Private Wonderland Ice Paradise

[Astride Velvet]

It's been a while since I visited my ancestral village. Everything was destroyed, but I took the time to restore my house so I could live there peacefully. To feed myself, I hunt or fish. For plants, I go in the forest; in short, I'm completely self-sufficient.

I don't need anyone, and no one needs me. I meditate quietly and train during the day; I've earned the right to return to my home. I have become powerful enough to free myself from my chains; I split my former master in two with an axe.

The weather has gotten much colder; it is winter. It's time for me to bring out the fur coat so I can still go for walks outside.

I sit quietly on a rock, aiming to meditate facing the frozen plain; only the sound of the wind disturbs my meditation. The force is powerful and present here. My large cow is lying next to me because I don't need it right away.

The vibrations around me are strong; I am one with nature. I don't feel the cold, the end, or suffering; I am at peace with myself. After all, I have achieved my goal and have nothing to prove for now.

I think back to the Sith cave I raided the other day; there was a document with a ritual to learn how to separate one's soul from one's body. However, the ritual was incomplete; it lacked a way for the soul to effectively find its body again. To solve this problem, I decided to create a rune that would act like a GPS beacon, helping to easily locate one's body in the meanders of the force.

So, I enhanced the ritual by adding my touch to it. According to our ancient writings, the gods agree that there are lands beyond the border of the living.

That's why I seized that scroll. However, something is disturbing my meditation; I feel an aura slowly approaching my direction, and it's quite powerful in the force. I would say I'm not dealing with a Sith, but a Night Sister.

I slowly grab my axe as I see the silhouette appear in the distance, but I remain seated cross-legged because I am at home here.

"Dear strange visitor, why are you disturb me ? What do you want?"

Lyssara Thrynn

 

[Lyssara Thrynn]

How did I end up here? It's a long story. I was searching for an ancient artifact, a scroll to be precise. Unfortunately for me, even though I managed to infiltrate the tomb and defeat all its monsters, my disappointment was immense when I reached the sacred altar only to find it empty.

So, I left empty-handed and had to investigate like crazy to get to where I am now. I had to trace an entire network just to get a single piece of information. A warrior who lived in a remote area had taken the loot and left with it.

This didn't suit my plans, so I ended up finding her by torturing her former employer to get the information I needed. Of course, I killed him afterward because I was very annoyed that he had given her the location of the scroll before me. I actually enjoyed his screams; they sounded like sweet music to my ears. It thrilled me immensely.

For the occasion, I wore my dark black and gold spell coat with a hint of red, and I brought my ichor sword and my lightsaber, intending to confront this woman. I learned that she lives in a remote part of the galaxy near the Iridonia sector, on a small frozen planet.

Without hesitation, I landed my ship nearby in a small snowy clearing and dressed accordingly to stay warm. I took my thermos of coffee, a thick coat, and my weapons, intending to reclaim what rightfully belongs to me.

It was a tough journey to find this place, but here I am. I walk alone in the snow, the crunch under my feet as I crush the little snowflakes. There she is, meditating on a rock. One intriguing detail is that I feel an aura around her large axe, in addition to her own. I must be cautious; I think she might use her weapon against lightsabers, much like my ichor sword. As I approach her, she speaks, asking what I want. She's perceptive.

"You possess something that I've also come to claim. Unfortunately, or fortunately for you, you beat me to the dungeon. I want the ritual you possess."

I draw my ichor sword and imbue it with green flame, just in case she wants to fight. Seeing that she grabbed her axe as I arrived, I think combat is inevitable. All I need to do now is convince her to give me the ritual. I focus more because she has an incredibly powerful aura in the Force. If we decide to fight, I must be ready to face her.

"Come on, be nice, give me the ritual and I'll leave you alone. By the way, my name is Lyssara Thrynn."

I give her a polite bow as tradition demands in duels.

Astride Velvet

 

[Astride Velvet]

As I expected, this fool is bothering me for that damned scroll I stole the other day on Korriban, in an ancient tomb. She explicitly tells me she wants to get her hands on it, but I have no idea what she intends to do with it. Such a ritual is not trivial, and I'm not even sure I want to use it myself.

