Short Stack of Fire, Where Art Thou? (A Past RP)

[Coryth Elaris]

...............................................Ten years ago


The small woman stirred, reaching up to touch a painful gash upon her forehead. The last thing she remembered was Naboo. She'd gone to say goodbye. Goodbye forever. Her fiance had perished months prior, well closer to a year but Coryth had a hard time admitting to such. It was too painful to visit his grave, knowing it was her fault. Her mistakes, her past that led to his death. If not for her, he'd still be alive.

She'd just made it to the graveyard, but stood at it's edge unable to enter. Her feet just wouldn't move. Every step that had brought her to that point further shattered her tender heart. My fault .... It is all my fault. Truthfully, she doubted that she'd ever fully be able to let go of that horror.

In his final moments, Coryth knew she should have been there. To protect him, help him, maybe even save him, but she couldn't. She was a billion miles away, and the dangerous vision came too late to do a thing to prevent his death. Perhaps even worse, were the painfully angry words spoken to him as she left. The last thing on her lips, wasn't 'I love you.' It was something far worse, etched into her memory forever. Forgiving herself for that, wasn't in the cards right now. It was simply too soon, too agonizing to deal with on her own.

The presence near her in the graveyard, the redhead sensed too late, blinded by grief. The battle had been short between the pairing. A human-like creature, in dark robes, hurling her across the stones, slamming her into the ground. A few ribs shattered upon impact.

Desperately gasping for air, and fighting to understand the situation beyond the simplicity of being attacked for what she saw as no reason at all. Fumbling she attempted to grab her saber, anything to defense, it was stolen from Coryth in her moment of weakness.
Managing only to throw up a weak protective bubble she managed to keep him from throwing a headstone to crush her, but the fight was hardly even started and Coryth two steps behind. Breathing was getting harder and harder as fractured bones pressed against her lungs. The taste of blood present in her mouth gave a small clue of her injuries. In a series of attacks, meant only to distract the little Jedi Knight, a poisoned dart struck her shoulder. It only took a precious second or two for her world to go dark.

The last thing she felt, was being lifted from the ground and that was it. Everything was a bit blank beyond those moment. Now, she was here... On a starship judging by the sounds and subtle movements that a ship made in hyperspace. Where they were heading, Coryth hadn't the slightest. The hum of the force cage around her, annoying to say the least as she shifted onto her hands and knees, wincing in pain as her ribs protested the simple movement from her. Her attention came to a silver collar around her neck drawing a cringe from the small woman, it pressing just a little too tight around her throat. That explains the lack of the Force .... Grumbled thoughts to herself.

Finally she shifted back onto her knees, kneeling in the floor as she pushed aside her robes to inspect the damage. The bruising a most vile yellow, and purplish black that was still spreading. "Lovely." Whispered to herself as the gravity of the situation was finally starting to sink in.

Unfortunately, the sad fact was Coryth simply was along for the ride. Escaping out of the Force cage wasn't something she could pull off. Especially not considering her injuries. The last thing she wanted was to strain something, and risk a rib puncturing her lung, after all she was rather attached to still living.

Most frustrating of all, she'd never even seen his face. Never saw him coming. And once more she found herself laying the blame at her own feet. If only I'd not been so wrapped up in Dass. Should have known, should have seen it coming. The sad thing about her visions of the future, Coryth never saw anything in time to help save herself. Which left her stuck pondering the what ifs and If onlys. And the If onlys' were not going to get her far, but that didn't stop the natural train of thoughts, nor the guilt and pain that came hand in hand.

The hiss of the doors opening, drew her attention from her sorrows. Heavy boots crossed the floor, a brutally scarred human appeared, a black cloak hung around his shoulders with other miserably dark clothing nearly blending into the shadows without effort. Stopping short of her cage, he crossed his arms over his chest. Sulfuric yellow eyes peered down upon her.

"So glad to see you are awake, Knight Elaris."

She said nothing in reply, dropping her eyes down away from him. Anything but to not have to deal with him and this right now.

