Pieces of Time

[Vereshin]

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Steel emerged from earth plains beneath the anticipating footsteps of Vereshin and Jairdain. A breeze lulled through dry grass and a ripple disturbed the sunset. The sorcerer held no anger towards the neutral Force user upon the revelation that she was no longer Sith. When Vi revealed his intent to scavenge the shipwreck of the time warping Jedi Acaadi, she joined him on his journey across the dusty fields of Iridonia. Echoes from outer silence drew them near the affected wreck and Vereshin found himself silently asking his companion to hand over the flask of water she carried.

Deciding against wearing his favorite scarf or coat, they met the pleasantly warm weather on top of a grass hill and Vereshin retrieved the water flask from Jairdain. The air was warm without being as aggressive as the heat on Korriban or Tatooine. Vereshin remained accustomed to the freezing temperatures of his homeworld, Ziost. He wore a black jacket and plus fours over a dark grey shirt and socks inside lace up shoes. Rimless glasses sat over his ears. He drank from the water flask with two hands before returning it to Jair.

"I am still not accustomed to the heat. The sun makes me nauseous." Vi said with a smile of gratitude. The sun began to lower in the afternoon and the air became cool. The Force affected ripples of energy disturbed the horizon and made the rays appear lilac. Vereshin and Jairdain pressed onward and made their way down the hill, the presence of the area growing stronger. The sorcerer ran ahead of Jair and preened his senses for any anomalies or traps. Scavengers rummaged through the debris nearby and alerted the two to their movements. Vereshin remained only half on his guard for traps and dwellers within the wreckage.

"Oh look!" Vereshin caught site of an massive cylinder, possibly one of the engines now salvaged of the interior. He around and waited for Jair to catch up with him, expressing enthusiasm without any regard for traversing into the dangerous site. The effect of drinking water along the way took a toll and he began to tap his foot in discomfort. Gleefully approaching the spherical opening of the empty ship engine, he ran on his laced shoes and stopped to gaze in awe over the opening.

Waves of energy radiated from the machinery and as Vereshin slid a finger beneath the edge, he felt his skin grow warm and watched the particles surge lightly, barely visible before the far away eye. He reached into his jacket for his notebook and tore out the pages of the curse he attempted to cast on Jair, scrunching up the paper and discarding the ball into his pocket. He hastily began to estimate the diameter of the engine hole and the potency of the energy radiating from the Force within. The equations he jotted were random and potentianlly fruitless, saved for later when he had time to muse on his findings.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

Knowing the sometimes unpredictable weather of Iridonia, Jairdain kept her scarf with her. Wrapping it loosely around her neck in case the wind picked up and it was needed to keep the dust out of her mouth and nose. The journey the two of them took was mostly silent, both of them more focused on getting there than making conversation. It was far from a tense silence though and instead one more of companionship. United by a goal of reaching a destination together.

Even though she was physically blind, she could 'see' the ground just fine. Everything had emotions and that was how she saw. They weren't as complex as what a sentient felt, but they were still present.

Mounting a hill, they stopped near the top and drank from the canteen she carried. Vereshin stated the sun made him feel ill and that he wasn't used to the heat.

"It takes a bit to get used to that's for sure. Day and night never had an effect on me. My world is black in that sense. Sometimes I wonder how different I would be if I could see like you or somebody with vision does."

Her own world was low tech and the price for implants was too high for her family to afford, so she learned how to see with the Force. It was entirely different than how a Miraluka could see and for all she knew, she was unique in her vision.

Something caught his attention and he ran ahead of her. Waiting until Jairdain caught up, she attempted to follow where his attention was focused. It didn't prove difficult and she walked up behind him. Allowing him the room and time needed for him to jot things down. She also kept her attention focused on the looters that were nearby. They weren't paying attention to them yet, but were getting closer. The end of the day meant they would be taking their haul away.

"We got company coming. What do you know?"

It would imply potential combat. At her words and if he was paying attention, she would appear to go into stealth and he would look like he was there alone. If these scavengers thought to take him by surprise, she would be there waiting for them.

[member="Vereshin"]

 

[Vereshin]

Vereshin looked up from his notes and stretched his neck to gaze over the roof of the engine. The scraping of metal alerted him to approaching footsteps. He turned his head abruptly to Jair and concealed the notebook and pen within his jacket. Shouts emerged from the distance, triggering his instinct to hide while the growing feeling of discomfort pressed his nerves further. He swore under his breath and fidgeted while leaning against the side of the cylinder and looking back towards Jairdain.

"You keep a look out, I'm dying for a piss." Vi called to his partner before heading inside the engine. He listened to the men on the other side of the metal as he skulked around. A ray of light fell from a small opening which lead outside into the sand. Keeping track of the seconds, he stood before the ajar space and relieved the effects of the water on his tiny frame. One of the scavengers caught the sight from the hole outside of the engine and plunged a fist against the metal. Vereshin gasped and finished in haste before turning away from the crack in the wall. He zipped up his trousers and jumped over the wreckage on the ground to the other side of the engine.