Of course, now that I've read the scroll and practiced with the rune, it's no longer a secret to me. However, I feel that it is boundless and limitless. It is among the most dangerous. It's for this kind of person that I'm here. I will have to test her motivation in a fight. She gives me the standard duel salute imposed by the Sith order.

She has a lightsaber and probably uses the magic of the Night Sisters, which is confirmed when her sword starts to shimmer with a strange green glow.

"My name is Astride Velvet, I see that you are determined to disturb my meditation; I hope you're ready to face the consequences."

With a slight smile, I can see her irritation mounting as the minutes tick by. I decide to return her salute; I think we're going to have a little discussion during the battle, I can't afford to let this ritual fall into just anyone's hands.

"If you want your scroll, then come and claim it."

With my large axe, I take a combat stance on my meditation rock. I am now ready to face her, all my senses on alert; we will see who is stronger between a Sister of the Night and a warrior of the snows. I'm not in the mood to negotiate with her, her choice is already made. As is mine.

The sound of the wind adds to the palpable atmosphere; the sun is slowly setting, and we are both ready to fight. She has taken up her sword and stance as well. However, I have no intention of initiating hostilities; after all, she is the one who came to provoke me on my ground. I will let her move first; she will make mistakes if she lets her emotions carry her away.

A fight is a dialogue, the sound of footsteps, the posture, the way we hold our weapon, our facial expressions, it reveals a lot. For an experienced fighter, it reveals everything. There is the verbal and the non-verbal.

This girl is aggressive from start to finish, like a poison quietly spreading through your veins. My mind is now fully focused on her presence and on my surroundings. My attitude has changed; we are both ready to clash over this scroll. Considering the dangerous nature of the ritual, I think it's wise to sort out this knowledge. She will either have to defeat me or convince me to give her the formula.

Which I absolutely do not want to do under the current circumstances; she has put me in a bad mood, and understandably so, as I was peacefully meditating when suddenly she shows up out of nowhere demanding the scroll. After all, I suppose it's in her nature, but we all know how cruel Siths can be when they want something.

Yes, blood will flow today, and I can already say that the sun will rise red tomorrow. I've noticed a small shiny object hidden under her coat; she has some kind of grappling hook, just like me. I must be wary; it may not be the only thing she's decided to hide. A blaster, potions, a medikit, all factors that could change the course of the fight in an instant.

Lyssara Thrynn

 

[Lyssara Thrynn]

"It's as if it's done."

With a quick gesture, I deliver a powerful vertical strike with my lightsaber, intending to initiate the combat. So determined am I that I fail to notice, but I split the rock she was standing on moments before in two. I realize I've struck empty air, as I saw her perform a backflip to dodge my blow, landing behind me. She then struck me with the handle of her weapon, causing me to fall forward into the position where she had been standing moments earlier, albeit in a rather humiliating posture that set the tone for the fight.

"Very funny, I appreciate your manners."

I straighten up, brushing the snow from my outfit and blowing it off to compose myself. I glance at the rock, the marks of my lightsaber clear, the molten rock still warm. A few meters further, a small line in the snow has melted from the fire and lava projections of my saber.

This, by the way, doesn't seem to scare the warrior at all; on the contrary, it seems to amuse her.

What is certain is that she is far from a beginner. While I still don't know what style of combat she might master, I need to be careful. If I could dislodge her axe, it wouldn't be a bad idea.

As soon as she landed, she assumed a defensive posture, not giving me much opening. I think this is the type of opponent who is wary of everything until she has won.

It's my turn to attack. I charge forward to deliver a cross strike with my lightsaber and my Night Sister sword, but she easily blocks it with her axe, striking right at the intersection of my two blows. As I suspected, her weapon can block my own lightsaber.

I step back and deliver a horizontal strike with both my swords, creating a large fire projection, which forces her to dodge and step aside to avoid collateral damage.

Taking advantage of her momentary cover, I leap at her in a vertical strike with my Night Sister sword. I'm determined to give no respite. I need to maintain the advantage in this fight.

"So, not so clever now, are you?"

It's only right to know I'm determined not to give her any gifts.

Astride Velvet

 

[Astride Velvet]

"It's not good to be so pretentious."

As I expected, she makes the first move towards me, allowing me to efficiently leap over her shoulder in a somersault as she is occupied with destroying the rock. I strike her with the handle of my axe, aiming to destabilize and knock her down, adding humiliation to the mix. I've always had a penchant for non-verbal provocations. They insinuate themselves within you like poison.

