Tomb

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Joon"] |

Cigarettes, alcohol and various other substances, some of which she recognized as Glitterstim were found among clothes, food and water canteens. Opening one of the canteens, Darth Ayra drank the water within hungrily, draining it in one go. Closing the cap back on, she decided to keep the canteen, in case it rained again. Leaving the cigarettes, alcohol and drugs where she had found them, Darth Ayra took the rest back to the tent she had slept in, piling what she found with the other items Justiciara had found as well.

Kneeling down, Darth Ayra found the blaster that she reasoned Justiciara must have found. Covered in shoot and melted in places, she put two and together, realizing that this must have been what the Twi'lek had been going for moments before she broke his neck. "This is broken," Darth Ayra said. "Useless." Discarding it beside the pile, she turned her gaze to the metal rod. She didn't know why Justiciara had decided to bring it along, but decided not to comment on it.

Standing up outside the tent, Darth Ayra turned to Justiciara and said: "I found dry clothes, but I don't know if they will fit us. Our current clothes are still damp from the night before. If we stay in them for too long, we will become sick. After we have dealt with the bodies, we will change into them."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon stood and watched Ayra "inspect" what she had found. At the flippant dismissal of most, she narrowed her eyes slightly. Right there, the real Ayra came back.

”I'm fine in these, they'll dry. Don't worry about me, if you're cold then change. We can move out after that because there's no point wasting time here caretaking the camp when our resources will be used best at the tomb.”

She kicked the rod, looking over the discarded blaster, then back to Ayra.

”Did you find any water?”

Glancing at the canteen in her free hand was all it took to know the Master had shown her true colour again, and in doing so made Joon hate her again; the walls were closing in gradually, that feeling of being trapped and being able to do nothing about it.

[member="Darth Ayra"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Joon"] |

Turning to listen to her Apprentice, Darth Ayra picked up one of the other canteens of water that had been piled together with the other supplies that had amalgamated in the tent and flung it right at Justiciara, uncaring as to whether or not it hit her in the face; or if it broke completely and the water inside fell into the mud, useless to either of them.

"Watch your tongue, Apprentice. I do not appreciate your tone." The minor infraction was done more so to keep Justiciara routed in her position, rather than the twinge of annoyance that Darth Ayra had felt at the flippant dismissal of her suggestion and the reversal that had followed. Quietly, the Sith Master was impressed that her Apprentice had it in her to challenge the suggestion she had made in the first place, albeit it being small and inconsequential. Things began small and if Justiciara was to surpass her Master, then she would need the ability to challenge her outright.

Indeed, Darth Ayra had invited her Apprentice to challenge her at every turn, from the minor things to the schemes they would orchestrate, as they worked together towards the destruction of the Jedi. If the power of the Force was to become centered only in two, as was the core concept of the Rule of Two itself, then the nuance, subtlety and tenants of the dark side had to be abide by. You could not grow strong without challenge, and without strength, you were not powerful.

"Do as you wish, Justiciara. But the challenge that lays ahead of us will be taxing. Your damp clothes made feel minor to you now, but when we are deep in the thick of it, you may discover that minor infraction you could have dealt with now in turn becomes a big problem. In every facet of our movement across the Galaxy, regardless of the environment and the circumstances we find ourselves in, we must always be meticulous and prepared."

As Darth Ayra changed out of her damp robes and into the warmest, yet, lightest clothes she had found, she continued explaining her lesson. "In this moment, you have the opportunity to plan ahead. You have the time to prepare. We will not always have this chance. Sometimes, we will have to go on our gut instinct. Instinct that we will train and hone together."

As she laced the boots that were closest to her foot size, she looked back up to Justiciara. "That instinct tells you that I was being dismissive. On the contrary, to dismiss you over something as arbitrary as a broken blaster would be stupid. The blaster does not work, in turn, it is useless to us. But you are most useful, and because of this, I need you to be ready as you can possibly be."

