Our Special Place

[Hira Mitsae]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Core Worlds - Recopia[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.6667px]Mallif Cove[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It started out as something that had simply piqued her interest. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Assassins were nothing out of the ordinary, of course - they were, especially in her life, a daily occurrence that held little if any wonder. But there was something [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]different[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] about these, sworn to the Dark Lord and his Shadow the Sith Assassins roamed the Galaxy to execute all and every enemy that the Dark Lord wished dead: in itself this was not special, many Assassins worked this way.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]But it was the sheer [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]loyalty[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] and [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]disregard[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] for their own lives that interested Kala. S[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]She couldn’t really claim to work the same way - [member="Laguz Vald"] would have mocked her for her interest - but after living so many years… sometimes you just wanted to experience the other side of the metaphorical fence.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]So it had started with tracking down the most loyal of them. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px][member="Darth Ophidia"].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Not that Kala knew her name, but a description was all that she needed. From there she started following him, it was a little game they started playing, someone as good as Ophidia knew when she was being tracked… but she just couldn’t shake this one and what’s worse? Couldn’t ever figure out which face belonged to her unknown assailant.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Not her fault, of course. To be able to shed your face and identity in a manner of moments was a boon that few possessed these days.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]But the game ended today, on the world of Recopia. There within the ruins of Mallif Cove - a one time stronghold of the Sith Assassins - she would find the ghost who had been tracking her for so long.[/SIZE]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The last few months, Darth Ophidia had observed the most peculiar phenomenon. While it was easy to find that she was being shadowed, something was off. At first, she had thought some spy-network was coming close to her as seemingly random persons were getting closer than she liked. Then there were the loose threads, inquiries that went nowhere and a prolonged sensation of being watched. More than once had she caught a face, but upon hunting the person down she found them either fictional or somehow not involved. It had been years since anyone had been able to give her such a conundrum.

Then one day, a true proof of skill showed itself: Someone had actually been able to pass her a note without her noticing. A note giving her very familiar coordinates. She had been quite amused at the discovery, seeing as she was often the one to pass such notes to unsuspecting apprentices. Her ghost was certainly perceptive enough, or at least of a similar mind. Both instances were equally intriguing and dangerous. Not to mention thrilling.

Mallif Cove, Recopia. As the Rattataki's Fury entered the planet's atmosphere, she reminisced the day she had first seen it. She was just an Acolyte when she first set her foot on the sandy beach of that island. Fresh from the Academy, a hopeful for the Sith Assassins, and soon to be hand-picked to apprentice under Darth Ferus. When she left, she was a Knight and upon returning, a Lord. No matter how time passed, Mallif Cove remained her haunted mansion, and there she would meet her newest ghost.

She bothered not to make any attempt at masking her arrival. Rather, the ship dropped her from the landing hatch in passing over the beach. The Rattataki landed on the beach with uncanny grace despite the height from which she fell. Swiping her hood off of her head, she surveyed the horizon.

[member="Kala Maedrin"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Malif Cove was a wreckage. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Ruins of broken duracrete overgrown with the wild’s touch. It felt good. The moss gave her back just the right balance between softness and substance, Kala could have rested her for an eternity; just slip into an endless dream and let all the other things fade away. But of course, that wasn’t exactly a possibility, a woman had some [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]business[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] to take care of. She noticed the arrival of the ship, its sleek silhouette cutting through the air and landing not far away from her location.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Part of the Shi’ido Assassin wanted to get up and track Ophidia down - continue the game they had been playing for [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]quite[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] some time, but at the end of the day… this piece of rock formation was really comfortable and Kala wasn’t hiding her signature in the Force for once.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The Sith Assassin would come to her… or she wouldn’t. And then Kala could enjoy resting just a little bit longer.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]In a long life filled with intrigue, murder, blood spilled and coin collected there wasn’t exactly a lot of time to just [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]take it easy[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] and relax. So when those moments [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]did[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] come? You had to take and enjoy them to their fullest. Take advantage of the situation for as long as possible, because you never really knew when it could all go to shet.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Though those moments [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]were[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] the funnest in her eyes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px][member="Darth Ophidia"][/SIZE]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

None in her direct line of sight, but upon searching, she could feel the signature like a perfumed scent in the air. None should be on the island after the destruction of the temple, so she took a wild guess and determined this would be her secret stalker. Breathing in the familiar salted air, the Rattataki clasped her hands behind her back and simply strolled along the sandy beach, eventually taking her to the collapsed ruin that was once the front entrance of her home. Her left hand, bare, inky black and covered in swirling burn-scars, stretched out towards the stonework and caressed it lightly.