She throws a taunt my way, one of her specialities, which makes me smile as I see her straightening up and brushing the snow off her jacket. Personally, I couldn't care less about rolling in the snow if it brings me victory.

One detail intrigues me, however; I notice a pretty trail in the snow as if it had melted instantly, with steam rising from it it seems to be a property of her lightsaber. I'll have to be cautious of these projections.

Now she delivers a cross strike are you stupid or what? To counter it, I simply place my axe in the path of both blades. Her projection, however, bothers me a bit, and I have to shift to the left to anticipate the blow. There she goes, taking advantage of it to leap with another traditional vertical sword strike in my direction.

I position the handle of my axe in the path of her sword; it's sturdy enough to block a weapon, which probably destabilizes her given that it's made of wood. However, this isn't ordinary wood; it has been heated and reheated to become very hard, and I've enhanced it with a little rune that gives it a nice effect.

I stop responding as I see another taunt from her.

I deliver a powerful blow to her abdomen with the handle of my weapon, aimed to destabilize her and further irritate her. The moon has risen high in the sky now, and we are in the forest where the snow on the trees further enhances the enchanting aspect of the landscape in which we are fighting.

After focusing more, I extend my hand in her direction and perform what is known in the jargon as a force push she loses her weapons in the process. I take the opportunity to throw my axe next to her head; I have a plan in mind.

Lyssara Thrynn

 

[Lyssara Thrynn]

Not only is she right there, but I also find myself taking a series of blows with the handle of her weapon. It hurts and throws me off balance I stagger here and there, struggling to focus on the fight.

As if that wasn't enough, I take the full brunt of her Force push and end up against a tree, unarmed. I startle as she throws her ax on each side of my head to embed it in the tree.

She deliberately sacrifices her weapon even though I've lost mine. I struggle to regain my senses, and the cold begins to bite my skin, though she seems unaffected after all, she lives here. I shake my head to focus and grab her ax.

There's a rune engraved on the handle that seems to contain a lot more force, as if it were concentrated there. Likely an activation mechanism, but I'm not sure what it does, so I avoid touching it too much. Surprisingly, her ax continues to emit a Force signal, as if my opponent were maintaining it intentionally. Why would she do that? Is she so confident in her abilities that she lets me use her own weapon?

I see her pick up my ichor sword and come at me full throttle to deliver a powerful vertical strike. I'm trapped against the tree because I blocked with the wooden handle of her weapon to avoid her blow. She locks me in and gazes intensely into my eyes.

I'm suddenly struck by a severe migraine, and flashes begin to appear in my vision. I don't know what she's doing to me, but I'm stuck by the blade of my own sword, and she pushes so hard that she slightly crushes my back, as if trying to read me like an open book.

I close my eyes and scream to get out of my head it's starting to hurt.

"Get out of my head, leave now!"

I roar in anger, but it's no use, she maintains contact to keep me blocked like this. She also has a grappling hook and suddenly uses it to tie me to the tree. Now I'm trapped; I end up dropping her axe she has won the fight.

 

[Astride Velvet]

My gamble finally paid off by giving her my axe, I not only managed to disarm her but also used it to pin her against a tree with my grappling hook to immobilize and tie her to the trunk, this time with real rope. Once she's securely tied, I retrieve my grappling hook and rewind it, but I remain cautious a simple act of pyrokinesis could suffice to burn through the rope.


"little queen! "

I scrutinize her closely, looking into her eyes I feel an unusual rage. She is at my mercy now, and what she desires is not here. She has come all this way for nothing, and moreover, she dared to kill a close one to get here at least the one who betrayed me can no longer speak, I see it in his own memories.

She belongs to the Diarchy, this new faction planning to make a speech soon. I had planned to attend the opening ceremony of the festivities, which allows me to learn more through a member of the High Council.

This explains why she's bad in combat; she's a scientist in pursuit of power who has invested everything in science and the research of biology. The Force ability I use is called "Force memory," used by some powerful Siths and Jedis to interrogate subjects who would refuse to talk.

I place my hand over her mouth to prevent her from insulting me further and to stay focused on what I'm doing.

