Of Two Worlds

[Argis Volmir]

Standing on the balcony where centuries ago history had been made Argis stared down into the sand-filled arena. The primary of Geonosis beat down the heat near unbearable to some, so hot to where the heatwaves could be seen if one stared hard enough. The scent of blood filled the air assaulting Argis' nostrils, his face neutral to what took place down below. Centuries the Jedi had spent watching war and death on his own world, this was nothing to him besides a sign of how barbaric some of the Galaxy could still be. Around the rest of the stands, Geonosians cheered as one of the slavers was torn in two by a Nexu on either end of his body. The two beasts buried into their freshly slain prey, the Rodian's face contorted in what Argis' could only assume to be pain and horror.

"You could've been so much more." The words but a whisper as they left the behemoths lips. Since his days returning to the Galaxy as a whole Argis had seen many troubling things, the treatment of those who committed slavery within CIS space was one he agreed with but found slightly upsetting and a waste. Better to end them quickly than prolong their deaths.

In another side of the ring, an overly large twi'lek swung a spear at an approaching Gundark. Fear radiated off of him in palatable waves, the crowd feeding off it, many rising to their feet cheering the Gundark on, credit chips held high in their hands, the excitement rising to a tremendous roar that shook the arena itself. In the following moments, the twi'leks broken body or what remained of it lay splain across the sand. "The betrayal of your people sealed your fate long ago." Once more another judgment.

Those who paid attention would notice that the Dashade had been there all day, his lips moving after each death, judgments given, arms tucked neatly at the base of his back. Inhaling Argis looked around to see many of those that had inhabited the balcony with him turning to leave, talk of the evening's event fresh in their minds making them all the more eager to discuss what had transpired. The rest of the stands began to do the same, clearing out and leaving the arena, their bloodlust sated just enough to where they could satisfy themselves off the misfortune of others.

While the CIS harbored and even had known Sith Lords in positions of power Argis felt no need to attack them as of yet. Instead, the Dashade decided to ally with the Galactic power, in the hopes that one day they would aid in the battles that the wardens were sure to see. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The saying that Argis used to justify the action.

Stepping even further out on the balcony Argis stood where history had been made centuries before. Where one of the most well known and powerful Jedi fought someone he had once considered a friend and in sparing him had plunged the Galaxy into a war that spanned the entire length of it.

Breathing in, eyes closing Argis allowed the force to swell within his being, to empowering him and when next his eyes open reality itself fractured around him as though he stared into a broken mirror. Before the Dashade he saw it all, he saw the past, possibilities of what could've been if history had taken a different turn and many possible futures, all different fractures that went off in their own directions.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

There were many things that could have been. For example, it could have been Scherezade in the pit that day, trying to fight off the various large beasts that had been sent at the prisoners. Most of the prisoners there were accused of the worst crime the Confederacy could ever imagine – the crime of slavery. Scherezade, personally, never got it. Considering the amount of Sith that ran through the halls of the Confederacy on any given day, one would've thought the Confederacy would not have cared too much about it. Perhaps not outright encouraged it, but at least be willing to turn a blind eye. But nope, instead it was one of the worst things any individual could do within Confederacy space.

And apparently, so was slicing into the Confederate datafiles. Her actions had marked her for treason, had demanded her execution when she came clean about it. Her only mercy was in the refusal of the chosen executor to do his task and remove her head off her neck, something that had caused a whole new hoard of mess. He'd gotten fired from his position over it, even though he had the best of reasons, and Scherezade herself was moved out of the Knights Obsidian to another division, while needing to maintain the pose and posture of a Knight Obsidian, as well as community service and counseling for six months.

Though when you considered all of it, you could say she came off cheap. Yet it had been none of her actions that had caused this, but only those of the man who had stood up for her. What Scherezade herself did never hardly ever counted for anything within the Confederacy, despite holding one of the longest track records of successful missions, regardless of division.

So while Scherezade had moaned and biatched only internally when she was tasked with teaching classes as part of her community service, the task for that day was even worse; sweeping parts of the arena, while in her Knight Obsidian armor. She loathed that armor. The one she had constructed for herself suited her needs and fighting style much better, but there was a point to this. Or at least so she was told. Because why else would the Confederacy use an organic to sweep floors when it had over a billion droids that would do it instead?

Passing by the balcony with her broom, Scherezade noted the visitor there. She quickly inhaled the air, though it was not her nose that took the scent in, but her Blood Hound abilities, via the Force. "Been a while since I saw a Dashade around these parts," she commented as soon as she realizing she'd met Dashades before and had the species' scent locked down. Then again, her eyes would've been able to tell her exactly the same thing. It wasn't like Dashades could really camouflage with human surroundings.

"Enjoying the executions?" she asked with a grin, giving the floor another pretend-sweep. Come on. It was clean already.

[member="Argis Volmir"]

 

[Argis Volmir]

Continuing to stare down into the pit Argis stared back far back to a time centuries before, a time before even he was born. Littering the pit were bodies of the Jedi, fresh blaster wounds still steaming. A tear retreated down the Jedi’s cheek as he witnessed it, that was at least he was interrupted and yanked back to the world of the living. Tossing a glance over his shoulder to the woman that had arrived on the balcony behind him Argis inwardly scolded himself. He’d been so taken in the visions of the past that he’d let his guard down unable to sense the figure.