"Yes, I didn't imagine you'd be very talkative. Can't say I blame you, much."

Nothing in reply, again.

He reached into the Force, pulling at the fragile strands of power, wrapping his grip around her chest, giving just the slightest pressure against her broken bones. Coryth gasped instantly, wrapping her arms around her chest as she doubled over. "What. Do. You. Want." Icily snapped between agonizing breaths.

"A chat, for a start. You're going to be with me for a while, so I figure we might as well get to know one another."

"A chat? What, couldn't find a girlfriend? Are you that hard up?" The Jedi still had some fire in her, despite recent events. "I thought bad guys were supposed to get all the charm."

Once more reaching into the force, he again pushed against her ribs. This time, it left Coryth curled upon the floor before he released. "Tsk, tsk.... That's not very nice of you."

"Nice!?! The Feth do you expect from me?!" Snarled as she rolled to her knees, spitting out a little blood onto the floor of her cage. "You attack me from NO WHERE! YOU kidnapped ME! And you want NICE?! NICE was out the window the second you threw me against the headstone. So why don't you get to the fething point? Stop wasting my time."

A scoff followed her as he fell silent, just watching the petite woman, so full of fire and passion. She would make a beautiful Sith acolyte. Perhaps in time... Oh, so hopeful of turning the small Jedi to his side. He had no idea just how hard such a prospect would be.

"Of all the Force Users out there, my dear Coryth, you are special, unique."

"Don't give me that line. The everyone is special crap. Not. In. The. Mood. What do you want?"

"Oh, really? But you are a snowflake, one in trillions upon trillions. A gift for seeing the future, and even the past when the Force speaks to you."

Coryth cringed, closing her eyes tightly. Too well, she knew he was right. She had a gift for precognition that no one else seemed to quite be able to grasp in the way she could. Something that haunted her day in and day out. There was nothing fun about seeing the millions of ways that civilizations would rise, fall, and perish into oblivion. The wars started over the trivial, the serious, and the downright amusing, but it never changed the fact that the futures pave in the stars that she saw would kill billions upon billions and change the face of the Universe as everyone knew it. A painful reality, a curse withing a gift. One that she hoped she never had to burden another soul with. One she also hoped no one would ever actually grasp what she could do with this simple knowledge.

"So ... you wanted me, solely for what I can see? For futures that might not even happen?"

The news shook her to her very core. How such information in an ever changing present could be useful to him, she wasn't sure. "You know I can't control what I see, don't you?" Coryth hoped to the god of gods that he knew that. Knew that she couldn't force this curse into working as he so wanted it to.

"Control can be learned." A smirked played across his features. "I have an item or two that may help us, as well."

The little redhead could feel knots twisting up inside her stomach, fearful of what those words meant for her. Leaning forward she buried her head in her hands, letting the tears fall. There was no use hiding it anymore. She was afraid, and alone. Making matters worse, no one knew where she had gone, and it was unlikely that anyone would have noticed her missing so soon. After all, Coryth had simply chosen to take a few personal days to herself. She'd told no one where she was going, or why.

At the time, she just didn't wish for the council to know what she was doing, saying goodbyes, that she long should have dealt with and been over. It was all supposed to be a trivial trip, where she finally said her goodbyes and left it behind. It was supposed to be her time to let go. Now she found the grief, the pain, were the only things that made what was happening to her feel real.

"Your name." It wasn't phrased as a question, more of a demand from her end.

"Excuse me?" Her boldness and bravery, was a bit surprising given the predicament she was in. Perhaps just bravado.

Coryth shook her head and looked up at him with tear stained cheeks. "You took me away... Are keeping me prisoner. You did all of this to me, for ... for this curse. Further more, you see, you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I do not know yours. At least have the decency to give me that."

He shook his head, the little woman had a decent point. "Tarion."

"Thank you, I appreciate that." Politely spoken, the least she could do was play civil until she figured a way out of this mess. Chances were it wasn't his real name, but at least it was something for now.

A shrug came as his only reply. The name, was meaningless in the scheme of things and if it made the fiery woman more agreeable, why not....

