Jump to content

Home

Knights Of The Old Republic: Darkness Falls


DarthSion101

Recommended Posts

While Karda ranted angrily at her, Jasra heard a barely perceptible whisper in the back of her mind. Stoke his fire, Jasra.

 

“So nice to see the Jedi Code is alive and well,” she replied back to Karda. “What was it again? There is no emotion, except when it suits us to have them? There is no ignorance, but only when it comes to not seeing other people’s points of view? There is no passion, except for when we want to sulk and seek vengeance?” She snorted. “And didn’t you say that to me on Manaan no one is beyond forgiveness and redemption? Well, what a lie that was! You want to go after Brax and get yourself killed? Fine. Go ahead. See if I care. I’ll find Crystal and Kira and the shard on my own.” She eyed him critically. “You’re no different from me, Karda, except for one thing. At least I know I’m not a Jedi.”

 

She was feeling stronger now, the effects from the poison wearing off, but she didn’t reignite her lightsabre. Instead raised an invisible force shield, combining the techniques she’d learned from Crystal and Brax along with her own technique of Force Reflection. If Karda attacked her, he would get whatever he gave right back in his face.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 1.3k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

“So nice to see the Jedi Code is alive and well. What was it again? There is no emotion, except when it suits us to have them? There is no ignorance, but only when it comes to not seeing other people’s points of view? There is no passion, except for when we want to sulk and seek vengeance?”

 

Karda stopped and looked at her. He then sighed, and slowly came back to her, most of his anger gone, but some still in him. "Yeah, your right. I did say that." Karda looked up and added, "Maybe it was a lie, and maybe I'm really not a Jedi; or at least I probably won't be if I go after Brax. Maybe this is why I almost never completed the trials."

 

He put his lightsaber back on his belt and glared at her. "And maybe the Jedi Code is nonsense. Sure, I was always tought that no one is without forgiveness and redemption." He paused and then added, "And I'm human, too, even if I pretend to be a Jedi. I offered you the chance to come back to the Jedi, to forget whatever you had done."

 

Try as he might, Karda couldn't control the anger and rage that kept rising inside of him. I should be able to control this, to calm myself, but I can't. He thought. I feel like when I was first training, and Master Ylar kept reprimanding me for my emotions. "Well," He spoke again, "I can see that was a mistake to offer redemption to someone who apprentices herself to a murderer, and feels no remorse about the murder."

 

"Tell me, Jasra," Karda said slowly, "What is this defense, this thing 'that drives him', the somehow justifies Brax and yourself."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jasra eyed Karda cautiously, but she still wasn't letting her guard down. "According to him, Revan was the murderer. He murdered the leader of the Umwati people, a high priest, and then he fled. He was sent after Revan--to avenge his leader's death. And isn't that exactly what you are planning to do now? Go after someone in revenge for killing one of your people?"

 

She paused. "You judge him, and you don't even have the courtesy to ask him what his motives are. You condemn him to death without even allowing him to speak. You don't know what Revan did while he was in the Unknown Regions. But you seem to forget that Revan was once a Sith Lord, as well as a Jedi, so don't paint him as someone who wasn't capable of committing acts of evil.

 

"And another thing," she added, somewhat angrily. "I'm not his apprentice. I'm his student, and I don't have to jusify myself to you or anyone else for accepting him as a teacher. I've had many 'teachers' after Master Kelva died--some Force Adepts, some not. Crystal's taught me things. So has Kira. I seek out knowledge to protect myself, to keep one step ahead of the Sith.

 

"He is powerful in the Force, and he's taught me how to use my emotions to enhance the Force, balance it within me, use it to defend myself. Hardly the 'Dark' tools of assasination as you seem to believe." She paused, then snorted. "I'm sorry you feel betrayed my actions. I truly am. I never wanted to hurt you like this. But you didn't offer to train me, you only said that the Jedi might take me back. But that's all assuming that I get out of this current situation alive and intact. And without more training, I'm afraid that's not going to happen." She looked at the spider's mutilated corpse, then shivered. "If he hadn't come when he did, I wouldn't be alive." She glanced at Tegan. "And neither would she. Then again, we're not 'powerful and great Jedi,' so I suppose our lives are rather insignificant in the eyes of a Jedi Knight like yourself."

