That Which Lies Beyond

[Vereshin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTw2zCkY9w4​

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A horizon, muted by the waning sun, sprawled far beyond the reaches of Valc. The world lay on the fringes of Imperial space and Vereshin pursued rumors of rising distress and malevolent power. Brown hills rolled beneath dry grass, the remnants of trees placed sparsely over an endless spanning road. The sorcerer traveled as a civilian, a khaki trench coat covered his waif physique above loose pants tucked into boots. A scarf wrapped around his neck and hid his nose from the chill air. Striding over the hill, he found a dead tree to rest against and slid a hand into his pocket to grip a cigarette. He only expected he was alone, the approaching presence of another told him otherwise.

Holding the cigarette in his mouth, he snapped his fingers to light it. The cylinder hung from his ajar lips while he stood against the tree and relieved himself. Smoke morphed into the dull air, formless and ethereal, the foul stench travelling to the eyes of an unexpected visitor. Vereshin finished and sat down, fatigue weighing on his limbs and demanding rest. Grass brushed up against his cheek and his eyes shifted to a conspicuous sight. Great patches of land ripped clean out of the grass in symmetrically placed shapes, the trail of large feet tearing through the land. He only sighed and arched his head backwards, knowing he needed to eat in order to keep up his strength.

The face of a young woman, her presence signalling the Dark Side strode before him and faced him down. Black hair and civilian clothes told him she was making an effort to blend in, as Vereshin did himself to gain the trust of locals. Raising his cigarette to his lips, he inhaled deeply and blew smoke away from the girl's face. A seeping energy gripped the air and made the sun look a pale brown, Vereshin concentrated and tried to sense the source, meanwhile turning to face the other Force-user.

"If there is civilization anywhere, I'd be glad if you were to show me." He parted his lips with a smile to reveal traces of his blackening teeth. Brushing his hair back with a hand, he rose to his feet and brushed down the front of his trousers. "My name is Vereshin, you can call me Vi if you would prefer." He offered the girl his hand to shake. Both of them turned around to look at the enormous animal tracks and a glint of curiosity communicated from his eye. His companion too, conveyed intrigue. The shrill echo of a scream traveled from the down the hill and and abruptly diverted his gaze.

The shape of a woman, running from a terrible tragedy, grew larger and formed into view. Long skirts flowed behind her flailing hands as she cried in a local dialect Vereshin did not understand. Shock piled in his chest and he motioned forward to grip her by the shoulders. Tears and dirt stained her face as she sobbed all over his coat. Swallowing, he could not find the words to calm her and merely thought of answers she could give him to assist his quest to discover the source of the arcane power on the world.

"Madam, please tell me, where is everybody, where did you come from?" Vereshin tried to maintain his usual soft tone which instead turned demanding as he held her. She only cried out the name of a girl, presumably her daughter and finished her plea with indiscernible tongue. Frustrated, Vereshin only looked away and he felt her grip on his coat as she tried to pull him towards where she came from. As quickly as she appeared, the woman grabbed her skirts and ran away, looking behind to make sure the two Sith followed her.

[member="Myn Eris"]

 

[Asher]

[member="Vereshin"]

Her boots were firm, yet comfortable. As Myn had walked across the surface of Valc that was all she could really think about. It was nothing quite like the boots she had gotten at the military academy, but they came pretty damn close in terms comfort. No, these ones were different. They clung to her lower leg with their waterproof, nearly air tight embrace that let her traverse through most terrain as long as it didn’t reach much further than her calves. Had Pyrrhus granted her these as a nice gift or to merely throw her off? Truth told she had no idea, but she certainly hoped it was to be a nice gift. After all, the girl did more than just the occasional odd job for him, and most of the time without even complaining about it. She joked about them, a lot in fact, but she never complained. Her parents had raised her better than that, and to question authority such as Pyrrhus’ was unheard of.

To a degree anyway.

It would seem she had been sent to meet with another acolyte for this one. A smoker at that, but she wasn’t one to judge. Would she really murder people without remorse, but draw the line of morality at smoking? No, it didn’t work like that. She offered him a raise of her head, a nod to say ‘Hello’ before she approached him. Hands sunk into the pockets of her jacket while her mind expanded to sense for any presences in the two acolytes’ vicinity.

“Good to meet you, Vi.” It never hurt to be polite. At least not with fellow Sith. “Name’s Myn, my master caught rumor of distress and had me come seek this place out.”

“Can’t say I see why, this place seems pretty calm-” At that moment, of course, a woman decided to run past. Her voice shrieking in a tongue indistinguishable to Myn who unlike Vereshin would remain where she had with a brow quirked at the whole situation. She was in panic, there was no getting through to people like that.

“Vi, just let her go- Okay, maybe not.” Myn let out a brief ‘huh’ as the woman began to lead Vi away. Myn’s hands fell out of her pockets as she reached for the saber she had stashed within the insides of her jacket. This reeked of problems.

“Why did I not sense her before she came running?” Myn asked Vereshin aloud, uncaring whether the woman heard and understood her or not. “Be careful.”