There were probably a million other questions, Coryth should have asked, things she should have spoken on. Frankly to her, none of it really seemed to matter. The situation for now, was incredibly simple, as long as she was in this cage, on his ship, in hyperspace, and without the Force, escape was next to impossible. A reality, that Cory hated to accept. The redhead shifted again, to curl up upon the floor of her cell, pulling her tattered and faded black cloak closer to her.

The ship lurched slightly, a sign they'd come out of hyperspace. "Ah, I suppose I'll leave you be, seems I need to set us for our next jump."

"And where would that be?"

"Not important, my dear. Not important at all."

"Actually it is."

"The name would mean nothing to you, Coryth. Simply because it is outside the bounds of Known Space. You would not know the place, and it would give you no indication of where you were in the terms of space as you know it. The name would be without meaning to you. All you need to know, is that your feet will be on terra firma soon enough, and you are alive. Those are the important things in this, little else matters."

For a moment the redhead seemed floored, unable to truly believe the words that came from his mouth. "Unknown Space?" The only words she could manage to speak.

"Yes." With that he spun on his heels and left her alone as the door hissed closed behind him, leaving her to ponder their conversation.

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Somehow Coryth had managed to fall asleep as they once more shifted into hyperspace. Days of this continued brief interactions with her captor split between lengthy hyperspace jumps. The Jedi slipping further and further into despair as she realized 'Tarion' was making it incredibly difficult to follow him. And that was assuming anyone was even looking at that point.

It had been perhaps a week when things changed. The ship stopped, Tarion hadn't returned to her in probably more than a day. There was a distinct shift as they started to descend into an atmosphere. Coryth found herself sitting cross-legged only waiting. The landing was light as ever but outside she could hear the howl of harsh winds across the ship's surface.

Hearing the door hiss open, Tarion once more returned to the little Jedi's cage. This time, there were more footsteps, more people joining him. Dark robed, and all frankly looking as sinister as he, surrounded the force cage. Well now, this makes things awkward. It seemed he wasn't going to be giving her any slight chance for escape at all. Not one if it could be avoided.

"Did you actually believe you needed so many bodies just to manage one ninety pound girl, without Force powers?"

"Miss Elaris, you are a rare commodity. I simply do not wish to take chances on losing you. That is all." He paused only to wave his hand and the barrier around her dissipated.

The redhead started to move, but quickly felt hands upon her shoulders, arms, as a set of cuffs was slapped upon her wrists and she was pulled to her feet. Coryth naturally tensed slightly, fearful of what was to come. You see, she wasn't the perfect little holier than though Jedi. She felt far more than the average being, able to read and pick up on others emotions with ease, even without the Force, for you see, she was a natural Empath inside and out. Take away the Force, and she still had those gifts. And right now, she picked up a level of fear in the people around her, outside of her own worries, amplifying what she felt, making the experience only that much more unpleasant.

As the other beings shuffled her towards the door, one particular human grabbed for her shoulder drawing a scream from the redhead. She still had horrific wounds from Xerxes, it'd been nearly a year but not all of them had closed completely. Coryth pulled away as best she could manage, anything to get that soul off her injured shoulder.

Tarion stepped in front of the group, a hand reaching for Coryth as she tried to pull back. Wrapping an invisible hand around her, he held her in place as he pulled her robes back, revealing the sickened yellow and oozing flesh.

"See that a medical droid attends to her, once she is inside. Though I suspect it may take a lot more than that." Even he could feel the darkness radiating from her skin, the evil that actually lived within her. He imagined that Knight Elaris barely understood what had been done to her, she simply was far too young, too inexperienced to understand the nature of the darkside and it's overwhelming power. Releasing her they once more started on their way.

As they got closer to the boarding ramp, Coryth felt a heavy chill in the air, frigid almost. As they pushed her along, bringing her down the ramp, in the darkness and moonlight she finally understood the winds, and the cold. They were in the mountains somewhere, snow and ice covered the stairs up to the castle they were heading to. Her clothing far from protected her as the fierce winds ripped at her little body, forcing her to shiver terribly.