"Shut up, be quiet !"
"Hmm hmmmh!"

She's taking a very dangerous path, Abeloth even I wouldn't dare to confront her. I needed this Dreamwalker ability to talk to the former member of my clan who were attacked and annihilated while I was working for the Siths. This ability indeed allows one to speak to ghosts through dreams, but it's not at all what she's looking for.

I have to make her understand that what she's looking for isn't directly related to the content of the scroll another idea comes to my mind, I will show her another ability so she won't be disappointed with her journey, and she will be able to experiment with a new technique, which I will of course use on her. Seeing how she's tied now, I finally release the pressure against her mouth to allow her to speak.

"What you're looking for isn't here; you're mistaken, and the scroll you wanted is far from being the ability you needed. Go northeast towards Bastion, you will find the answer you're looking for there."

I flash a broad smile, step back slightly, and extend my hand towards her, closing my eyes and concentrating on the Force.

"Watch closely and learn, I'll only say this once make sure you don't forget it."

My hand begins to glow with an unusual, highly concentrated red aura forming a spherical shape.

"First, I concentrate all my desire for destruction into a single point through my body, I become one with the Force, I direct it towards the palm of my hand then I imagine a sphere very concentrated in the Force whose sole and unique purpose is to explode everything around me. Once that's done, I take a moment to reinforce the technique which then serves as an explosive my aura can broken everythings. What's great with a Force destruction is that we can either decide to throw it at our target or use our body as a conduit."

She widens her eyes as she realizes what I'm getting at, she starts turning pale, which makes me smile quite cruelly. I'm literally proceeding to her execution.

"Then I designate my target, in this case, it's you, and finally the grand finale."
"No no no, dont do th..."

I point my hand in her direction after uttering a small incantation and visualizing the trigger as if I were using a blaster, I fire in her direction and a violent explosion erupts at the girl tied to the tree.

"Oh yes i do this! Bye bye!"

The explosion is so strong it's like a clap of thunder striking her. Everything around me is blown away in the explosion, and the girl is propelled backward with such a shock that she hits another obstacle and loses consciousness on the spot.

I've defeated this adversary, but I deliberately spared her vital signs so that she may later return to her own ship, plus I sense another aura nearby, probably aboard her own ship.

Of course, it doesn't affect me since it's my own ability, but I go all out to show her that this power is not to be taken lightly, intentionally detailing my speech I've taught her this technique so she won't leave empty-handed.

I retrieve my axe that had fallen to the ground and place her weapons next to her inert body. I'm not the type to keep trophies, and I even drop the scroll I was seeking next to her, so she realizes she was on the wrong track anyway I've already consumed its content, so it's an empty scroll.

Once everything is back in place, I take the opportunity to leave the area and board my ship, humming slightly with new objectives in mind.

 

[Nyva Shei]

I'm comfortably sipping my cup of coffee on the couch in the ship while watching the holo-news. There isn't much else to do at the moment since it's a deal that my mistress needs to handle on her own.

Therefore, I'm enjoying a good cup of coffee and the warmth of the ship because it's extremely cold outside. Night is beginning to fall, and I'm about to cook dinner like any other day, following my usual routine. She has given me full access to her ship, so it feels like mine when she's not here.
After finishing cleaning the kitchen, I take advantage of a good hot meal and then warm up near the heat generator to stay warm.

Outside the porthole, there's a typical landscape of mountains and snowy meadows, a place I would like to visit someday. I'll ask for permission when she returns.

Suddenly, while everything is calm and I'm quietly enjoying the music from the projector, I hear a huge explosion. I look out the window and see a red light in the distance.

I grab my coat and medical equipment and rush out of the ship to see what's happening. When I arrive at the scene, I find two weapons and the scroll at Lyssara's feet. I sigh when I see her in a pitiful state, covered with burns and significant injuries.

I notice the presence of charred rope; she must have lost the fight and will be in one of her moods when she wakes up. I pick up all her belongings, including the scroll she came for, and bring everything back to the ship.

I deposit her weapons in the armory and then head to the infirmary to start her medical treatment. Meanwhile, I order Ada to leave the planet; she switches to automatic pilot, and the ship takes off on its own. No skiing today. I place her in a Bacta tank to heal her quickly.
Then I return to the activities I was doing before.