Cold, calculated eyes scanned the surroundings for ambushes.

“I don’t like this.”

 

[Vereshin]

As the woman let go of Vereshin's hand and ran away in the opposite direction, a final shriek followed her scampering feet as she cried out to the two Sith. Standing with caution, the sorcerer coursed through the air for her presence and detected nothing. He brushed down the front of his dark coat and motioned forward with a step. Curiosity pulled him further towards the mist. A sudden wind swept up the grass and ran through the garments of Vi and Myn, beckoning him forward and moving the grass smoothly over the hill. Sliding one hand into his pocket, he let another hang by his side and bgean to channel his force energy in preparation for the unexpected. Darth Abyss trained him how to defend himself without a lightsaber and he needed no such weapon to defend himself.

"Come on, she might lead us closer to the source of power on this world." Vereshin quickened his pace and walked ahead of Myn. The grass seemed to grow thicker and a feint mist clung to the air. Shrieks sounded from the distance as the padding of feet trailed on. As the mist cleared, the murky surface of water came into view and mirrored the brown horizon. A lake nestled in a huge crater sat at the base of the hill. Over the horizon, a line of smoke traveled beyond the hills and lead to the feint shapes of rooftops. The back of the woman stopped dead before the surface of the water and Vereshin mimicked her pause.

The filthy lace of her dress billowed against the subtle wind. Her hung limply over dead arms as she seemed to gaze obsessively into the dark water. In almost a second of contrast, her hysteria ended to leave her standing fixated. Reaching out a hand, Vereshin tried to speak while watching slowly for any sudden movements. His feet pulled him forward and he moved towards her back while the space between them dispersed. His stride grew longer and before he could reach out to touch the back of her hair, she moved her feet quickly into the water, leaving her dress trailing along the surface, before she disappeared completely beneath the muddy residue.

The illusion dissipated into the water as the particles of light peeled away from her shape to hover on the fog above. Black tendrils formed beneath the surface and protruded forth to lunge at the two Sith. Finding his feet behind him, Vereshin stumbled backwards and landed clean on his backside, before turning over to grab the grass and run towards Myn. The energy in the lake seeped over in the form of entrapping arms and the Sith repressed the desire to run and flee. Whatever or whoever was controlling this world, they did not intend for them to leave.

[member="Myn Eris"]

 

[Asher]

[member="Vereshin"]

This still reeked of ambush. Myn wouldn’t let her guard down, not by a long shot. There was a mist here, a tactical advantage of Myn had ever seen one. Get some infrared on this and you have yourself an ambush where you could both murder and hide the evidence. Yet the mist cleared and Myn would feel her mind come to rest, at least for a little bit. This entire situation still had her on edge. They came to a halt by the water and the woman simply stared into the water. Vi had tried to talk to her, but the woman didn’t listen. Her body sunk into the lake. A black miasma formed at its surface.

“Oh chit!” Myn exclaimed and ignited her saber. “What the feth is that?!”

Her feet carried her away from the lake, or at least tried to.

“Game plan, Vi. Quick thinking, how do we destroy this?”

 

[Vereshin]

As Vereshin ran towards Myn, the festering miasma darkened in hue and seeped in closer. The sorcerer turned around and beheld the rising smoke, which began to take shape and formed into black tendrils, surging forward with entrapping arms and threatening to drag the two Sith into the maw of the lake. In an instant, Vereshin shot a hand forward and attempted to slice one of the arms from the core to no avail. The energy only reformed with sparks of electricity and moved forward at an even faster pace.

"Do not use your saber, they cannot be destroyed by physical means." Vereshin warned Myn while regaining his stance. He stretched his wrists and parted his fingers against the air, casting a barrier of energy between both of them and the tendrils. The smoke collected behind the thick pane and compressed as Vereshin strengthened his hold. Walking forward, he compacted the barrier and dispersed the space holding the smoke, forming a perfect black sphere above the water. Drops hovered above the opaque surface and mist swirled around the shape. With a wave of his hands, Vereshin destroyed the matter of the orb in a small burst of force, sending him stumbling backwards on his feet.

A gust of energy blew through the garments of Vereshin and Myn, while the lake reacted to the effects of the spell. The water rippled and dissipated into steam, shrinking before their eyes and drying up, leaving a cracked base behind. Steam settled above the dirt and waned, to leave the view of the hills before them. The sorcerer sighed and brushed down the front of his coat, before moving onward and looking behind for Myn to follow. He placed his boots onto the dry crater and walked across the bed where the water had been before climbing over the bank and balancing himself while he ran briskly down the hill on the other side.

"Come along!" Vereshin called to Myn as he found his feet, gazing over the village at the foot of the hill. While the Acolyte caught up, he moved onward and strode down the hill towards the houses. The village made up a single road between stone houses. There seemed to be nobody around. Movement stirred between the crevices of the houses and tools and utensils were left in haste where they had been in use. Stopping before the road to preen his senses, Vereshin scanned the space for any signs of life.

[member="Myn Eris"]