"Couldn't you have found a better hideout? Maybe .... I don't know, say somewhere on a tropical island, with warm sunny beaches? I mean ... I could have actually got on board with that."

"Say what you want, no one comes here but us."

"With this kind of decor, and the weather, I can't say I blame them." Spoken as she was ushered inside the dusty, and cold castle.
The group started to split apart, three men remaining with her, along with Tarion. He grabbed her arm, and gently pulled her forward as he reached into a drawer of a nearby desk. He withdrew what appeared to be some kind of bracelet. Quickly he pressed it onto her wrist, locking it tightly as he picked up a controller, activating it, leaving a small green light gleaming among the silver metal.

"Step a toe outside the boundaries of the castle, and you will die a most agonizing and slow death, understood?"

Coryth glared icily at him, but none the less nodded.

"Excellent."

"That's not the word I had for it."

Not bothering to reply he turned to one of the men still standing with Coryth. "Serian, would you please see our guest to her chambers. I'm certain the others will already have the medical droid there, waiting. Make sure she is comfortable."

Coryth didn't need much encouragement in that direction as she was taken deep within the castle, traveling down multiple stair cases, bringing them deep into the underground part of the entire complex. Compared to the upper levels, things below were much more modern in the scope of technology. Multiple heavy durasteel doors, guarded with droids and passwords, and far too many computer consoles.

Finally they stopped in front of a set of doors, keying in passwords before it opened to a rather spacious room, with a decent bed, a small bathroom sat in the corner, granted everything in the open and visible but still, it was warm, and decently comfortable for a cell. Pushed inside, she waited as one removed her cuffs and motioned for her to get on the bed, where the medical droid was waiting for her.

Not a word really needed to be exchanged as she took a seat, her eyes on the ground as the droid began it's examination on her. There was no sense in protesting such, not when Coryth knew she needed the help. The acolytes of Tarion, hadn't left either. They seemed to be waiting on the droid too. Before she knew it, her ribs were set, and wrapped. An IV was started with antibiotics to ward off infection, and to help her heal.

Coryth knew well enough that antibiotics alone were not going to help her. Master Jedi Healers, hadn't been able to completely heal her either. Everyone reminded her that it simply was going to take time. However, Coryth suspected that, it was just a way of not telling her that they didn't have the answers nor the skills to end the misery of Xerxes. Once all was said and done, the droid, and the men inside the room left her alone. Though they remained close by, not wishing to risk her somehow managing to escape from her confinement and attempt to flee the mountain.

Tarion meanwhile busied himself. In his personal chambers, far from the little redhead. He was retrieving a glass dagger. Beautiful and elegant in its own way. Ancient in it's origins. It had been called in the decrepit temple, been called the dagger of foresight. An aid to oracles of old. Tarion had every intention to use Coryth as an oracle of the modern age. He simply had to impress upon her the ideals of his order. She was the one they needed, to see what the Force had set out for them, to help aid them in events to come. Anything to keep their sacred order alive, and continue work that much of the known galaxy would consider evil, the extermination of races, civilizations not worthy to stand the test of time.


[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


There was far too much smoke in the room. Moira Skaldi could never stand it. Perhaps it was the choir girl and aspiring priestess in her talking...but no, that young girl was long dead. She had deliberately buried her. And yet she hated the smell. Likewise intensely disliked it when cigarette smoke invaded her nostrils.



Yet another reason to find the Deputy Director annoying as he grind out the inevitable cigarette. With well-practiced self-control, she suppressed the cough that rose in her throat. It would not do to show weakness. Perfect poise was essential. No matter how tempting the thought of snapping his neck was. She could easily do this before any of the guards outside sprang in to save him. It would just...not be profitable or particularly intelligent. At least this one was less annoying than the Special Agent she had worked with before. For one, he knew what the game was about and did not bore her to death with boring platitudes about the Republic's Force-given manifest destiny to spread freedom and democracy.



