Make it Bleed

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

As Alisteri listened to the Force, it was as if everything peeled away the longer he looked, and when Alisteri reeled himself in, the layers became diffused, as if he had disrupted a quiet pond. The Jedi kept his eyes screwed shut and sensed what he sensed. When the apparition of the ashen woman was present in the room, it appeared to give the Jedi further physical discomfort, as if she was digging though his wounds and placing sharp objects under his legs.

The sabre stirred, rolled, then finally leaped to Alisteri's hand. While it let itself be held, he would be able to feel the Jedi weapon struggle against him. It felt heavy, cumbersome, alien in his hand.

The Jedi did not open his eyes for that, but when Alisteri looked at him, he looked back at Alisteri.

And when he asked the questions, the Jedi knew his end was near. A smile formed on the man's face as all unnecessary tension vanished from his body. Even his injured arms relaxed.

"Always."

A single word, yet the one word spoke volumes. He was always at the mercy of the Force, in life or in death. He always feared death, for not fearing it is not living. He feared the Force because the Force is fear, as it is also love, courage, strength, and weakness. The Force was in all things.

Even the shot that killed him.

The blaster sent his body limply reeling back, then tipping forward. As the body hit the floor, it did not do so with a thud, but scattered to ashes, leaving only the robes behind. The cave seemed a little darker now, colder, and quiet.

 

[Darth Strosius]

The young man watched silently as the Jedi's body morphed into ashes, his gaze resting on the now empty robes beneath him.

Alisteri glanced away, towards his hand that held the sabre as he brought it up to inspect it. Apparently his grip had tightened on it, and he idly winced as he loosened his grip on the weapon. The surface of the sabre had dug into his skin through the glove, but not enough to draw blood.

"Hopefully my master wasn't expecting a head." He muttered to himself as he holstered his blaster. After another moment of examination he clipped the sabre onto his side and turned around.

Alisteri swiftly made his way out of the small clearing, a part of him enjoying the faint coolness in the air.

He remembered the path back to the ship fairly clearly, it was rather difficult to forget nearly falling into a canyon. He did do his best to stifle an inward groan at the thought of making the trek back, his muscles were feeling a bit sore now that all of his adrenaline had subsided.

Of course, he wasn't about to let such a thing deter him. He had a mission to do. "I need to bring a small ship next time, one that can get into crevices." He sighed and kept a steady pace as he strode out of the hidden alcove of the Jedi.

Hopefully that pilot was still waiting for him, hitchhiking wasn't very noble.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Oddly, the climb was easier than the descent, even if it was slower. Now knowing not to gaze too deeply into the dark holes, there was less chance of getting sucked into a dark abyss. Yet, he would also find that the light of the crystals had dimmed somewhat, and wherever he walked they dimmed somewhat more.

In the climb up, he would find it feeling as if something guided him to the right handholds and slowed the wind when he became exposed to its gales.

Yet, the canyon was not an easy climb.

Here and there, he would see pitons of climbers from ages past, who had either fallen to their deaths or perhaps climbed to safety and simply forgotten them there. It was hard to know. Even with the guidance that helped him find his way, and his familiarity with the wall from the descent, climbing took its toll. The air grew thinner, the winds more aggressive. His protection slowly vaned.

Yet, over time, his ascent would bring him to the top.

There, around the peak, sat the ship. Just outside it, in a foldable chair, sat the mirialan pilot, seemingly asleep if not for the blaster pointed subtly in his direction. Her jacket was thrown over the back of the chair, and the shirt rolled up on the sleeves to catch the sun. She opened an eye to look at him, then holstered her blaster.

"So, you have returned. Welcome back, sir."

She sat up, leaning her elbows on her knees, dusting off the front of her trousers, then taking the jacket from the back of the chair. Her eyes flicked down to the new sylindrical shape on Alisteri's hip, and the knowing smile of one who worked closely with the Sith spread on her lips.

"I will get the ship up and running. She will want your report."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

Alisteri was quick to bypass the dark holes in the wall as he climbed, he didn't care much for a repeat of whatever vision he had seen before. He idly noticed the dimming crystals as he passed by them, but the minor lack of light didn't bother him much. He was almost flattered that they faded at his presence.

The climb was far too easy however, and he knew that it would merely serve as a minor respite to the canyon ahead.

The canyon tested him yet again as he ascended its walls, and he hated every moment of it. The occasional force of wind that slammed into him, the disheartening pitons laid out around him, and the strain of hauling his body up the wall, all of it made him inwardly curse his own tenacity. He had done this once before of course, but the fatigue in his muscles dragged him down like a second force of gravity.

Finally the young man hauled himself over the top of the canyon, gasping for air a moment as he was splayed out on the edge.

His eyes shifted around and when he spotted the pilot lounging he quickly scrambled onto his feet and recomposed himself. There was no dignity in being defeated by a rock formation. "Ah thank you." He muttered as he dusted himself off, his armor now sharing a vague tint of the dust and dirt that populated the canyon.

"Right, thank you." He sighed and did a small stretch before approaching the ship. A part of him hoped that the ship had some sort of bath or shower, he felt more dusty than he had ever been in the mines.