"Once again, my Apprentice, you must grow used to the nuance of language, behaviour and the scenarios played to you. We are about to head into the tomb of a long dead Dark Lord of the Sith, so ancient that not even I have heard of his name before. I have told you that these dead Sith leave behind defences, designed not to stop us from taking their treasure, but to test and challenge us, so if we conquer them, then we were truly worthy of claiming what they left behind in this corporal realm we call life."

"In short, change your clothes, Justiciara."

 

[Connor Harrison]

The water canteen hit her, bounced up and she fumbled to catch it, frowning at the frustration of it all. Ayra lectured her again, and Joon just stood there until she was over. Opening the cap, she took a drink of water and threw it down to the floor, the rest spilling out, before turning to scavenge through the packs on the ground.

Kneeling, she pulled part the clothes inside, the sheets and books from the campers.

All she found was what looked like black cargo trousers with many pockets, a red pair of shorts, numerous vests, a coat, and a white shirt. She took the trousers, vest and shirt. With her back to Ayra, she stripped down again, throwing the clothes down in a pile and replacing them with the new ones – only the trousers were a little long, but she rolled the bottoms up.

The white vest was a little baggy, so she threw on the white shirt and rolled up the sleeves and pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail, before slipping her boots on. She wasn’t going to wear other shoes that didn’t fit. No chance. Retrieving the lightsaber hilt from her jacket pocket on the ground, she held it in her hand.

”Forgive me. Master. I’m still not used to being told what to do and how to do it.”

Pulling the ponytail into place, she turned, and was already bored of Ayra still being there.

”If you’re ready?”

She let her gaze linger for a second before moving out of the tent with a stride in her step, finding the metal rod and picking it up. Melee combat was her strength, and now a metal rod would be useful for hiking and self-defence. She wasn’t going to risk using a lightsaber and cut her own arm off, or face patronising from Ayra again.

[member="Darth Ayra"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Joon"] |

Among the supplies that Darth Ayra had discovered whilst she searched the camp, she came across several rucksacks that she recognised as the kind you would associate with a hitchhiker. However, with the food, water and clothes that both she and Justiciara had found, she summarized that carrying something as large and heavy like those rucksacks would be a burden that they didn't necessarily need to add. Instead, she decided that the small satchels in the tent they had slept in the night before would be sufficient to their needs, given the fact that they hadn't found much in their search.

"You will regret wasting that water," Darth Ayra said. Pulling on her Sith robe, she dragged the satchel's strap around her neck and shoulder, allowing it to hang beside her hip. "If you run out below, do not expect me to share mine. Let's go." Moving away from the tent, Darth Ayra paused to survey the rest of the camp. Without access to fire or the tools she required to do away with the bodies, the Dark Lord had taken the advice of her Apprentice and done the next best thing. She would deceive those who would eventually discover the camp into believing that the camp was attacked, but not by the Sith.

Instead, the insignia of Clan Skirata, one of the ruling Mandalorian Clans that had a seat on the Alor'e Council, had been carved into the chest of each body by the Dark Lord, using a knife that she found in one of the nearby tents. Darth Ayra was aware that Gilamar Skirata, the Mandalorian veteran that represented the Skirata on the council was in opposition of Mand'alor the Reclaimer and his Mandalorian Crusaders at Echo'lya. The Black Tie Syndicate had dealings with Mand'alor and his Crusaders, so to Darth Ayra's eye, it would appear that their excavation of Freedon Nadd's tomb had been caught up in the middle of a Mandalorian feud, paving the way to future hostilities between both rival Mandalorian factions.

A few seconds passed as Darth Ayra thought over her lie. Turning away from the camp, the Dark Lord made her way out along a path. She made an assumption that the path she and Justiciara was now taking had been made from the many trips that the campers had taken in the intervening months since they had set up camp on Dxun. With the Force, Darth Ayra was aware that Freedon Nadd's tomb was in close proximity to the camp. She could feel the ancient power of the Dark Lord of the Sith. From this, she gathered that the path must lead down to where the excavation had been taken place; and that the camp they had just left behind had been there place to rest, eat and recover for the next days work.