Yeah, right, 'freedom'. An empty platitude, much like 'bringing order to the Galaxy' and 'protecting the weak from the strong'. The entire Saelari clan was inherently corrupt and treated the Republic as its personal patrimony. Democracy was a sham to fool the ignorant masses, whilst one laid claim to the moral high ground. Moira...could not care less. "We have a situation, Agent Skaldi. A Jedi Knight called Coryth Elaris recently vanished...and, how surprising, their insipid Council has no idea where she is. Predictably. She was last seen on Naboo, at the grave of her fiancee," he said gravely whilst lighting another cigarette. Gods, the man was a walking smoke machine. Apparently the idea that he could open the window was too revolutionary for him. He inhaled deeply.


"I see," Moira said...tone very indifferent. "Why is this our problem? Jedi have a habit of randomly vanishing, when they are not meddling because 'the Force told them' to. I imagine Ms Elaris will pop up soon with a crimson lightsabre, black robes and veiny skin," she spoke...very, very dryly.


The Deputy Director shot her a cold look. She met the glare, features not tightening, but not wavering either. Those blue eyes of hers had been described as piercing...to some the way she looked upon them could only be considered unnerving. Even with all her scars, she was beautiful, but few had the courage to say that to her face. "If you want to continue having a future in this organisation, Ms Skaldi, I strongly suggest a more respectful tone. No one is irreplaceable. Certainly not someone with your..."



"Past. Yes, it's rather chequered. Terrorism, piracy, slavery, gun running. I imagine it would look good for the tabloids. I step out of line, I end up with a blaster bolt to the head. But...the Republic keeps needing me...because I'm expendable and do the dirty work others can't. So...what's so special about her?"



The man blew out a cloud of smoke. By now it was so thick that it obscured most of his face, filling the room. "I like you, Skaldi. I can guarantee you won't last long before you find yourself in a grave...in fact you can forget about a senior position in this organisation but I like you. A refreshing change from all these idiots straight out of the academy who have drunk from the Freedom Train Kool-aid." Through the thick haze of smoke he passed a folder with aurebesh sigils over. As Moira opened it, she found that it contained a rather detailed dossier on Jedi Elaris. There was also a picture of her. A redhead. Well, she was pretty.


"Born in abject poverty. Force powers first manifested as a child. Taken in by the Jedi at fourteen on Coruscant after fleeing gangsters. A prodigy endowed with the second sight...and the power of healing. Dedicated herself to curing the sick," she spoke as she went through the report. Her long, pianist fingers traced across the pages. Those hands showed indication of broken bones. Mother had been adamant about her daughter growing up to be a good girl who understood discipline. Mother did not matter anymore. Nothing that was of the past did.


"If I did not know you did no better..I'd say there was a shred of sympathy in your voice?"


Moira put the folder aside. "I'm afraid I no longer have the emotional range, sir. The file mentions she...had an...encounter with a Sith Master, a Ket Limelight. If her the demise of her father and her fiancee threw her into emotional turmoil, she may have absconded with this man? Jedi are notoriously incapable of anything approaching self-control. Or loyalty."


"Unlike you?"


"I have never claimed to be a patriot. I am reliable in my lack of zeal."


The Deputy Director waved her words aside as if they were buzzing insects. "Then stop speculating and get to work. Go to Naboo, find out anything you can about her. Support team and resources will be provided, as will details on those we last know she interacted with. If she has turned traitor, I want to know."


"I take it the Jedi are supposed to be kept out?"


The stony silence and the man taking yet another drag from his cigarette was all the answer she needed. "What is the mission priority, returning Ms. Elaris to Republic space? Or ensuring that no Sith, if she has been captured by one given the trouble magnet she is, is able to use her as a resource?" The implications of the latter were obvious.


"Do whatever it takes," the man said as he arose, stubbing the cigarette out in an ashtray.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Inside her cell, Coryth had little sense of time passing other than the steady draining of the IV bag hanging above her and the occasionally the medical droid was escorted in to check on her.