Alisteri sat in the cargo area of the ship on his knees, the communicator in front of him as it attempted to call his master. When it flickered to life he bowed his head in respect, the stolen sabre in his hands as he held them towards the device. "It is done, master."

Darth Ophidia (Just realized that my last post didn't @ you sorry!)

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius (That is alright, I caught it anyway )

Sadly, the ship did not have a bath, but it did have a small shower primarily used for decontamination, but it would serve.

As Alisteri went to the cargo area, the pilot climbed into the cockpit to get the ship warmed up and ready to leave. She knew not to ask questions, and that her patrons usually wanted to get off a planet quickly when they returned to the ship covered in dust after a long climb on some desolate planet. It happened more often than one would think.

She also knew better than to disturb when they had their private conversations after such an event.

The communicator summoned a flickering, blue image of the hooded woman Alisteri called his master. She looked him over, then down at the cylinder in his hand.

"So it is." The lightsabre twitched, rolled, then floated out of his hand. "Meditate on what you have learned today, my apprentice, then meet me on Krayiss Two."

The lightsabre started to disassemble in the air, parts twisting, unscrewing, then floating away from the centre until the very heart of the sabre was exposed: The crystal.

"There, the next step of your training will begin."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

Alisteri resisted the urge to flinch as his master's gaze swept over him, the small shower on the ship hadn't cleaned his armor as much as he would have liked. Still, he was far cleaner than when he hauled himself out of the canyon; at the very least he wasn't dusty under the armor anymore.

He watched the lightsabre's movements in awe, his fingers twitching as he idly wished for the same power his master possessed.

Moving and disassembling an object from so far away? The limits of the Force continued to expand for the young man, it would seem. "I understand, my master. I will head there immediately." He bowed his head again in respect and did his best to keep his eyes off of the crystal hovering in front of him. He didn't want to seem too eager after all.

"I await your next lesson feverishly."

Well, he could appear a bit eager. He wasn't fond of meditation, mostly out of not being familiar with it, but he trusted his master and would do as she commanded. If it could lead to more power then he wouldn't voice much displeasure. He was very interested in the lightsabre either way, and he hoped that he could study in more detail sometime soon.

Tales and rumors of them from drunken pilots hardly did the weapons justice after all.

Once the image of his master had disappeared and the communicator went off, Alisteri spared one last glance at the sabre before he approached the cockpit. "I have a new heading for you, Krayiss Two. I assume you won't mind another trip?"

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Darth Strosius

The ship had entered orbit by the time Alisteri came to the cockpit.

The pilot sat reclined in her seat, jacket thrown over the back, sleeves of her shirt rolled up, but the hat of her uniform on her head. She did not look straight at him when he asked for the change of heading, but could see his reflection in the transparisteel.

"Not at all, Sir"

She scooted forward and flicked the switches to warm up the hyperdrive. Then she puled a cable from above and set it in a small diamond-shaped device nestled in the console. The black, glass surfaces pulsed with deep red as the reconstructed wayfinder connected to the ship's coordinate system.

"One round trip to Krayiss Two"

She bounced her eyebrows, seemingly impressed.

"It's a long journey. May I encourage some rest?"

She smiled, but kept her focus on readying the ship for hyperspace. The mirialan flipped the navigation system on and off to re-calibrate it to the wayfinder, then plotted it to the correct set paths, first getting them to the nearest major hyperlane, then arching back to the Sith Empire, from where they would have easy cruising to Krayiss Two.

Her hand then went to the lever that would activate the hyperdrive.

"Engaging hyperdrive."

She pushed it forward, and the galaxy became a blur.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Ophidia

Alisteri nodded, watching the pilot work curiously. He had little context for what she was actually doing of course, but that didn't stop him from trying to understand. He did want to attempt to pilot a ship of his own one day. Attempt being the keyword, as he was lost trying to keep track of the switches long before the wayfinder activated.

He liked the look of the device, but he didn't bother to ascertain its purpose.

"Some rest does sound rather desirable." The young man turned away as the hyperdrive engaged, seeing the stars blur as he left the cockpit. "Let me know when our destination is in sight, if you would please."

He didn't want to seem standoffish to his companion, regardless of how temporary, but he had other matters to attend to.

In the cargo hold he settled into a relaxed sitting position near the communicator and lightsabre that he had left behind. He slipped his helmet off, letting it fall to his side on the ground as his hands returned to a resting position in his lap.

Meditation, that was certainly a new one. "Lets see what we can do then, shall we?" He spoke to himself, of course.

He did his best to clear his mind and focus on the room he was in. While he was interested in exploring the depths of the Force, he knew that he needed to establish a decent understanding of objects in his direct realm of influence. Starting small and whatnot. Alisteri chose to focus on the lightsabre, as it not only fascinated him but also served as a reminder of the Jedi that he had killed.

He could almost feel the essence of the Jedi within the weapon, as if it were linked to him. How curious.

The mechanisms of the sabre, the crystal, all of its parts lay before him in his mind's eye. The crystal had drawn his attention first and foremost however, as it felt unique. Even from his limited experience with the Force the human could feel some inkling of the Force within it.

His knowledge of the crystals that powered the lightsabres was very limited, to the point where their existence was the only true fact he held about them. Thus, he would focus on it.