"As I told you the night before, the tomb that we are heading into is extremely dangerous," Darth Ayra explained, turning her gaze to Justiciara as they made their way down the path, surrounded by the harsh jungle trees native to Dxun. Ducking under a hanging vine, she said: "I do not know what to expect, for I did not know who Freedon Nadd was. During my studies under Darth Pandeima, I remember reading about Sithspawn- creatures that were created from the very power of the dark side- were often used as a means of protecting places such as this. You will remember the one we met on Korriban."

Darth Ayra briefly recalled the gigantic Tuk'ata she had summoned with her powers and the brief battle they had shared near Dreshdae. It was a testimony to the creatures strength and power in the dark side that it had escaped the Dark Lord with it's life, despite Ayra's injuries due to the Initium's crash landing. Ahead, the trees begun to thin out and the path began to widen, suggesting that they were edging closer. "Such monsters may be in this tomb. There may be other traps, such as hidden mechanisms designed to be set off and cause injury, perhaps even fatal. If I were to build a tomb such as this, to protect the Holocrons and weapons that I recovered before death, I would definitely leave behind these traps, laced with poisons, explosives and so on."

"The dark side of the Force is a weapon. The Sith who learned to use the dark side learn abilities to shape and mold the dark side into something destructive. We may also come across these abilities, left behind by Sith magic, sorcery or alchemy, that will be designed to definitely kill us or worse. Even now, I can feel the power of the dark side that Freedon Nadd left behind in this tomb, so potent and destructive that it may even drive us to madness."

Darth Ayra paused her explanation, as she came to a stop at the end of the path. Ahead, the area was laced with several cranes, vehicles and tools that she gathered were used for the late excavation. The tomb itself laid beyond the different trenches that had been dug up. Inside most were ancient relics, mostly broken bits of technology, but in others laid the remnants of people of varying species. Their skeletons added to the spooky effect that played over the area, which Darth Ayra recognised as an effect of the dark side. If she was put off by it all, then she couldn't fathom what the woman beside her was feeling.

"When I was learning the ways of the Force under Pandeima, she had the ability to bring up memories that had been buried deep within my psyche. Things that I had forgotten as a defence mechanism. Using the Force, Pandeima made me relive times where I was accosted because of my Force-sensitivity by other children or when my older brother had abandoned me in the middle of no where in the middle of Hanna City, in the hope that I would be forgotten by the rest of my family and taken by strangers. I'm guessing that something similar will happen to you, Apprentice."

"Only through strength, do we gain power. You will need to be strong when we enter or we will be die and the Rule of Two will die with us. This is our greatest test as Master and Apprentice so far. If we fail here, we were never worthy of reviving Darth Bane's legacy and wearing the moniker as the Dark Lords of the Sith. Through power, we gain victory. Through victory, our chains will be broken. The Force shall set us free."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Happy she had the metal rod as a rest to use on the walk, Joon felt pretty good out of those damp clothes now. She was lighter, more suited for the environment and ready to explore which was in her nature. She stayed a step behind Ayra who led, and always she sponged up the advice, the views and warnings. It made her uneasy - she was literally in at the deep end, and the talk of death was something she didn't like. Ayra was certainly out for herself, that much was for sure.

Was Joon just a pawn in her game to achieve greatness and power? The doubts were there in her mind with each step, and she tried not to dwell on it for who knew what Ayra could do with the power of the Force channeling through them. Part of her wished she had a friend in Ayra, for she didn't know friendship. She really couldn't tell how the Master felt about the Apprentice except an end glory.

That both saddened her, and made her resentful to the woman who was taking everything from her. Killing someone who made you feel that wasn't going to be hard for a woman bred for war.

”Wow. Look at this place.”

They arrived before the dig-site and it was alive, even thought it wasn't. Wooden walkways, excavated tunnels for supplies and materials, crates and piles of earth.

She smiled. ”Centuries of history all tossed in the dirt like it doesn't matter."

Forget the Force setting her free - the history of the Sith and their power was the key for Joon, and she knew it. Ayra talked too much, and the clone was leading the way. She cast a glance to the dead bodies mangled in earth, not bothering her, and hopped over trenches, small crates and walked deftly over the walkways, her rod hitting the ground to steady her.