Sighing heavily, she shifted onto her side after another dose of pain medications to attempt to sleep. All she wanted to do, was close her eyes, wake up, and all of this would be over. Her wish, that none of it had happened at all. Unfortunately when you're living in a nightmare awake, there is little you can do to escape the harsh reality.

Hours passed as the small woman drifted in and out of sleep, restlessly tossing and turning as agonizing ribs shifted against her tender lung making breathing difficult to say the least. Eventually, the doors hissed open with Tarion and a few of his followers entering the cell.

Groggily Coryth stirred, lifting her head to see who had joined them in the small room. In one of the men's hands were shackles. Sitting up quickly Cory had all the intentions of getting off the bed, and trying to avoid the pain that was sure to follow. But before she could even get an inch beyond sitting up, Tarion reached out in the force wrapping an invisible hand around her tiny body, holding her while the others attached the chains to her wrists, and legs, and then to bed beneath her. Pulled taunt across the bed, the redhead already was panting, panic sinking in as she spotted a glass dagger of some sort in the Sith's hands.

"Relax Miss Elaris, we aren't here to kill you. Simply teach you."

"Teaching doesn't start with tying me to a bed, and drawing a dagger upon me."

"If I believed for a second that I could trust you Jedi, those would not be needed. But alas I'm no fool. Trust is earned. As for the dagger, it's just an artifact of old. Not a weapon." He spoke as he retrieved a small vial of blue liquid from his pocket as well as withdrawing a syringe.

"What is that?" Her eyes widening, fear sinking in as thousands of possibilities raced through her mind.

"This, is an ancient concoction of herbs, a few minerals, and a bit of alchemy combined. The Oracles of old, used this substance alongside that dagger, to gain deeper access and understanding of their visions within the force." He sighed, pushed the needle into the vial withdrawing a set amount of the mixture. "I've read it's excruciating to use. Truth be told I have no idea as I've not tried it myself."

"Oh, thanks. That's real comforting." The tiny Jedi snarled as he clutched at her wrist, pulling her arm tight before he forced the syringe into her soft skin, injecting the substance directly into her vein. Within mere seconds Coryth was screaming, writhing on the bed in agony as her body felt like it was on fire, burning from the inside out. She could barely manage to take rapid shallow breaths, a desperate attempt of control against the horrendous agony induced upon her.

"Shhh..... just breathe Coryth. Breathe." Tarion spoke soothingly as he reached out, stroking gently at her hair.

Time passed painfully slow as the drug raced through her body. Coryth, trembling violent upon the small bed as her eyes searched the room. Looking between each individual soul there. Empathy, her natural empathy, she was using seeking to find a weak link with the beings present in the room. Someone she thought might be malleable. The woman needed that if she was to have any hope of escape and survival.

"There now, Coryth. There, there."

The redheads struggles were slowing, the pain easing off a little at a time, becoming more manageable for her. Tears streamed down her face, as she sniffled and shifted ever so slightly on her back, as much as the bindings would allow. Already her mind, felt, different. Strange. Something was off as the edges of her vision blurred. And it grew harder and harder to open her eyes as the drug concoction made her grow tired, worn.

Tarion's eyes never left Coryth, watching her every movement. Reaching out into the Force he wrapped his senses around the whole of her being, seeking to assess her completely. All to see if she was ready to have the Force negating collar removed.

He glanced to the man Cory recognized as Serian. "Make sure the others are outside, be ready for anything." Reaching into his pocket once more, he grabbed another syringe, this one filled already with a clear liquid. Grabbing her IV, he only connected the syringe to the line, but did not inject the medication.

Coryth's brow furrowed in response.

Tarion met the expression with a smile, "Just a sedative my dear, in case you decide to attempt something foolish while we allow you to have the Force, without the collar." Answering the question, before she could even ask it.

Her eyes flicked again between everyone in the room unsure what exactly they were waiting for. A moment or two more passed before Tarion produced a key and unlocked the force inhibiting collar around her neck. The second the metal fell away from her skin, Coryth cried out as the force flooded back into her mind. With the drug in her system, with no effort on her part already a few visions passed before her eyes.

