time, which kept the reflective light of the moon off of her back - although it shined through just ahead of her to illuminate the blue-haired criminal.

The witch's fist curled tightly, the muscles in her forearm, already densely packed together, flexed as she put stress on them. Lips pursed, eyes set with almost an illuminated blue-violet glare, she was ready to ask the question - to demand where the trinket had been found - when the obvious was made blatantly clear.

'Well, well, well... What have we here?'

Maybe it was the last bit of Corvus's guidance that had remained in her that kept her from immediately smothering the woman in a terrifying display of lightning, or maybe it was the gradual shift towards the light that stopped her from tearing apart the soil at her feet, but for whatever reason Braith remained rooted on the spot - absolutely glowering.

The cloud cover moved, as if by fate, and her shadow was cast down as she was lit up by the weak moonlight.

It was obvious she wasn't happy.

"Who are you?"

Nope. Not happy at all.

 

[Jsc]

Oh dear.

Tongue in cheek, Karen turned her head slowly to notice a new arrival. Erm, rather. Someone had been standing there the whole time. Oops.

"Oh. Um... Hello?"

Roberts was so surprised that she failed to notice much else. [member="Braith Achlys"] 's aura, eyes, or her special connection to this place and it's items. Karen was mostly just trying to think of what to say next. She'd been spotted and now had to think fast,

"Erm... Just, out for a stroll in the midnight eh? You... Heh, wouldn't happen to be one the Temple Masters would you?"

Karen placed the necklace slowly into her belt pocket and made a goofy smile. Buying time, as she leaned down to scoop up her cloak of invisibility. An old Omega Pyre artifact that Cira's snipers had used.

"Pleasant night for a walk eh? The moon, the breeze. It's all so very wonderful. Wouldn't you say..."

She quickly ended her speech and threw the cloak about herself! Suddenly disappearing from view and cloaking her Force aura too.

"Ah. Sorry lass. But mama's got a date to keep!"

 

[Ellie Mors]

Braith kept quiet, her arms crossing over her chest while the woman turned her head to look towards her. Her gaze narrowed as the thief started to talk, impatiently waiting for an explanation, and contemplated answering the question with another - though she quickly realized this meant that there was no way she was just a Jedi that had mistakenly taken what wasn't hers. Braith's eyes never left the necklace as it was slipped into the belt pocket, its visibility in the force like a beacon to her, though she was oblivious to the invisibility cloak.

When the blue-haired woman disappeared from view, however, was when things suddenly went a bit... haywire. Recently the witch had noticed she had been struggling utilizing the force as well as she had before, perhaps due to the grieving and sense of loss she felt, but it was in rage - not forethought - that Braith called on the force this time around. An application of the force known as altering the environment, a blanket term for the particular method of using physics as a tool via the force, was something a few Jedi and Sith were famous for during the decades leading up to the first Galactic Empire. Plo Koon had perfected its use far better than she had, certainly - able to conduct electricity across stone at his peak - but she was far from unskilled in her area of expertise.

Areas of soil and rock always had natural points of separation, points where water could seep through and create sinkholes, or small quakes give way to fissures. It was a slight combination of the two - a sudden vibration in the earth and a moistening of soft soil - that caused the small fissures to form, impressive shifts in the ground causing holes to form and cracks to follow in order to make escape more difficult. Being that she could only track the necklace and couldn't physically see the two - though she could sense their vague presence - the witch wasn't entirely certain if she was able to keep her from getting beyond the trap she'd sprung, though she would find out after a few moments of concentration following.

[member="Karen Roberts"]