 

That said, she tried to tuck in the rip in her sleeve from where the spider's fang had gouged her. After a couple of tries, she gave up and ripped the shreds of cloth away and tossed them to the ground. "C'mon, Tegan," she said, giving Karda a sideways glance. "Let's go find Crystal and Kira."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kira quickly ran through the corridors and rooms of the ruined temple, cutting easily through cobwebs, dust, and dirt. She flew across the flagstones and jumped stairs with easy, measured strides.

She slowed her pace as she found the room she wanted. It was rather large, though it was hard to tell by the dim lighting. A hole in the ceiling allowed weak light down into the room, creating a small arc around a single object in the room. It was a small pedestal, with something glittering on it.

At last. she said, smiling greedily as she proceeded towards it.

"We were wondering when you were going to decide to show up."

Kira's head snapped up, her hand flying to her saber as three men, seemingly Dark Jedi, stepped from the shadows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"According to him." Karda shouted after Tegan and Jasra. "Did you ever ask why Revan killed his leader, Jasra? Or did you not even care? Were you just so anxious to become powerful enough to defend yourself that you didn't ask any questions, just went along with this murderer and assassin? You seem to forget that Revan knew he was once a Sith Lord, had every chance to regain that power with nothing to stop him. But he didn't. He remained a Jedi."

 

"And Jasra, even if what you say is right; You are also judging Revan right now. You are also condemning him, having no regret about Revan and thinking that he was the one who did the evil here. You don't even have the courtesy to ask this 'Brax' what Revan's reasons were!" He stepped forward. "And you have the nerve to stand there and to tell me that I don't have the right to go and kill him. If you don't remember, didn't Brax do the same thing I did? Murder someone in revenge for another supposed 'murder'? Have you forgotten that side of your 'teacher'?"

 

"Or was it maybe because you're too blind." He spat. "Maybe because you were so insensitive and only concerned about yourself that you forget what he did, and what you are doing. The only thing you are concerned about is learning to 'defend' yourself. And you don't care one single bit who does it, or what he did." He stopped and looked at Jasra, angry for her still.

 

"I would have tried to save you from that thing too. I do care about your lives. But the only difference is, you only care about yours. You wouldn't give Revan, or mine, or any other people's death as long as it didn't concern you."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jasra stopped dead in her tracks. She took a deep breath, trying to control the anger that was rising in her. Jedi Code. Balance in the Force. Opening herself to others. Concentration. Her mind was becoming muddled with thoughts, voices from the past, and way too many feelings for her to contain.

 

She slowly turned around to face Karda. "It's obvious to me that you are not going to let this go. You want a fight. Fine." She ignited her lightsabre. "I'll lose, but I'll fight you, if that's what you want. Take your revenge out on me for Revan's death. Kill me, and then you won't have to worry about me betraying anyone else."

 

She flourished her blade, then charged at him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Karda really hadn't expected this. Maybe a few minutes earlier he would have met her head-on, slammed her into the murky ground. But even while the rage was still in him, that feeling of betrayal, he was a bit more collected now. Less ready to chop somebody's head off.

 

But he rolled quickly to the side, force pushing Jasra. "I'm not seeking a fight. At least, not anymore. I'm just trying to understand, or maybe make you understand. But it is likewise obvious to me that you won't hear anything about Brax. Evidently you really don't think that much of the Jedi at all, or-" Karda suddenly stopped, and felt that same sensation that he had felt at first... and another presence, something evil. Karda looked away from Jasra, forgetting about Brax and Revan for a moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brax's claws flexed as Jasra charged ... his whole body wanted to leap forward, to join her in her attack. There is Peace. There is Anger. There is Fear. There is Power. There is Death. There is Immortality. There is the Force. The words flowed through him, calming him ... Jasra felt them, as he reached out to her again. To reassure her that he was there, if she decided to take this fight farther. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. But you should be after Kira, there are Sith in the temple.

 

(Wee 100 posts)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

((Congrats, 3yks! Triple digits! :) Yay!))

 

“What?” Jasra gave Karda an incredulous look as he paused mid-sentence and looked around. “Decided that you would help find Kira now?” She rolled her eyes as she switched off her sabre. “Unbelievable…” she muttered, as she picked herself up off the ground. “I wish you’d make up your…” She paused as if suddenly realising something. “ ….mind.”