After a minute or so the Sith took the glass dagger he'd been holding and pressed it into her hand. Instantly she screamed as she was torn into the void, seeing hundreds if not thousands of visions at once. An endless sea of images, events, people and places ... Not even for a second could Coryth actually slow the torrent of images, to try and understand them. Whatever the drug he'd given her, between it and the dagger ... her skills had been amplified beyond anything she ever imagined.

Her body shook violently against the strain on the bed, and Tarion only watched her. Watched and listened within the force to see what was happening. He had never been particularly gifted with visions, but Coryth was special. Very special. Finally he pulled the blade away from her skin, and the redhead gasped, panting for breath as her vision returned to normal and she could once again see the people in the room with her.

"What did you see?"

Sweat was dripping for her forehead, down into her eyes. "I ... I...." How in the worlds could she explain that? "So .. much. Too.. much." The redhead panted between gasps for air.

"You're going to have to focus Coryth." He sighed heavily, "The manuscripts say to find a single strand. Something that you know has happened or is close to you ... and hold tight to that. From there, it's a simple matter to follow where the strand will lead. In time, they say you'll be able to just focus on a single thought of what you want to see and the visions will come when using this method."

One of the attendants was wiping the swear away from Coryth's eyes and face, as they gave her a moment to breathe. "Please ... Tarion, it hurts. I don't want to do this."

His eyes held no sympathy for her at all. "You do not have a choice Coryth. And you know damn well I can make it in your best interests to cooperate, to value working with me, above not. Perhaps I should just start cutting digits off. Say starting with your toes?" A smirk played across his lips, "But I'd really like to not have to do that. And ... all I have to do is simply place the dagger against your skin, and you will fall most painfully right back into the visions."

It was a moment of opportunity, Coryth reached out into the force to strike him but before she could even make her move, she felt the sting of medication being forced through her IV. "No..." She whimpered as her head bobbed, and her eyes grew so very heavy. The force became further and further away from her reach.

"I thought you would have known better than to try something like that." The disappointment so evident in his tone.

"I had to try..."

"Yes, I imagine you did." He only shook his head, "We'll have to let that wear off for a moment. But it is only a short acting sedative, so it won't be long." With that, he left her side and headed over to a desk to browse through a rather old looking book, skimming through the passages to pass the time.

A good fifteen minutes later he returned to her side. He took a seat beside her tiny body upon the bed, and just stared down at her for a moment. "I suppose we shall try this again. Be smarter Coryth. Work with me, and the pain in the end will be much less for you. Work against me, and I shall make every waking breath absolute agony, am I clear?"

"As crystal." She snapped in return as she watched him bring the dagger once more against her skin. Once more she was torn into a world of visions, and images all too strange and familiar all at once. Her screams echoed in her cell, and Tarion still only watched.

Then suddenly he leaned down to her ear, "Focus Coryth!" He hissed forcefully, "Find a single strand! Something to ground you! Do it and do it now!" He clutched her wrist tightly in his hand, digging his nails into her wrist to try and keep her attention on the more physical, "Feel the pain, use that to ground you in reality!" Hoping that she could feel what he was doing to her body, and that she'd somehow use it as a means to anchor herself.

Coryth cried out loudly as the pain bled through into what she was seeing, to the point she actually found herself floating above the bed in the cell watching as he stood over her. It was a most sobering realization. "S-stop..." She managed to whimper, as he kept digging into her wrist, drawing blood as his nails tore through her flesh.

"Good... I see you can hear me now."

"Hear and see..." She whispered, still watching her body from above.

Tarion cocked his head to the side, "Most interesting..." At that he let up on her wrist a little, "Good, good ... now focus, focus on me. I want to know what will happen say ... five or six years from now."

Coryth had been about to start on that venture, to find what he wanted but her body suddenly seized up. Every muscle upon her body tensed and convulsed horribly. "Get the medical droid!" He shouted as he did his best to hold her down in the force to keep her from harming herself. One of his aids took away the dagger and soon the droid was at her side, injecting a series of medications into her IV. Finally her body calmed and Coryth rested peacefully upon the bed.