All across the dig site until she reached the tomb. Was it THE tomb? It was where most of the machinery was, and the excavated earth was extensive. The opening wasn't large, but it seemed dark and ominous, and it may have been just an outer passageway into a much large, deeper tomb. Standing at the opening, Joon closed her eyes and held her hand out, palm forward, wanting to drink up the energy that she felt.

It was cool air, it was empowering and it was refreshing. It was inviting.

”Let us make this discovery together. Master, and Apprentice."

It was the call of the Dark Side, and Joon wanted it. She wanted it. Badly.

[member="Darth Ayra"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Joon"] |

Darth Ayra followed her Apprentice, allowing her to lead the way. Moving across the wooden planks, erected over the trenches so as to allow others to move around the excavation site without falling in and contaminating any of the finds that were discovered, the Dark Lord came to a stop right beside Justiciara as they came to a stop before a small crevice in the stone wall before them. "Lightsaber out, at all times. If anything moves, kill it."

Drawing her Lightsaber into her palm, Darth Ayra heard and felt the familiar snap-hiss of the blade as it was brought into activation. A red hue fell over the Sith's immediate area, but was otherwise dulled by the sun that hung overhead. Lifting her gaze to the sky, for what might perhaps be the last time, Ayra caught the distant specter of Onderon as it hung in the sky, much closer than any planet she had ever seen to one of their moons.

Setting her focus back onto the tomb that laid before her, Darth Ayra was the first of the two to make her way into the entrance. Standing in the mouth of Freedon Nadd's tomb, the Dark Lord could hear the faint trickle of water and smelt the faint odor of moss. "Whoever built this tomb constructed it long ago," Darth Ayra said to Justiciara. "If the weather we have observed for the past day is anything to judge by, it is likely that the rain and lack of maintenance on the building will make it unstable. We must be cautious."

Stepping over the threshold and into the darkness, Darth Ayra lifted the crimson beam above her head so as to produce some light over the narrow hallway she was stood in. She could see cracks in the wall, with water trickling out and down into the floor. The smell of moss was greater here, and unlike the humidity outside, it was extremely cold inside the tomb. She was reminded of the cold she had embraced when she had first stepped foot onto Korriban all those years ago, when the Sith Empire was still alive and flourishing. Empowered, the Dark Lord of the Sith begun her path to power, moving deeper into the tomb, to claim another Dark Lord's prize.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon felt the weight of the hilt in her jacket pocket, but god helped her if she had to use it again. It was hard enough in the rain against campers; faced in a dark, confined tomb she’d probably lose a leg or worse. With the Master leading, the Apprentice followed the darkness began to swallow the two women up as the warm air teased them from behind with fading light. The crumbling carved statues either side marking the way.

The tomb was a little down into the earth, a low passageway full of dirt and bone, which Joon cared not for. She simply followed the crimson glow of the lightsaber, her rod in a tight clamp feeling the floor before her step.

Cobwebs were broken, which meant this place had seen recent activity, and the two woman moved forward until they came to a small antechamber, with passageways branching into three directions. One was blocked by what looked like purpose filler of rock and wood. Joon walked past Ayra to the blocked passage way and ran her hand over a piece of wood.

Wanting to connect with the environment around her in the ghostly silence, Joon looked into the passageway opposite.

”This is purpose filled. It’s to block something off, or keeping something out. It’s not this way. It’s through there.”

Joon walked across the dirty floor, hearing a few creaks up above and an eerie whistle where the wind came through cracks up above and funnelled down the passageway. She craned her head into the opening and turned to Ayra.

”You coming, or waiting to see if I die first?”

[member="Darth Ayra"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Joon"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"] |

Darth Ayra ignored her Apprentice's jibe. If it were her intention to test Freedon Nadd's tomb and the defences left behind by the ancient Dark Lord, through Justiciara's death, then she would not be stood before the three paths that stood before them. But there was another reason why Darth Ayra was ignoring her. As she stood deep within the tomb, immersed in it's dark side power, the Dark Lord of the Sith felt a familiar presence that was left behind, so faint that she was surprised that had even felt it.