 

She knelt, putting her hand on the ground. The Darkness felt stronger on the ground for some reason. She glanced over at the dead spider and where it had built its web. The web had to be anchored someplace she reckoned. She looked up. Not in the trees. She looked back down, then took a closer look at the ‘quicksand’ that had covered the web. It wasn’t quicksand…it was sand mixed with…

 

She shivered and grimaced at the same time. She didn’t even want to think about what it was mixed with. But the fact remained, that the web had to be anchored somewhere and the spider had to have someplace it had rested while it had waited for its prey. And Jasra thought she knew where.

 

She picked up a stick and began poking at the ground, until.

 

“Hey, I think I found somet….” Jasra was suddenly sucked underground, leaving nothing behind but a hole.

 

“Eew!” her muffled cry echoed from below the surface. There was silence for a few moments. “Erm…Karda?” Her voice sounded pretty far away. “I think I found the temple.”

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Jasra had fallen several feet into a pitch dark cavern, but had landed in something…soft. And sticky. Jasra flicked on her lightsabre to use as a torch. “Eew!” She had landed in what could only be described as the spider’s midden heap—the remains of the spider’s larger, furrier prey. Using her sabre to cut away the sticky portions of web, she climbed down from the pile of dusty, silk covered animal corpses and skeletons and found herself at the entrance to a tunnel that led upwards. This must be part of the temple Brax had mentioned.

 

“Erm…Karda? I think I found the temple.” She stepped further into the tunnel. She could hear the clash of lightsabres up ahead. She looked over her shoulder. Should she wait for Karda? She shook her head. She liked him, for the most part, and she didn’t blame him for hating her, for feeling betrayed. But he wouldn’t care if anything happened to her now. Plus, he had Tegan to look after.

 

She moved on until she saw a faint light up ahead. She drew in the Force to hide herself, like she had always done, but this time she extended the Force to make herself invisible like Brax had taught her to do with her gauntlets. Extinguishing her sabre, she crept forward.

 

The tunnel opened up into a large room. For a moment, her heart leapt into her throat. Kira was there, fighting with three Dark Jedi. Jasra's Force signature masked, and virtually invisible with her cloaking, none of them had noticed her.

 

Then Jasra’s gaze was drawn to the glittering crystal shard on its pedestal of honour in the middle of the room. Her eyes flicked back to Kira. She was holding her own in the fight, but that meant her attention was on the Sith, not the shard.

 

Instead of going to Kira’s aid, Jasra crept forward towards the shard. Her gauntlets had protected her from the effects of the last crystal. She had no reason to think that they wouldn’t do the same for this one. She had to get it away from here, take it to the Ebon Hawk where it could be safely stored in the TARDIS. Away from Kira and Crystal. It was the only way to save them both.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kira clashed with the dark jedi, completely unfazed by their threats and numbers. "Oh c'mon, is this all you got?" she taunted, kicking the legs out from one. As the two still standing swept at her legs, she flipped backwards, springing off the ground with her hand to land several feet away. She grinned triumphantly, and reached into the V-neck of her robes. "Sorry boys, play time's over."

With that, she yanked the container from the chain around her neck and flipped the cap open, emptying the Shard into her palm where she allowed it to dissolve into her skin. The Shard was now semi-part of her. As was it's power.

"C'mon!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The dark Jedi scattered, their lightsabers blazing. The leader gave a silent command for the other two to stay back - he wanted this fight for himself.

"I've been looking forward to gutting you, Exile!" he yelled. He jumped through the air, landing behind her. He raised his lightsaber to strike...

((FFWM, we didn't really plan this fight very well.... I controlled the last one between two of our characters - you get this one.))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Hey Jazzy," Crystal said quietly, seeming to appear from nowhere. "You don't want Ki-Ki to see yous... the pretty golden glassy thingy makes her crazy... makes her crazy..." She tapped her own forehead. "Golden strands of thought mess up the mind, mess up the girl. She has lots and lots of power now... she can't use it all."

 

She looked over to where Kira was dueling with the Dark Jedi. "Ki-Ki's baddy now, Jazzy... see golden glassy thingy takes her over?"

 

Atop the pedestal, the new shard lifted slightly. Then, it vanished only to appear hovering over Crystal's hands. "Take it, Jazzy... sharp to kill things made this holdable last time..."

 

For just a second, Crystal's eyes paled, back to their original blue-gray color and her words came out rather clearly. "Ugh, even a mental connection with this thing twists my mind."