Taking note of the broom within her hands Argis raised a brow. For what reason would this woman be sweeping when there were droids that the CIS frequently used that would be far more efficient? Perhaps a punishment of some sort? “There aren’t many of my kind left to be around these parts. Many of us died out millennia ago.” One would expect pain to lace the words of the Dashade but there wasn’t even a single trace of it. Argis had accepted it long ago that many of his kind had died very few preserved to be used as assassins, those he was descended from.

Head-turning back to the pit Argis need not think on the question of whether he was enjoying the show or not. The Jedi despised it, the Dashade’s eyes narrowing. “No, I take no enjoyment in shows such as this. I simply use it as a way to hone my skills. To see the truth of those being judged and whether they truly had another path that lay before them. I don’t expect you to understand that of course.”

Finally turning to fully face the human, Argis sniffed the air. He could smell the force upon her as well as sense it. His stomach growled craving the taste of sweet succulent flesh to further empower his body. Sharp pangs sought to drive the Jedi into action, but he held it at bay. “What brings one such as yourself here? I can’t imagine that sweeping is a common duty for those who operate under the Confederacy’s banner. Especially one so powerful in the force.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"A millennia is more than enough time to breed the remaining population several times over," Scherezade said with an optimistic smile, tossing the broom over her shoulders, "though they might be spread all over now. Pretty sure there's at least one or two colonies of Dashades in the Unknown Regions." Or at least, there used to be, prior to the Gulag. She wasn't sure how correct that information that still was. It was the downside of having so much information branded into her mind by her grandmother; not everything was still relevant, and she had no way of knowing what was or wasn't based on thought power alone.

As the Dashade turned back to look at the pits, Scherezade walked over, leaning against the rails as she looked as well. He gave her that line about paths and understanding, and she openly rolled her eyes. There was little the Blood Hound loathed more than to be told such things – especially when they were so far from the truth. "Save it," she sighed, "I've got several different types of Seers in my family. I know well enough how that chit works. And know even better to avoid it entirely. What is done is done."

She looked at him as he smelled her, glowing eyes squinting as he did so. Was he smelling other than a human? She herself could smell his species even with her eyes closed, merely for the blood that ran through his veins. And while it was true that Scherezade had been highly unsuccessful in finding other Blood Hounds, she was well enough aware that there were other species that offered various types of abilities that ran similar. But he wanted to know why she was there.

"I drew too many short straws," Scherezade said after an uncomfortable silence, "it was six months of this, or execution. And we're not talking about that-" she pointed at the arena, where fresh prisoners were being brought out, "That's more humane. Gives the prisoners a chance, you know? If they kill the beasts they're against, they're set free. Of course, almost no one ever manages to do that. I'm pretty sure I could though."

Scherezad sighed again. Maybe asking to be tossed into the pit instead of pleading for [member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"] 's life would have been a better course of action. But none of them would ever know now.

"So why are you here?" she asked, "Besides the honing your skills bit. There are places that do this all over the 'verse. What brings you specifically to Genosis to hone your abilities here?"

[member="Argis Volmir"]

 

[Argis Volmir]

The woman openly rolling her eyes at Argis’ words brought a chuckle to the Dashade’s lips. One who spoke of knowing that it worked and yet she didn’t want to hear of just how far it could reach. Just what one could see when they stepped into the currents of the force and saw what it offered. There was so much more than just what could be, but what they were and all the things that led them to commit the act that ended up with them firmly entrenched on the route they chose. At her insistence Argis wouldn’t delve into the subject too deeply as for some it was a most unappealing conversation at least and others outright despised the future or potential ones being told to them.

In Argis’ travels throughout Confederacy space he was constantly met by intriguing people, many of which went against his belief in the light but nonetheless were still interesting. Others of his kind would move to behead those sith within the Confederacy but for now Argis stayed his hand. There were not enough to stand with him yet, and currently the Confederacy was on their way to being one of the few stable galactic powers left that didn’t abuse their people, and seemingly knew of mercy from the way the odd woman spoke. “Of course you could, those beasts cannot match one sufficiently trained in the force. You could take a trained Jedi padawan, or acolyte, drop them in there with a weapon of use and most of the time they’d make their way out. Let alone one with your magnitude of strength. I’d think you’d instantly drop one of the creatures if you wished.”

Taking notes on the woman as he said the words Argis moved his hands to rest on the safety rail that separated them from the pits below. “I… Am an ally of the Confederacy so to say. We have common enemies, but I also wished to see how you all operated. To see how cruel and merciless that you could be, to see the depths of depravity that are fed on this planet. This pit, this arena was where history was made centuries ago. We stand now on a point that decided the fate of the galaxy once. Where one choice had led to a galaxy-spanning war.” Violet eyes glowing argis stared into the depths of the force, those fractures that swelled and formed around them, of time.

“There are many things that even the light can do that many would consider unnatural, it is both a curse and a gift. That is what brings me here on this day. That and of course it was of the Force’s will that I come to Geonosis.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]