But what was even more surprising that their presence was even there in the first place. "I sense someone," Darth Ayra whispered, her tone lowered and tinged with the surprise that she felt. "Someone that I know. Someone that was here..."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon turned to look at Ayra, and saw her trepidation as well as hearing her icy tone.

The clone gripped her rod with both hands, like a staff, and walked back over to her Master and stood beside, an automatic defence position to protect her should something come out of the tunnels. It was quiet, apart from the diegetic rumble of the wind slowly blowing from outside and through the tunnels here and beyond in the tomb.

If there was someone here Ayra knew, it couldn’t be an enemy, could it?

”Are they here now? Who is it?” she whispered, eyes wide and scanning for something – anything – in the darkness…

[member="Darth Ayra"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Joon"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"] |

The moment passed and the feeling that Darth Ayra felt went with it. Where the presence of Jedi Master Taeli Raaf had been so strong and prevalent, to the point that the Dark Lord believed her not only to be on the Demon's Moon, but was in the same room as she and her Apprentice, was now distance and almost empty. She could still feel that Taeli was here, but she knew that she was no where near Dxun or indeed the Onderon system itself.

"I felt the presence of a Jedi," said Darth Ayra, turning her gaze to Justiciara. "I was shocked. I did not expect to encounter them here." Turning her gaze from her Apprentice, the Dark Lord was consumed by her thoughts. What did this mean? Had Taeli been here? Why had she come here? What did she find? "This is troublesome," Darth Ayra admitted. "I know this Jedi. I have done business with them. I have grown close to them, so that I may undermine over time. But, perhaps, they have also grown close to me. Perhaps they even know who we are..."

It was something akin to an epiphany, a moment of clarity gifted by the dark side of the Force. Together, Master and Apprentice had ventured into the catacombs of a long dead ancestor, so as to claim their legacy for their own, and in turn, discovered that an enemy was far closer than they had planned or even anticipated for. With this in mind, Darth Ayra could formulate counter-measures for Taeli going forwards; and discovery exactly what she knew and didn't know about her, the Rule of Two or the Sith itself.

"They are not here now, however. They were here. I have felt it. Come, my Apprentice. We shall take the avenue route that you selected." To reassure Justiciara and renew her confidence in her Sith Master, Darth Ayra moved into the pathway first without another word, lifting the beam of her Lightsaber above her head to light up her path.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon had never felt this amount of uncertainty from Ayra in the months she’d known her, and even sensed a little anxiety about the situation. She scanned the room as the Master laid the demon to rest, gripping the rod, and soon relaxed as Ayra continued to lead the way, to where she followed.

”Disgusting Jedi. Here to take secrets for themselves; trying to take everything they can’t have.”

He fingers tightened on the shaft, knuckles turning white. She would love to kill one Jedi, just one. For revenge, for Duro. For the JN sisters.

”Let her look, she will find little to put into practice that we can’t match. Better together than just one alone.”

The path before them seemed to get a little steeper, so Joon sidestepped down into what looked like another chamber, but this one was even darker than above. She glanced around the room, not too high, but full of patterns and scripture on the walls, and a small obelisk in the centre. Joon walked over to it, in a circle, inspecting it.

”A key? A map? Do you recognise this?”

[member="Darth Ayra"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Joon"] |

Darth Ayra lifted her hand to the shoulder of her Apprentice, gripping it tightly before lifting it back up to her lips. Placing her index finger to her lips, indicating that she should be quiet, Ayra whispered: "Keep your tone lowered. We are still in danger." Lowering her hand back down to her side, the Dark Lord turned her focus to the obelisk in the center. As she observed the text and scripture on the plinth, Darth Ayra was also feeling other things, joining her unforeseen discovery that Taeli Raaf had once been in Freedon Nadd's tomb. There was something alive in the tomb, somewhere in close proximity to the two Sith. In fact, as the Dark Lord paused to think again, she came to the assumption that there were many of the creatures that she could sense with the Force.