"She needs rest Master. The infection has taken it's toll upon her body and she needs to rest undisturbed."

Tarion nodded a reply to the droid as he snapped the force blocking collar once more around her neck. "How long do you believe she needs?"

"A few days, sir." Once again Tarion nodded. Coryth wasn't going to get a few days, maybe a day at most, but right now arguing with the droid would have been a moot point. With that, he collected the dagger, his book and left her to his guards. "Keep an eye on her, if anything changes in her status, I want to know." He ordered before he headed back up in the castle to his own personal chambers.

[member="Moira Skaldi"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


Naboo. Moira had only been on the planet for a short while and she had already concluded that she fething hated it. It was so false, so artificial...not to mention inhabited by naive peaceniks with their heads in the clouds and defined by woolly-headed idealism that translated into self-righteous elitism, no matter how much they might preach about being open-minded and liberal. Many who came to Theed only saw its beauty, its clean and orderly streets, its well-dressed citizens and could not stop prattling about how enlightened its democracy was.



Then again, this was also the planet that had given birth to Palpatine of Naboo. The Great Tyrant. Not everything that glitters is made of gold, after all. Moira found herself longing for a day when the fires would consume the supposedly magnificient city and tear its falsehoods down. Local officials were as uncooperative as might be expected, for the Republic held no sway over Naboo. Far as Moira was concerned, it was probably best it stayed that way because there were already enough fools and knaves pompously speechifying in the Senate. No need to add naive, idealistic children to the congregation of windbags that already held power over all that Coruscant had conquered on its manifest destiny crusade.



Never mind, she had been inspecting the grave of Coryth's fiance whilst her minions searched for clues and questioned locals. As she bent down and examined the crime scene Moira happened to come across drops of blood. Coryth's? Or that of the attacker? Medical analysis would confirm that it was indeed that of the redhead. See, records and such were kept by the Jedi Order. Likewise, there was a sedative dart that she quickly pocketed. Moira did not recognise the type of dart instantly, but it was the sort of projectile bounty-hunters would use to restrain their targets. It was poisoned with a strong sedative, furthering the supposition that this had been a professional hit. Then again, amateurs did not take down a Jedi and while Coryth might be short of statue, there was nothing to suggest in her file that she was weak.


Further confirmation for the hypothesis came when a frightened Naboo woman, evidently deeply shocked by what had happened, was found who said that the poor redhead had been assaulted by a dark robed man using magical powers. Logical conclusion? Sith or Dark Jedi. A struggle had developed and it stood to reason that a hired mercenary had taken the woman out. Unfortunately, it was not possible to trace the ship, for the two had hid their tracks well. Lacking any visual description, it would also not be possible to search for the dark mage in their databanks.


However...the poisoned dart was a lead. Back in the day Obi-Wan had been forced to go visit an old buddy who run a bar in order to find out that the darts used to take out Zam Wessell were from Kamino. However, times had changed and so the Republic had advanced so far that its Intelligence Bureau had a forensics division, leading to a thorough analysis of the projectile in questiom. As this went on, she called in some favours in the underworld, where she was still at home. Some of her contacts knew she was a Republic agent now, some still knew her as Ruby and others did not care. Heli Peregrinas, a Cathar 'information broker', fell into the latter category since she prided herself on being True Neutral on such things.


The dart was a Nar Shaddaa black market, further snooping traced it to a bounty-hunter called Tatiana Doneeta. It was a bit ironic when, after some arm-twisting, Moira found out that the mercenary had been on the Republic pay roll for a while. Not that she was judging, since not so long ago she had been a space pirate, slaver and terrorist. In any case, Doneeta was said to be on...Corellia. With great speed and purpose driving her, Moira's ship was in the depths of hyperspace and en route to the planet. Mission? Simple, find Doneeta, 'persuade' her to spill her guts out on who had abducted Coryth and where they were. Then, once the mercenary was dead, go after the redhead and find here. By any means necessary.