While she seemingly stared into the stone, her eyes unfocused as she utilised the Force for sight. This allowed her to take on a visage of staring right ahead, while she really looked to the side and peered through the now, to her, transparent rocks. The further away, the less transparent the material would be, but all and any living organic matter would reflect the Force like light against the dull background. Again, she surveyed until she could make out the form of Kala.

Would she try a sneaky trick? Yeah, she would try a sneaky trick. A trick she had learned from a fish before she threw him back into the water. Blinking, she removed the Force Sight, and gathering her strength with an inhale of air, she utilised the ability of photokinetic manipulation. Normally, this ability was used to render her invisible and/or inaudible, but it had other, more complex uses. As she stepped to the side and vanished from sight, she left a perfect copy of herself where she had stood. The copy repeated a simple pattern of crumbling dust between her fingertips while smiling nostalgically. Ophidia herself, started to climb towards Kala's position. Photokinetic manipulation was a tough skill to keep up, but she felt confident she could hold it for long enough to meet her stalker.

[member="Kala Maedrin"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[SIZE=10.6667px]There was a [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]fifty/fifty percent[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] chance that a predator might [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]seem[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] to be dozing off, when in reality she was still paying attention to her immediate surroundings… and force on in Ophidia’s life fate was not kind to her chances. Kala was amused by the entire show though. So she rewarded it by not calling the trick out immediately, instead giving the Assassin some room to move and get a little bit closer, just a little bit.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“Ohhh, that’s a pretty trick, I like it!” her voice sang out. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]It was like the song of a Nightingale, humming on the air, high-pitched, girly, a scent of charm and mischief. One eye opened itself and stared right at the hidden form of Ophidia, it filled itself with amber as she smirked.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“My turn.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Last syllable spoken and Kala seemed to… [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]melt[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] into the stone pillar she was just resting on. The process was fast, unbelievably so, and within the span of seconds Kala was gone. [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]Not her force signature though, which still radiated around the same area.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px][member="Darth Ophidia"][/SIZE]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

This was the very first time anyone had seen through her disguise, and as the nightingale sung her song, the illusion faded. Ophidia had just landed on the moss when she had been called out, and stood up in her full height and visibility as the sing-song-voice spoke. Her trick had been compromised, it was time she learned something new and exciting, a mental note was made, but now she had to pay attention to the current situation. Really, she should have expected something like this to happen with a person who had been able to elude her for so long. Kala continued to impress.

"Not bad at all."

As Kala melted into the rock. Ophidia once more tried to see her through the Force. She could see the radiance, and with time focus on its origin. Of course, her sight could be fooled or it could be the key to seeing the woman. This game, Ophidia had not played it much with others, but she enjoyed it quite. Few were ever able to keep up with her in matters of stealth.

[member="Kala Maedrin"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[SIZE=10.6667px]There was a giggle coming from… [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]somewhere[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]Ophidia was good, but it was [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]really[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] difficult to track a shi'ido who was playing a game. Her Force presence was scattered across the space, her vision narrowed it down a bunch, but that left some space to still comb through and with a Sith Lord on the loose.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]“My dear Ophi. It has been a delight to follow you around~~” [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]stalking was such a bad word.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]She learned quite a bit from following her around. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]The way she operated, what her favorite food was, that little bruise on the back of her neck. There were some tough scraps where Kala was almost found out - but that was the beauty of looking like [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px]everyone[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6667px] at the end of the day she could just disappear into the crowd, losing any tailers. Sometimes she pitied those that did not have the same innate abilities.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px]How can they live like that?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6667px][member="Darth Ophidia"][/SIZE]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Ophidia approached the space in which she felt the strongest presence, peering at it as if she could make the rock itself split like an egg and reveal it's creepy innards. As the sing-song-voice spoke once more, Ophidia snorted as she choked a fraction of a laugh in her nose. She was indeed impressed, but not at all afraid. If anything, her curiosity was further tickled.

"It's Ophidia." No one had ever bastardised her name in such a way.

She probed the ground with her mind, trying to grab a thought or an emotion to anchor herself too.

"And I have tried to make it interesting for you. At one point, I thought I had you. I caught someone with your likeness. Well... One of your likenesses. She didn't enjoy herself. I think she swore vengeance."

First, she would need prosthetics of course. Ophidia had left the person on Tython with no tongue or legs. It was then she had started investigating the possibility that she was being stalked by some form of shifter. Her old apprentice's apprentice was a shifter, but not this skilful. She had come to a list of two possible species: Shi'ido or Clawdite. The Rattataki had done her homework, and no doubt Kala had seen the extensive reading she immersed herself in on her free time.

[member="Kala Maedrin"]