"I do not recognise the writing," Darth Ayra said, her lone lowered to the point that it was barely above a whisper. "Although I think I saw something similar on Korriban." Crouching down, so as to look at the obelisk from bottom to top, the Dark Lord felt drawn to touch it with her hand. Lifting her palm up against the ancient black stone, she felt a rush in the Force. Paranoid and meticulous, Darth Ayra sprung back up to her feet and backed away from the obelisk, just in case. As she did, the writing on the obelisk glowed a menacing red, with cracks forming along the stone until finally a rush of air blew into the catacombs, whipping the Dark Lord's hair up as gusts assaulted her and Justiciara.

Leaning up against the back wall for support, Darth Ayra observed the obelisk begin to descend into the floor, and as it did, the slab of stone that had once served as the rooms floor began to open. Holding her Lightsaber steady in both of her hands, the Dark Lord saw that the new opening revealed a flight of stairs that led down into an abyss, that not even the crimson light of her Lightsaber could permeate. As sudden as the wind rushed in, it was suddenly gone and the catacomb once again became still and silent.

 

[Connor Harrison]

She didn’t have chance to respond before the crimson red glow signalled, to her, danger. Joon sidled back to Ayra, following her quickly to the wall, twisting her head away from the bursts of air that seemed to erupt from nowhere. Dropping the rod on the floor, she flattened her back and closed her eyes, bracing against the warmth that was overflowing them.

Squinting at the sound of rock grating on rock, she saw the obelisk sink into the ground as it opened up and parted way for a stone staircase leading deeper into the tomb and into the dark. It must have responded to the touch of Ayra, Joon thought – maybe the Dark Side itself is a key, and nobody could enter unless they were dedicated to it.

Standing upright again, looking around and peering into the depths, Joon turned to Ayra.

”I am happy to lead, Master.”

Kneeling to take back her rod, holding it in both hands, she started to step down into the darkness, the crimson glow from Ayra behind not penetrating too far ahead, which was worrying.

Down and down she went, until the hit the next step and part of it crumbled away, causing her to stumble and jerk back. Sighing in annoyance, Joon continued, more tentatively, until she reached the bottom.

It was cold, and felt very empty.

”There’s something ahead. I can’t see but, I feel…something. A presence. A pulse,” she whispered.

[member="Darth Ayra"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Joon"] |

There was a language, created long before the Sith became a species, that allowed the Force to be literally transcribed upon stone, such as the obelisk that had been activated by Darth Ayra. Although the Dark Lord did not know of this language- for the knowledge had been long lost over the centuries since the Four Hundred Year Darkness- she had nonetheless managed to reveal the entrance into the next catacomb, guided by her powers in the Force.

Lifting her hand to stop Justiciara, Darth Ayra silently cursed as her Apprentice moved before she could be stopped, instantly diving into the affray with a callous disregard for the danger that they were in. Your ignorance is going to cost us everything! fumed the Dark Lord, as she arrived on the threshold to the ancient stair way. Just because you cannot see the danger that you are in, does not mean it is no longer there! Spreading her hand forward, Darth Ayra exerted her will over the Force and poured it into the catacomb below, feeling it out with her senses. Who or what she had felt before was down there, she summarized. There were many of them, she learned.

As she bowed her head, closing her eyes so as to exert herself deeper into the enigma of Freedon Nadd's tomb, Darth Ayra perceived her threat. They were tiny creatures, rich with the dark side of the Force. It would seem my guess was accurate. So, Freedon Nadd did leave behind defences. But was he responsible for the construction of these creatures? Lifting her Lightsaber in a lowered angle, Darth Ayra descended into the stairway, avoiding the step that Justiciara had nearly fallen off, coming out to her side.

"I feel them too," Darth Ayra whispered, keeping her eyes narrowed on the path ahead. There was two directions for Master and Apprentice to take. They could go forwards or they could go backwards. Having already determined that the creatures she had felt were in either direction, Darth Ayra couldn't tell which way they should head. "This is an age old conundrum. So simple and yet so effective. Our option is simple: to part ways and go in either direction or stay together and possibly choose the wrong path."