 

Then, her eyes darkened again and she whispered. "Go, Jazzy! Ki-Ki must feel this glassy thingy isn't where it was. Run!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jasra clasped her gauntlet over the shard. She could feel its energy pulsing through her, though it still wasn't as irresistible as she imagined it might be.

 

She had no idea how Crystal had managed to see her, or how she had managed to get into the temple, but Jasra got the sense that Crystal didn't seem that worried about getting out.

 

But Crystal was right about one thing. Kira would soon notice the shard was missing from its place of honour.

 

Nevertheless, Jasra hesitated. Karda had been dead wrong when he had told her she didn't care about anyone but herself. That might have been true at one time, but not now. She cared about Crystal, and she didn't want to leave Crystal alone in here with Kira and the three Sith without knowing for sure that she'd be able to escape. "Crystal, come with me," she whispered to her, as she slowly backed up into the tunnel the way she had come.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Have it your way." Kira said, her demonic transformation once again complete. She charged at the Sith, cutting through the air like a blade. In a second, she was upon him.

Their sabers of red and blue clashed together as the two spun in a dizzying dance of death. As Kira's movements quickened, the Sith was beginning to loose nerve. She could sense the fear in him as her saber became a simple blur, and he hardly kept up.

"I figured you'd be stronger than this, what with all your banter. Obviously, you're all talk."

She pulled her lower blade up, parallel to his chest as he stepped back hurriedly. She quickly swung her upper blade from right to left, clashing with his as he tried to block. The Exile brought her lower blade around again, easily cutting clean through the Sith's arm, severing the limb at the elbow. As she was about to strike a finishing blow to the withering Sith, Kira's attention was drawn away. The Shard was moving.

She turned her back on her opponent, her eyes scanning the room as she stepped away from him. Where had it gone?

She sensed a presence that the clouded part of her mind was the true Kira recognized as Crystal. However, her Shard-possessed mind recognized it only as the theif.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Ooh!" Crystal shrieked. "Bad Ki-Ki things us thieves!"

 

She lunged at Jasra, knocking them both over and gripping Jasra tightly. As they lay there, Crystal began frantically chanting, "Think straight, think straight, think straight, think straight..."

 

Then, suddenly, they were back above the ground, not far from where the spider had been slaughtered. "Run, Jazzy. Ki-Ki thinks girl was thief. She wants fight with thief. So fight she gets until girl can push bad away."

 

With that she vanished again and reappeared just behind Kira.

 

"No, no, Ki..." Crystal began. Then, suddenly she stopped and frowned. Her hair straightened and darkened slightly and her eyes paled. "Kira. You are Kira Starr, Jedi Exile."

 

Crystal's lightsaber was in her hand, but she had not activated it yet. "Come back to your senses, so mine can leave me again. This will not be over until all the shards are found. You want that, don't you Kira? The second shard is safe. Jasra has it and is returning it to the ship."

 

As she spoke, she reached out and lightly touched Kira's mind with her own, attempting to soothe Kira and separate her from the shard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jasra clutched the shard tightly in her gauntleted hand. She was back on the surface, slightly disoriented and confused at what had just happened. As she looked around her, she saw Karda and Tegan standing near the hole in the web where she had fallen through just moments before. Crystal was no where to be seen.

 

"Erm...nevermind about that temple," she said to them, as she gathered herself up off the ground. "I've found the shard."

 

She frowned worriedly. She was concerned about about Crystal and Kira, and she knew she had to get the shard away from them and into its storage box in the TARDIS, but there was a new concern now. Karda had been angry with her before she had gone into the temple. Now that she had the shard in her hands, she wondered if he would be influenced by its Darkness.

 

"Let's get back to the Ebon Hawk," she said to them, taking slow steps backwards towards the path she had cut earlier. "Once the shard is safely stored away, we can come back for the others."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crystal...I can't...

Kira wheeled on the smaller woman, her blue lightsabers humming and illuminating the area in a pale, eerie light. Her amber cat eyes glinted in the artificial light, as she focused on Crystal.

"Ha." she said, "No kidding I'm the Exile. Who did you expect? Revan himself?" she advanced on Crystal, her sabers poised.

Please...leave me...I won't...

"As for the Shard, the only safe place for it is in my hands."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...