Planting his palms against the wall, Vereshin dissipated the mass and phased through space to the other side of the wall. The humid air met his face and the sun glistened across the surface of the metal. He watched Jairdain ready her weapons and held his breath in panic. As the scavengers ran around the other side of the engine, Vereshin focused his energy and concentration. He leaned against the metal and raised his wrists, splaying his fingers in preparation to cast. He multiplied the light particles making his appearance visible and conjured two duplicates of himself.

The doppelgangers broke away from Vereshin's true body and vanished into the air. They dispersed into smoke and moved around each side of the engine before returning to their full appearance. One approached the scavengers from behind, the other from the front. The sorcerer giggled to himself at the sound of the men swearing and exclaiming in confusion. He closed his eyes and concentrated on controlling the illusions. Each of them waved politely and mimicked the other's every movement, giving Jairdain enough time to deal with the scavengers physically.

"Miss Jairdain, distorting reality is a means of altering what is and is not there." Vereshin said as Jairdain backed towards him and moved within ear distance. He coiled his fingers as he manipulated the light and psychologically observed the duplicates. They were not powerful enough to cause harm. Any civilian or soldier without any knowledge of sorcery would find the sight adequately distressing.

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Jairdain]

She heard the scratching of his pen on paper and wondered to herself what it said. Being blind the physical or holographic writing meant nothing to her, but she could read the raised writing of the blind and had a device that could read to her. Maybe in time, she could get implants that allowed her see and then so much of what was lost on her now would be clear.

Not just writing, but art as well.

Without sight, Jairdain did not see the illusions Vereshin made of himself, but heard the exclamations of those guys that approached them. She was here to take care of them and more or less keep him safe. Not one overtly trained in martial combat, she would have to wing it when dealing with these guys. She actually didn't want to kill them, but take them out of the fight.

Focusing on each of them, she would attempt to broadcast a general sense of unease, hostility and the urge to get away from the two of them. If it worked they should turn tail and leave. If it didn't then she would have to fight. These guys weren't very bright or strong minded so quickly ran away from them in fear.

Their combination of abilities had worked together well and she listened to his whisper as to what he meant.

"With sight though, how might it affect me?"

[member="Vereshin"]

 

[Vereshin]

The scavengers cowered in fear under Jair's mental assault, taking to their feet and scampering away as she incited terror within them. The duplicates of Vereshin assisted in keeping them disoriented before they departed on their heels to flee the inexplicable anomaly. Giggling to himself as he leaned against the side of the ship engine, Vi waved his hands across the air and caused the illusions to disperse. They vanished into clouds of energy and faded into nothing. Noting that Jair could not have seen them, Vereshin removed his glasses and slid them into his pocket as she met her around the side of the shipwreck.

"Sight is not the only sense which can be fooled through distorting perception." Vereshin said, taking her hand in his icy fingers. In his touch the temperature of Jair's skin would gradually rise until she experienced heat amidst the cooling winds of the desert evening. The heat left no physical trace and existed only through sensation. Before the illusion grew intense, Vereshin released his grip and allowed her hand to return to the surrounding temperature. The unpredictable weather of Iridonia grew cool and he gripped the edges of his jacket and rolled backwards on his heels. The illusion of his garments transformed to reveal his true attire, a sinister coat and a thin scarf tucked into the collar.

"Come on, let us look around." Smoothing down the front of his grey scarf, Vereshin spoke to Jairdain and pressed onward. He kept his senses heightened for time rifts and anomalies in the Force, turning around to move into the emptied ship engine. The massive cylinder lead into the derelict interior of the shipwreck. Ripples of violet energy could be physically seen and swayed as the two explorers moved through the air, disturbing them with the movements and sending them awry in flashes of light.

Vi moved forward with Jair behind him and ducked beneath crevices and spaces. A labyrinth of mechanical tunnels and abandoned terminals spiraled deeper into the wreck. When he turned a corner, Vereshin was met with the site of the same engine they had entered and saw perfect images of himself and Jair standing exactly where they had been only ten minutes ago. Mouth parted slightly, he repressed a gasp and watched the shift in time move with fascination. "Jair, do you see that?" He beckoned Jair over, curious to see whether the vision affected her.

The figures of Vereshin and Jairdain responded to the echo of his voice and turned around to look for where it came from. Giving into his curiosity, Vereshin raised a hand to meddle with the anomaly and beneath his casting hand, the time frame of the area froze, trapping the two figures in their stance and ceasing all movement. Gasping to himself, Vereshin stifled a chuckle and snapped his fingers, watching the two figures continue in motion once more. They appeared startled, as though the spell had physically affected them.

[member="Jairdain"]