Stepping in front of Justiciara, Ayra offered a reassuring smile. "Your impulse to enter the affray is a symptom of your ignorance, Apprentice. Only as Master and Apprentice can we complete this pilgrimage. We were lucky in this case, but the next time something like that happens- what happened in the room above- you stay with me and you stick close. Do not run towards an opening like that again. It might have been a trap, and for all we know, we are now inside it."

As she finished whispering to Justiciara, the slab above the Dark Lord begun to seal itself. She felt something turn and retract in the ceiling above, which Ayra guessed to be the obelisk returning to it's previous position. They were now stuck in the dark, with a decision on which route to take, with only each other to serve as back-up against unknown, untold horrors. Was this the end?

 

[Connor Harrison]

With Ayra behind, Joon closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, releasing her frustration at yet another error on her part trying to impress, and another put-down from the Master. Her fingers gripped the rod…maybe she could turn now and smack her one with it, across the face, or impale her thigh muscle and make her apologise for doubting JN-4 all this time.

She didn’t have time to day-dream, because she snapped her head up to see the floor above closing on them, and all she could do with fix her eyes on it as the light slipped away and a dull thud echoed out as the chamber was plunged into darkness.

The crimson saber was the only light they had, and Joon looked back to the passageways and the uneven floor. There was a choice to be made.

”I’d say we should split across the two chambers, but you’d fault me because I didn’t stick with you. Or, I’d say stick together, but you’d fault me for not taking the lead and trusting myself to discover what lies ahead.”

Sticking her rod down on the ground and scratching her chin, Joon looked to Ayra beside her.

”Because you never make a fault, you choose what you want me to do. Master.”

Joon hated Ayra, but would never abandon her. This, she knew, was the pinnacle of now being trapped forever in the chains of the Sith.

[member="Darth Ayra"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Joon"] |

"Do not focus your frustrations on me, Apprentice. You were the one in the wrong, so learn from it." Clipping Justiciara by the ear, Darth Ayra lowered her hand back onto the pommel of her hilt and turned to face the left. "I would only fault you for one of those choices. Parting ways would surely get you killed. Remember: your life holds more importance than anything else. Think inwardly, only for yourself."

Reminding her Apprentice about the individuality of the Sith, the Dark Lord made a decision based on instinct. "This way." Moving forwards, the Dark Lord and her Apprentice made their way through the darkness, guided only by the crimson light of the Lightsaber. The walls and ceiling were so enclosed, that their footsteps echoed. Ayra could literally here every intake of breath that Justiciara took as they went forwards and she assumed that it was the same for her.

Ahead, in the darkness, Darth Ayra heard a noise. She held her hand up to stop Justiciara, pausing to listen. To her ears, it seemed like something- no, several somethings- were scuttling along. They seemed to be insects, she gathered. Holding her index finger to her lips, Darth Ayra indicated for silence and then pressed the ignition button of her Lightsaber, submerging herself and Justiciara in complete darkness.

There, in the dark, the Dark Lord of the Sith waited.

 

[Connor Harrison]

”Ow!”

Joon flinched at the hit, and gave daggers through eyes to Ayra. For a second, they bore hate and were greyer than normal, but it passed as soon as it arrived.

Turning away with a shake of the head, she followed, edging into the passageway and having to adapt her breathing to keep it a little quiet and compensate her movement that was slower and a little cramped.

When Ayra stopped, Joon did the second her hand came up, and she couldn’t see past the imposing frame of the Sith, so she stood, and waited…and then her eyes went wide as the crimson blade extinguished.

Not daring to breathe or move, her eyes looked around at nothing but black. She heard the movement upfront, scurrying and rattling. Joon closed her eyes to center herself and feel what she could with the Force power, and Ayra was the beacon that was right in front.

Opening her eyes, that didn’t make a difference; she wanted to speak but knew she’d get another hiding. Instead, she just stood, shifting her weight a little and felt a lumpy rocky beneath her foot that moved.

She flinched, hitting the side of the passageway with her back with a thump, and winced. If Ayra hit her one more time, she’d hit back, she swore.

[member="Darth Ayra"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Joon"] |

Darth Ayra felt them physically near her, scuttling along the ground. They were large, she summarized. Big enough to fit the palm of her hand. She wanted to explain to Justicara in that moment that they needed to remain still. If they moved, then the Dark Lord was sure that they would be swarmed. It wasn't so much as her senses in the Force as it was her gut instinct on the matter. Something was telling her to be still and as silent as possible.

Then it happened. The Dark Lord's eyes widened in the darkness as she heard her Apprentice hit the back wall with a thump. As soon as it happened, Darth Ayra knew that the danger she had spoken of had reached new heights. Her senses were suddenly flooded with the irrevocable sensation of hunger. Before she could respond to the situation, Darth Ayra felt something scuttle along her leg. Pushing her thumb back down onto the ignition button of her Lightsaber, it's red light engulfed Master and Apprentice once more.

What they were met with was the stuff of nightmares.

Creatures, of the same coloration of the stone walls of the catacomb, were everywhere that the eye could see. From the floors, the ceiling and the walls, they surrounded both women. Gasping at the horror, the Dark Lord turned her gaze to her leg and saw that one of them was inside her robes. She could feel it scuttling along, near her knee. Before she could lower her hand down to her leg, so as to push the insect out of her clothes and away from her, Darth Ayra was met with a pain so powerful and potent that it made her scream. Worse than the skin transplant she had endured after Rave Merrill had used the blood trail on her at Gormos or the pain she had endured all those years ago, on the night she had enacted her act of emancipation through the death of her family.

Tears stung the eyes of Darth Ayra as the pain overwhelmed her. She could feel the teeth of the creature burrowing into her skin, peeling away at her. She never stopped screaming, yelling her torment at the hands of the Orbalisks of Freedon Nadd. Terror etched on her face, Darth Ayra lashed out with her Lightsaber, twirling and spinning the weapon against the Orbalisks that surrounded her. But as the red light of her weapon brandished against the creatures, she discovered that they were not destroyed, instead only batted away by the weapon. Drawn by her power, the Orbalisks swarmed forward, intent to join the one already burrowing on her leg, so as to feed on the dark side energy that the Dark Lord of the Sith commanded. They dived forward, only to be met by her Lightsaber, rebounding off the wall, floor and ceiling against Darth Ayra's attack. Yet, the Dark Lord continued in her failure to destroy them. Behind Ayra, there stood Justiciara, the Sith Apprentice who found herself in waters too deep for her. Surely the Orbalisks would swarm on her, intent to devour the dark side within, and yet, as she stood there- no doubt horrified by what she saw- they moved by her instead, ignoring the Apprentince and entirely focused on her Master.

 

[Connor Harrison]

The shift happened, and the horrible noise filled the chamber along with Ayra’s crimson illumination. Walls and floor bore creatures like small oval rocks that swarmed to the pair. Joon gasped and pushed back to the wall as far as she could, dropping the rod and arms splayed back against the rock.

Hearing her Master scream in pain was blood-curdling, and it made Joon near double-over in a painful gasp. It was a nightmare, and the sound was horrific from her cry and the creatures rhythmic scrabbling.

They weren’t going near Joon at all, they were focussing on Ayra, the Master. She was frozen with a fear she had never experienced before; a helplessness like Duro where she hid away and curled up and closed her eyes to avoid the bloodshed all around her and the noises and dead bodies.

Panting, eyes wide in fear, seeing the chaos as the creatures didn’t seem to be stopping by the blade, Joon cried out.

”Guide me! PLEASE!”

She was verging on hysteria, a helpless fear and upset born from being alone, and now being trapped faced with unknown creatures and the cry of her Master. Her emotions were bubbling up, an anxiety brewing, an explosive outburst stirring inside her heaving body and sweat covered face.

[member="Darth Ayra"]